Letters to the Editor
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a new idea
howzabout we change the term from "politically correct" into "classy"?
I defy anyone to charge me as being a "classy" thug.
'cause my old man, before the shuffed this mortal coil, tried to instill in me a sense of common decency. And my friends, there is nothing decent or classy about defending Wahoo...there just isn't.
and for all those pseudo-republican pricks out there i guess I should admit that I'm 1/4 Mi'kmaq on my mom's side, 1/8 Ojibway on my dad's, plus 1/16 Mohawk on his side (try and find an Acadien/Quebecois without native blood...I dare ya ;) and I find Wahoo OFFENSIVE...just get rid of him already...please
END OF STORY.
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JamieO
I grew up in SD, west river, near the Rez. Believe me, in the '50's and 60's the Sioux drum ceremonies all used the DUM, dum, dum, dum beat. I attended many of these activities, and most that I saw were not done for show, but as expressions of culture, at rodeos, powpows, or any other time the tribe seemed to feel it needed to celebrate. So, they got it from Hollywood? Point is, don't stereotype your own people. Off subject, but that would not be new to this column so far.
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Institutionalize Wahoo
When a house has been blessed by history as being a waystation on the Underground Railroad, it is not torn down and paved over, it is declared a national landmark. In this way, the history of racism in America is duly preserved for eternity. Likewise, Wahoo is a waystation on a broader history of racisim in America. If Wahoo was the worst thing that the Europeans had done to the Native Americans, the Native Americans would still be running the country. Wahoo is nothing but a final insult, and as such, should be preserved for eternity. The movement to remove Wahoo is nothing but an attempt by King to relieve himself if the history injustice done to the Native Americans, and get on with tipsy spectator sport adulation.
I hope the Indians win the Series, and bring their monument to the eternal history of baseball.
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But
What the fans do is one thing what the clubs do is another. Let us not forget that the clubs make the fans stand for the American Anthem and at the Seventh Inning, at least at the Yankees, for God Bless America, to honor the troops in Iraw where they have invaded and occupied (and where my granddaughter serves in jeopardy.) Should the clubs censor the fans as they force them to participate in jingoism?
Let us further note that the Indians were named after a Native American star on the team. What do we do with the Boston Celtics, Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the Quakers from Pennsylvania,the Vancouver Canucks, the Angels of Los Angels, the Engineers from Geogia Tech,the Pirates from Pittsburgh,Giants, Titans, the Indian highschools whose nickname is Native, former nicknames of Trolley Dodgers, champion baskedball teams like the Philadelphia Hebrews?
Word magic is a disguise and cover ofter for real racial prejudice which should be directly combatted.
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Jealousy
I grew up in Central Illinois, and attended the University of Illinois. I really loved the chief. I remember watching him dance across the football field as a child. There is not a lot of grandeur in a rural Illinois life--but right there--that was it. I miss the fact it will never happen again. I understand the slur implied by the Chief, but he was undeniably a figure of respect. It makes me really angry--and more than a little jealous, that Cleveland still has their mascot--one so obviously insulting.
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Racism is ugly
King,
Thanks for your column. Good stuff.
Frankly, I can't understand why there is any difference between the Cleveland Indians and a soccer team in Germany named the Munich Jews.
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Apples & Oranges, Jonathan
Mr Weiss asked: 'What do we do with the Boston Celtics, Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the Quakers from Pennsylvania,the Vancouver Canucks, the Angels of Los Angels, the Engineers from Geogia Tech,the Pirates from Pittsburgh,Giants, Titans, the Indian highschools whose nickname is Native, former nicknames of Trolley Dodgers, champion baskedball teams like the Philadelphia Hebrews?'
You might refer to my previous post in this thread, but all the examples you gave involve the ethnic group controlling the team & naming it for some stereotype or subset of their own ethnic group.
Boston Celtics (owned by whites, named for a white ethnicity), Penn Quakers (college founded by whites, named for an almost-all white religious group), Vancouver Canucks (owned by whites, named for slang used to refer to Canadians, who are 95% white), Georgia Tech Engineers (college founded by whites, no particular ethic connotation, but 'Engineer' is a vary valued workplace title), Pittsburgh Pirates (owned by whites, name alludes to various famous English pirates, almost all white).
I could go on & on, but I hope you get my point.
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My point is...
The Chief Wahoo thing comes up in the media once every few years. Everyone makes a big stink about it and then it fades away. In the meantime, life for Native Americans doesn't get any better.
Taking a stance against a team mascot is a cheap, easy way to write a column in a few hours that gets lots of attention and letters.
The idea that simply complaining about injustice, rather than working to fix it, is all that is required is what makes the left look hypocritical to the right.
My point is that if you really want to do something about the real problems Native American's face, then write a good, investigative story about those problems. We all have our skills, use yours for something more productive than "the Cleveland Indians minstrel show."
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Chief Wahoo is Good Medicine
When palefaces are not killing us with poverty, they are killing us with kindness. My mother is Chickasaw/Cherokee (oh yes, she’s very familiar with the Trail of Tears) yet she loves Chief Wahoo. Perhaps because she is Indian, his image does not evoke recriminatory guilt, only a playful jest. And also in her words, “better to be remembered than forgotten.” If a sports mascot makes non-Indians dress up and pretend to be Indian, more power to the Chief, for it is such frivolous joy and celebration that brings us together and keeps memory alive.
So make peace with the Chief (we have so few left)—he makes us smile, he makes us proud to be Red.