Likewise, on behalf of PETA, I think we should get rid of anything that involves an animal because it casts these beings in a negative light. For example, let’s get rid of Bevo at the University of Texas and the Gators at the University of Florida.

What are the “Fighting Illini” now without the Chief as a symbol? Hmmm….not much. All you that are so concerned about an Indian symbol are nothing but a bunch of phonies…fakes!! If Indian symbols and words can’t be used…then the name “Illinois” should be changed. Then we could call it “Utopia.”

I know that all of the actors and actresses who played those parts were not Japanese. Most were Caucasian and a few were Asian. Chinese, I think. Do all the actors in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ have to be from the Deep South? And how do we handle staging Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’? Should we cast only Brits, because Shakespeare was British, or do we cast only Italians from Rome, since Sicilians and Tuscans aren’t true ‘Romans’? Should I be offended because Hugh Laurie speaks without his native British accent in the TV series ‘House’, which is set in an American hospital?

If we follow your anti-Chief logic, any Mikado performance that doesn’t feature an all-Japanese cast would be ‘hostile and abusive’ to Japanese. And don’t try to cast Asians in those roles because the cast must be authentic Japanese, otherwise, it’s just ‘a bunch of Asians “dressed up” as Japanese. Are you arguing that Japanese people don’t deserve the ‘ethnic purity’ you insist on for Chief Illiniwek? Fact is, ‘white guys’ in performances dress up as everything from Native Americans to Klingons.

Wikipedia, by the way, is a reference work written by regular folks like you and me. The information isn’t vetted by knowledgeable authorities. Many schools don’t allow students to cite Wikipedia as an authoritative source. I’ve sent more than a few corrections to Wikipedia entries. You’re in college now, you can do better than that.

I freely admit that the clothes the current Chief wears came from a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, and doesn’t necessarily reflect the Native Americans who once inhabited this area. As for the feelings and sensitivities of Native Americans, I’ll take more comfort in the national surveys which show that more than three-fourths of Native Americans are either pleased with the Chief’s portrayal, or indifferent to it. Either way, it’s that twenty percent minority who are making all the noise. And it’s not a discrimination complaint - they are whining because they are OFFENDED. Sorry, but there is no legal right that any of us have to never be offended.

As for what Ron Froman knows, or more correctly, doesn’t know, shouldn’t be a source of guidance. It sounds, from his comments, that he almost revels in his own ignorance. I can honestly say that I don’t know everything about everything, but I don’t point to it as a source of pride. And I’ll make a sincere effort to educate myself when I find out that I don’t know something.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is very actively running a half dozen gambling casino throughout Florida, and the last thing as good businessmen they want to do is tick off all those FSU alums who come to drop coins in their slot machines. Do NOT point to the Seminoles as an example of nobility. They are protecting their own business interests and little else. That same Seminole Tribe tried to sue the State of Florida and then-governor Lawton Chiles for not granting them free rein to open casinos throughout the state. Until statewide Seminole casinos were opened in the mid-1990s, FSU was under heavy attack by Seminole activists who protested the school’s use of Osceola and his horse, Renegade. Since then, huge profits from their casinos have quieted their earlier outrage.

I don’t see Chief Illiniwek ‘marginalizing’ any culture. I do see the cartoonish characters used by the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves as doing so. You’ve applied a broad brush with your criticism.

I grant you that Hallmark is doing their very best to create new holidays and traditions, but I think the very definition of the word ‘tradition’ which says, “. . . an inherited pattern of thought or action” sounds to me like it came from . . . the past.

How can anyone defend allowing a white person to “dress up” as a native american? After all, most people would be up in arms if a black face was our mascot. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google image it.

At this point and time, the tribe most closely related to the Illini is against the Chief:
Ron Froman was later elected Chief, by which time his views on the Chief Illiniwek mascot changed. His views changed following meetings with American Indian students attending the University. In April 2000, the tribal council, with Chief Froman’s support, passed by the margin of 3 to 2 a resolution requesting “the leadership of the University of Illinois to recognize the demeaning nature of the characterization of Chief Illiniwek, and cease use of this mascots [sic]”. Froman stated “I don’t know what the origination was, or what the reason was for the university to create Chief Illiniwek. I don’t think it was to honor us, because, hell, they ran our (butts) out of Illinois.” This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University, whose Native American mascots are not opposed by the leadership of the corresponding tribes. In 2005, a new Chief, John P. Froman, when asked his position by the NCAA, indicated that “the Chief was not representative of our tribe and culture, mainly because the costume is Sioux”] In 2006, in response to a widely published column by journalist George Will in support of the mascot’s use, he wrote a letter reiterating the Peoria Tribe’s opposition to the mascot and decrying that the “University of Illinois has ignored the tribe’s request for nearly five years.”…. (Taken from Wikipedia)

Moreover, the vast majority of the faculty at U of I are against the Chief.

If you really believe tradition is how we pass on our culture, I suggest you read an article called “Invented Traditions.” Most traditions have no roots in the past whatsoever and are a recent creation. Moreover, how can we pass on our culture effectively when we marginalize other cultures?

But there is no law anywhere that guarantees you (or anyone else) the right to never be offended.

Yet that’s what the shrill minority of anti-Chief zealots have done. They’ve stretched, distorted and perverted our anti-discrimination rights into some new right to ‘never be offended’ and the Board of Trustees have happily embraced this new ‘Right Of The Hypersensitive Minority.’

As for your comment about the Illinois Native American tribes, be careful who you quote. Most of the data I’ve seen doesn’t support your position. It is abundantly clear to me that the noise came from a relatively small minority. Once again, I will reiterate that while we all have a right to be free from racial discrimination, there is no corollary right to be free from ever being offended. Your KKK analogy is grossly misplaced. Chief Illiniwek bears no resemblance to the horrors of the KKK - they are an unfortunate legacy of our country, but nobody calls them a ‘tradition.’

Traditions do die off - when was the last time you saw a man stand because a woman entered the room? This wasn’t a case of a tradition becoming an anachronism. This was a pagan sacrifice on the altar of Political Correctness.

When I graduated from the U of I, they played ‘Pomp and Circumstance.’ Why? Because it’s a tradition at commencement ceremonies. It would have been . . . well . . . weird to have them play anything else. Our traditions are how we pass our culture on to the future generations.