I need to follow up on my previous post in another regard. Tonight I talked to Rochester winger Drew Stafford, who played at the University of North Dakota, which has been under seige from the NCAA because of the hockey-mad school's Fighting Sioux mascot and logo. Tonight Drew opened up another angle to the story — that of a UND player and alumnus. "I took great pride in playing for the Sioux," he told me. "There's a lot of tradition there; that's why I went to North Dakota to play. Anyone who plays there knows how big the tradition is, and they play for the Sioux logo, and they play for the Sioux name. They take a lot of pride in that." He added that the school's students, athletes and alumni revere the Sioux people and their heritage. "We treat that logo with the utmost respect," he said. By using their name, the school is honoring the Sioux people, he said. His comments made me realize that my previous post was perhaps a little unfair to the university, because I don't know what it's like being a student and player there. I've never seen first-hand the attitudes and actions of the UND campus toward the Sioux, which means I cannot say for sure whether UND honors or disrespects the Sioux. But I can also safely say that the vast majority of UND students and players have no idea what it's like being a Sioux. They have no idea what it's like to have your entire people and their heritage wiped out, and therefore they have no idea what's it's like being a Sioux viewing UND's mascot. So I guess on both sides it's a "walk a mile in the other guy's shoes" situation. So where does that leave us? Where do we draw the line between disrespect and honor, racism and tradition? I think we can all agree that "Redskins" is offensive; it would be like calling a team the Coons or the Crackers or the Wetbacks or the Gooks. But what about the Braves or the Chiefs or the Fighting Sioux? Are they really any different than, say, the Fighting Irish? Critics of the Fighting Sioux nickname can say that by attaching "Fighting" to the nickname, you're stereotyping the Sioux as war-like savages. But you can also argue that the "Fighting" in Fighting Irish stereotypes the Irish as drunk, brawling Micks. (And, for the record, I'm Irish, and the Notre Dame mascot doesn't offend me. But I still f***ing hate Notre Dame.) But there IS a difference between Fighting Sioux and Fighting Irish. While Notre Dame was actually founded by Irish Catholics, the University of North Dakota was not, I'm pretty sure, founded by the Sioux. Moreover, while the Irish people faced incredible prejudice and injustice when they arrived in America, they weren't the victims of wholesale genocide. It's a quandary that might never be solved to anyone's satisfaction. That's certainly my belief — I feel that we as Americans of all colors have dug ourselves into such a huge hole when it comes to race that we'll never climb out of it. Racism is human nature; every single person on the planet is racist, to a certain extent. It's our gut instinct to fear and mistrust that which is different. We're all racist, and we're all gonna be racist forever. But then again, I'm just a wee bit cynical. And I apologize for going so heavy with this blog. I need to go home and drink a Guinness because, alas, I'm proud of my Irish heritage.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion