Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 08:53:04 -0500
From: clementf@ucc.org
Subject: Call To Conference
"RACIST IMAGERY IN POPULAR CULTURE" 5TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, APRIL 2003,
CLEVELAND OH,
PLEASE POST THIS CALL TO CONFERENCE ON YOUR WEBSITES AND E-MAIL LISTS. LET
EVERYONE KNOW.
THIS IS GOING TO BE AN EXCITING EVENT.
PLAN FOR APRIL TODAY.
---
CALL TO CONFERENCE
MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!! Our 5th Annual Conference on Racism and Negative
Stereotyping , traditionally held during the weekend of opening day of the
Cleveland ball team, will be April 5 - 7, 2003, at the Cleveland Airport
Marriott, 4277 West 150th Street, Cleveland, OH. Our featured speaker
will be Dr. Richard Grounds from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Richard was a Professor
at the Univerisity of Oklahoma until recently, when he began a full time
career of retrieving and reviving the so called "lost language" of his so
called "extinct" tribe of Yuchees (this was one of many tribes claimed to
be extinct by the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs). He is
a fluent speaker and skilled at language preservation. Identity is of
utmost importance to him and so he became totally involved in this work.
and, from his work and research he knows racism and colonialism well.
Speaking to issues of racist imagery in the popular culture as a
continuation of the colonialism theme of genocide, he skillfully brings his
audience through the historical ramifications that are threaded into the
use of logos and imagery of Native Peoples Today.
We have also invited an individual who is an activist on the sacred site
issues, specifically that of the Mt. Graham site in Arizona that is
currently being exploited and abused for the sake of placing huge telescope
observatories and not allowing his people to use their sacred mountain for
their prayers and ceremonies.
Once again, Interaction with our leadership group from the National
Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media will be a featured event. Vernon
Belcourt, Char Teters, Clyde Belcourt, Juanita Helphrey and others will be
a part of this conversation. Clyde will also be our Spiritual Leader and
Advisor throughout the conference, as he did last year.
This year we have shortened our program to just one full day, but this does
not mean it won't be jam packed with activity and fun! Nellie Hall will
join Clyde this year with her wonderful songs and will be with us also to
sing and drum at our Saturday night. social. She is from the Fort Peck
Reservation in Montana and is the sister of Juanita Helphrey. She is
currently on a circuit of singers, storytellers, dancers and drummers that
provide the traditional and beautiful side of the story of the journey of
Lewis and Clark.
Char Teters has a special art exhibit at Notre Dame College that you all
need to see, so we hope you use that extra time Saturday to visit her
exhIbit and talk with her. We will include that notice in our
registration mailing.
We will begin with registration and our social night at the Pilgrim United
Church of Christ, as we've done the past couple of years on Saturday night,
at 6 p.m. (the 5th of April). This includes our annual feast and giveaway.
Sunday the conference will open at the Marriott at 8 a.m. with continuing
registration and at 9 a.m. with the Spiritual ceremonies by Clyde and
Nellie. The guest speaker on sacred sites will finish the morning, our
featured speaker will take up the afternoon and the interactive panel will
be in the evening, with our closing time around 10 p.m.
Monday, of course, we will gather at the usual place for our march across
the bridge to the ballpark to begin our protest.
REGISTRATION WILL BE AVAILABLE ON LINE VERY SOON - WATCH FOR OUR NEXT
NOTICE.
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Subject: R*dsk*ns' Name As Unbearable As Their Record
Redskins' Name As Unbearable As Their Record
By Courtland Milloy
Monday, December 2, 2002; Page B01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61886-2002Dec1.html
"Cowboys Skin Redskins
for Thanksgiving"
-- Headline in the
Taipei Times last week
You had to go a long way from Washington to read about the local football franchise in such a raw way. But there it was, in Taiwan: unvarnished, racist Wild West Americana, the cultural roots of the Washington-Dallas rivalry.
Washington's newspapers used to print words like "scalped" and "skinned alive" to describe what the hometown team did to losing opponents. But such references are rare these days, and not just because the home team hasn't been on much of a winning streak lately.
The little games we play -- toning down words, replacing images of Indian heads on helmets with arrowheads, pretending that the team's name means "courage" and has nothing to do with American Indians, as owner Dan Snyder does -- suggests a gradual, if still reluctant, realization that there is something wrong with using "Redskins" as a moniker.
So far, more than 22 institutions throughout the United States -- mostly elementary, junior and senior high schools -- have stopped using the name, according to American Indian Sports Team Mascots, a group that monitors such name changes.
More than 140 institutions and organizations have stopped the use of other American Indian nicknames, according to the group, and at least 80 organizations are working to eliminate all such insulting names.
Last year, Hiawatha (Kan.) High School ended its decades-long tradition of being the "Redskins" and became "Redhawks." The Hiawatha Board of Education had voted the name out after holding several community forums.
"All of this had been hanging over our heads for a while, and students were becoming uncertain about what was appropriate and what was not," recalled David Fitz, Hiawatha's assistant principal and athletics director. "Once, they made a mascot costume of an Indian with a big nose and had to get rid of it. Then there were some things about the cheers that we wouldn't allow."
At the forums, residents spoke out passionately, pro and con.
"There were some individuals from the various tribes who took exception," Fitz said. "Although we have a small Native American population in the school system itself, the consensus of the school board was that if anything was offensive to them, it's not good to continue."
After students came up with a new name, Fitz said, "True supporters backed them, and morale went up a bit."
Washington, with its peculiar mix of Southern defiance and Northern arrogance, has proved to be a much harder case. For who dares to tell the most powerful people in the most powerful place on Earth what to do?
You'd think that having such a bad attitude would warrant a more appropriate team name. Say, the Washington Predator Drones. Have that mascot circling FedEx Field during a game and victory is assured.
But, alas, the very notion of changing the name because American Indians want respect on their own terms is beyond comprehension for many.
"I hope you'll believe me when I say I think of a courageous warrior when I think of the Washington Redskins," a reader wrote at the beginning of the football season. " 'Redskin' is not a derogatory word to many of us. I, for one, hope the team never changes its name."
Another reader wrote: "As a child, I can remember playing cowboys and Indians and wanting to be called a Redskin. At the time, I did not think it was a put-down but rather something to be proud of. I feel that is true today."
Such sentiments, no matter how well meaning, disregard the feelings of American Indians. And since when does not intending to insult someone make the insult okay?
Deadskins. Bedsprings. Possums (stink at home, die on the road). Almost any name would be less offensive.
If, however, "Redskins" is here to stay, as Dan Snyder insists, at least take the American Indian out of it. Keep the name, but paint a redskin potato on those helmets.
After all, they can be fried by Cowboys, scalloped by Eagles, mashed by Giants and even skinned themselves.
E-mail: milloyc@washpost.com
