Now in its seventh year, the National Collegiate Athletic
Association’s battle with the University of North Dakota may be
reaching a final conclusion. In 2005, the NCAA announced a complete
ban on hosting post-season competition by 18 colleges that were
using Native American mascots, logos, or nicknames. The ban was to
become effective in February 2006 (TAS,
November 23, 2009).
The college sports governing body backed off its strident demand
regarding some schools after learning that Native American groups
endorsed use of their tribal names by their adoptive schools. The
NCAA relented and gave the go-ahead
for Florida State University, the University of Utah, and Central
Michigan University to continue using Seminole, Ute, and Chippewa,
respectively, without the risk of facing the post-season ban.
However, the NCAA continued its feigned moral
outrage at the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux
nickname. The association was unmoved by the fact that the nearby
Spirit Lake Sioux tribe and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe bestowed
the Fighting Sioux nickname on the university in perpetuity during
a
pipe ceremony held on the UND campus in 1969 and tribal members
actively campaigned for the school to continue to use the
nickname.
There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to how the NCAA compiled
its lists of Native American mascots, logos, or nicknames that the
organization found acceptable and those that were deemed offensive.
Consider, for example, Bradley University and the
University of North
Carolina-Pembroke. Both schools use the nickname “Braves” yet
Bradley landed on the NCAA
banned list and UNC-Pembroke got a free pass.
The most recent development in the NCAA-North Dakota battle was
a federal lawsuit filed by Spirit Lake Sioux and Standing Rock
Sioux tribal members. The plaintiffs requested a reversal of the
NCAA ban and monetary damages. In May, U.S. District Judge Ralph
Erickson
dismissed the suit, ruling the tribes had no standing in the
matter.
This political correctness wackiness is not restricted only to
the NCAA and colleges. The Oregon state Board of Education recently
ruled that all public schools would have to cease using Native
American imagery and nicknames.
Earlier this year, the students’ choice of mascot for the Corner
Canyon High School was
axed by the local school board. Located in suburban Salt Lake
City, Corner Canyon is a new school set to open in the fall 2012.
Students slated to enroll in the school
overwhelmingly voted for “Cougars.” However, the board felt the
name would be offensive to older women (Cougar is a slang
term for older women who are attracted to younger men) and
instead gave the school the nickname “Chargers.”
Opponents of Native American imagery claim its use is racist and
offensive. Eager to prove this point, minority students at the
University of Northern Colorado in 2002 adopted the nickname
“Fightin’
Whities” for an intramural team that was complete with a logo
depicting a Ward Cleaver-like character. The students were
confident Caucasians would be in uproar over the offensive moniker.
In fact, their effort had the opposite effect. The logo and
nickname were wildly popular with whites and a nationwide demand to
purchase the t-shirts emblazoned with both led to robust sales and
profits of more than $100,000. A thriving business
continues 10 years later.
Perhaps the most obvious example of how absurd this witch hunt
has become is illustrated by the NCAA’s position that the
University of North Dakota’s “Fighting Sioux” is offensive while
the University of Notre Dame nickname “Fighting Irish” is
not.
Illustrating the college sports governing body’s hypocrisy in
this matter are the scores of schools among the NCAA’s more than
1,200 members that have mascots, logos, and nicknames that identify
with race, ethnicity, or culture that the NCAA has deemed
acceptable. These nicknames include: Aggies, Aztec, Braves,
Cavaliers, Colonials, Cornhuskers, Cowboys, Crusaders, Diplomats,
Dons, Dutch, Dutchmen, Flying Dutchmen, Engineers, Fightin’
Engineers, Fighting Irish, 49ers, Friars, Gaels, Gauchos, Generals,
Highlanders, Indians, Jaspers, Knights, Leathernecks, Lumberjacks,
Miners, Missionaries, Monks, Muleriders, Norse, Ole Miss Rebels,
Oilers, Orediggers, Paladins, Pilgrims, Pioneers, Poets, Quakers,
Ragin’ Cajuns, Railsplitters, Rebels, Redmen, Rivermen, Saints,
Savages, Saxons, Scots, Fighting Scots, Sooners, Spartans, Texans,
Tribe, Trojans, Vikings, Warriors and Yeomen.
UPDATE (6/13/12): CNS News
reports that North Dakota voters on Tuesday approved scrapping
the University of Dakota’s “Fighting Sioux” nickname.
