From: American Indian Movement Support Group of Ohio and Northern Kentucky
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 7:25 PM
Subject: LETTER: Has the Golden Rule become the Golden Suggestion?
Published in The Northern Kentucky Community Recorder
August 8, 2002
Letters to the Editor
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Has the Golden Rule become the Golden Suggestion?
Since October 2000, Native people in Kentucky and throughout the United States have written, called, and met with the principals and the school board of Holy Cross Catholic school to express how offensive "indian" nicknames, logos, and mascots are to them and their children. They have asked that this form of abuse of Native peoples, cultures, and spiritualities be stopped.
No Catholic school uses any other minority race of people as mascots; no school calls its teams the "Negroes," the "Asians," the "Hispanics" or even the "Jews." Segregating a race of people into a position of mascot is inherently racist.
One of the hundreds of organizations that resolved to reject racial stereotypes is the Commission on Catholic Community Action of the Diocese of Cleveland, part of the community with the Cleveland "indians," upon which Holy Cross’s name and logo are modeled.
The grinning, red-faced "wahoo*" (known as "Little Red Sambo") logo and other stereotyping representations of Native people are emblazoned throughout Holy Cross’ gym and school. The walking mascot is a grotesque caricature of an "indian." Patrons have written "Indians on the Warpath" and other stereotypical sayings in the sports program. A minority race of people is being used as a token of luck. How does this make Christian values the core of every class and sporting contest?
Supporting and perpetuating stereotypes hurts everyone. Catholic school children deserve to be taught respect for all races. This means that adults should not teach children to perpetuate and support stereotypes. This is the responsible thing educators can do for their students as they look toward the future. Regardless of the original intention for adopting such a nickname, logo, and mascot, when Native people say they are not honored by it, the offense becomes intentional.
Let’s not reduce the Golden Rule to the Golden Suggestion.
Alice Huffman
Covington
Monday, August 05, 2002
I ain't your mascot
A dark cloud arrived over 500 years ago on these lands
Native people survived years of genocide and forced removal from thier homes
With lands stolen and nations divided onto reservations, we remained
Our culture and beliefs came under attack and our children were taken to boarding schools
And if the skeletons of the past were not enough, now we are the halftime show
Our youth are demoralized by dancing "braves" on the sidelines
Wearing feathers, holding spears, and even our medicine wheel
Using what we consider sacred for props
What if I danced on the sidelines of a stickball game wearing a robe?
Placing a wreath of thorns on my head and carrying a large wooden cross?
After all, I would be honoring Jesus, and the Christian faith
I would be paying honor to the fact that he was crucified
Just as "chief wahoo" honors all of our people that were killed by "manifest destiny"
If these things honor us and honor the indian spirit, why don't we feel honored?
In the words of one of my personal friends, Alice Huffman,
"When Native people say they are not honored by it, the offense becomes intentional"
I personally am offended by these things
I ain't your mascot
By:Matt Smith
8/3/2002
