FIGHTING WHITES
Ken [NY
"This is the official homepage of the Fighting Whites from Northern
Colorado University
Our mission statement is as follows for the Fighting Whites:
The Fighting Whites basketball team was organized in early February
(2002) by a group of Native American and non-Indian students of the
University of Northern Colorado with the intent of playing intramural
basketball. We came up with the "Fighting Whites" logo and slogan to
have a little satirical fun and to deliver a simple, sincere, message
about ethnic stereotyping. Since March 6, when our campus newspaper
first reported on the "Fighting Whites", we have been launched into
the national spotlight, propelled by a national debate over
stereotyping American Indians in sports symbolism.
Our objective as students was to make a straightforward statement
using humor; to promote cultural awareness through satire. Now that
national attention has come to us, we hope that our message will reach
a wider audience. As a part of our involvement in this ongoing issue,
we have formed the Fighting Whites Scholarship Fund, Inc., a
non-profit organization, the profits of which will go entirely to
support the educations of Native American students.
Written by Ryan White, John Messner, Charles Cuny
This is the official store of the Fightin' Whites from University of
Northern Colorado. All proceeds from this store will go to the
FIGHTING WHITES SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC."
Visit the Store
http://www.cafepress.com/fightinwhite
Ken (NY)
--
Chairbeing,
Department of Redundancy Department
Assistant Grand Poobah, Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
___________________________________
The Surgeon General advises that eating this message
may be hazardous to your health.
INTHEDOGHOUSE
>From: "Ken [NY" ken4b...@usa.SPAM.net
>Date: 3/18/02 3:19 PM Mountain Standard Time
>Message-id: <1spc9ugrto8sctp6r...@4ax.com>
We heard about this on the radio this last weekend. They said T-shirt sales
are going through the roof.
DJ
Ken [NY
breathlessly shared the following:
>> This is the official store of the Fightin' Whites from University of
>>Northern Colorado. All proceeds from this store will go to the
>>FIGHTING WHITES SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC."
>>
>>Visit the Store
>> http://www.cafepress.com/fightinwhite
>We heard about this on the radio this last weekend. They said T-shirt sales
>are going through the roof.
>
> DJ
But some are puzzled:
Clarence Page
Slinging a racial slur? Oh, where is thy sting
Published March 17, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Sometimes offense is the best defense.
That appears to be what some innovative Native American Indian
students at the University of Northern Colorado had in mind. When
local activists failed to persuade Eaton High School in Greeley,
Colo., to change the name and Indian mascot of its team, the Fightin'
Reds, the Indian university students decided to make their point a
different way.
They changed the name of their intramural basketball team from the
Native Pride to The Fightin' Whities.
Solomon Little Owl, a team member who also directs the university's
Native American Student Services, explained to reporters that his
teammates, who include Hispanics and Caucasians, wanted to "do
something that will let people see the other side of what it's like to
be a mascot."
The result? A media frenzy, of course. Network television, major
newspapers and radio talk shows have made the Fightin' Whities the
best covered intramural squad in the nation. The Greeley Tribune says
its Web site, www.greeleytrib.com, crashed Tuesday when demand for the
story soared to 29,000 hits for the high-interest local story from the
usual 200 hits a day.
Yet Caucasians have proved to be remarkably resistant to offense.
Quite the opposite, quite a few agree with the e-mailer who saw the
new team name as an "honor" to white Americans, who apparently don't
get enough credit for their many contributions to history.
"Help me out here," asked one e-mail to the Greeley Tribune, "why am I
supposed to be offended?"
Within days the newspaper, the college and Little Owl's office had
received so many requests for team T-shirts that the Fightin' Whities
now sell their own line of sportswear at their own Web site with all
proceeds going to the Fighting Whites Scholarship Fund Inc.
The items do look pretty snazzy. Each features the team logo, a
wholesome-looking '50s-style head-shot illustration of a smiling white
guy in a jacket and necktie over the team's memorable slogan, "Every
thang's gonna be all white!"
Whether their experiment turns out the way they expect it to or not,
the Fightin' Whities deserve to go to the head of the class for giving
us all at least one important lesson in cross-cultural differences:
It's not what you slur that counts, it is who is slurring it--and how.
After all, American teams have had Euro-ethnic mascots before, like
the Fighting Irish, the Ragin' Cajuns or the Norsemen. And how about
those Boston Celtics?
No, as an African-American who has heard more than my share of slurs,
I can tell you that to be truly offensive, it helps for a slur to
carry at least a hint of a threat.
If some Caucasians in Greeley, Colo., find little reason to feel
offended, maybe it is because they have little reason to feel
threatened by the Fightin' Whities name. Caucasians in, say, Zimbabwe,
where President Robert Mugabe has not made white farmers feel very
welcome in recent years, might feel a bit more anxious about jokes at
their expense.
Similarly, "Reds" may not sound very offensive to most, but to some
Indian ears it might sound about as menacing as "Redskins," the name
of the NFL football team in the nation's capital. Most Redskins fans
undoubtedly mean no harm by their passivity about their team's name.
If it reminds some Indians of the days when there were bounties on
Indian scalps, that's just tough tomahawks, pal.
Besides, a recent Sports Illustrated poll found that, even on
reservations, most Indians did not think school or professional sports
teams should change their Indian names, despite the near-unanimity of
activists and other busybodies--like me--who think a name like
"Redskins" goes way over the top.
But it is not always easy to get non-Indians to walk a few miles in
the shoes of Native Americans on this issue. Some tend to become
defensive, as if they suddenly are being blamed for all of history's
atrocities against the original Americans.
So I give the Fightin' Whities credit for keeping their wit about
them. Humor often opens doors that battering rams fail to budge.
If nothing else, the Fightin' Whities stumbled across an unusual way
to raise scholarship money. It's like the old saying goes: If you
can't beat 'em, make a few bucks off of 'em.
----------
E-mail: cpt...@aol.com
And others are not confused, especially the Indians
themselves:
Poll drops bomb on Indian nickname, mascot issue
By Brian Ojanpa
Free Press Staff Writer
The 30-year effort to rid the sports landscape of Native American
nicknames and mascots has never been easy. Now, the task has been made
even more difficult by the unlikeliest group of all - Native
Americans.
A nationwide poll that surveyed a cross-section of sports fans and
Indians in general has revealed a startling finding:
The majority of American Indians polled have no problem with the use
of Indian nicknames and symbols and said professional teams shouldn't
stop using them.
Further, most Native Americans surveyed didn't even object to the
Washington football team's name, Redskins, a moniker many regard as a
racial slur.
The poll, commissioned by Sports Illustrated and published in its
March 4 edition, was conducted by the Peter Harris Research Group,
which interviewed Native Americans living on and off reservations as
well as non-Indian fans. Responses were weighted according to U.S.
census figures for age, race and gender.
In other words, this wasn't some high school class project, nor one of
those surveys deliberately skewed to achieve desired findings.
Attacking the messengers - and their methodology - would be futile for
anti-nickname activists, who have been dealt a large blow.
For years, the campaign against Indian nicknames and mascots has
presumed their usages offend Indians. But according to the poll, the
consensus falls in the opposite direction:
83 percent of Indians, and 79 percent of fans, said pro teams should
not stop using Indian nicknames, mascots and symbols.
75 percent of Indians, and 88 percent of fans, said use of the names
and symbols does not contribute to discrimination against Indians.
Asked if high school and college teams should stop using Indian
nicknames, 81 percent of Native American respondents said no.
If anything, the poll reveals the vast disconnect on this issue
between Native American activists and the general Native American
population. It would seem that anti-nickname forces now face an
untenable predicament: Mock the research or mock Native Americans for
their perceived unenlightenment.
The latter has already happened, with Native American activist Suzan
Harjo dismissing the majority's opinion by telling the magazine,
``There are happy campers on every plantation.''
This, of course, is stereotyping in itself - the implication that most
Native Americans simply don't possess the self-esteem and smarts
required to be insulted by teams naming themselves after indigenous
peoples.
Then again, infighting on this complex issue is nothing new. Though
more than 600 schools and minor league teams since 1969 have dropped
Indian nicknames some deem offensive, they not only persist but, in
some instances, have been sanctioned by Native Americans.
Florida State University uses the name Seminoles for its teams with
the approval of the Seminole nation. And several years ago, the
University of Utah offered to drop the nickname Running Utes, and its
eagle-feathers-and-drum logo, if the tribe found them objectionable.
It did not, provided that they be used in a positive manner.
That last point goes the crux of the issue. Names and symbols per se
are usually not the problem. It's the attendant behavior by fans, and
the cartoonish antics of mascots, that Native Americans have rightly
found objectionable.
But even on that point, there is anything but mass disapproval.
Asked what they thought of the tomahawk chop arm motion performed by
fans at Atlanta Braves games, 23 percent of Indians polled found it
objectionable, while 48 percent didn't care and 28 percent said they
liked it.
Brian Ojanpa is a Free Press staff writer. Call him at 344-6316 or
e-mail at: boj...@mankato-freepress.com
Ken (NY)
--
Chairbeing,
Department of Redundancy Department
Assistant Grand Poobah, Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
___________________________________
The Surgeon General advises that eating this message
may be hazardous to your health.
"If man evolved from monkeys and apes,
why do we still have monkeys and apes?"
-G.Carlin
INTHEDOGHOUSE
>From: "Ken [NY" ken4b...@usa.SPAM.net
>Date: 3/19/02 10:29 AM Mountain Standard Time
>Message-id: <a2te9uk9ss75g36ao...@4ax.com>
>
>On 19 Mar 2002 00:08:16 GMT, inthed...@aol.com (INTHEDOGHOUSE)
>breathlessly shared the following:
>
>>> This is the official store of the Fightin' Whites from University of
>>>Northern Colorado. All proceeds from this store will go to the
>>>FIGHTING WHITES SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC."
>>>
>>>Visit the Store
>>> http://www.cafepress.com/fightinwhite
>
>>We heard about this on the radio this last weekend. They said T-shirt sales
>>are going through the roof.
>>
>> DJ
>
> But some are puzzled:
I have no doubt that they are. = )
DJ
Ken [NY
MORE: Fighting Whities Mascot Causes Stir
Mon Mar 18, 2:44 PM ET
By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) - The idea started among some University of Northern
Colorado students as a satirical commentary on a local high school's
American Indian mascot.
The students named their intramural basketball team, made up of
American Indians, Hispanics and whites, "The Fightin' Whites." They
have designed jerseys saying "Every thang's going to be all white,"
with a caricature of a middle-aged white man.
"The Fightin' Whites," however, have taken on a life of their own.
More than 1,600 e-mails have flooded into the university in Greeley,
north of Denver. Some say it's about time that a white person is made
a mascot for a sport team. Others complain the idea as perpetuating
yet another racial stereotype.
"It's obvious some of the people are taking it the way it's not
supposed to be taken," said team member Jeff VanIwarden.
Team members have gotten phone calls from around the country and
invitations to appear on television. They were mentioned by Jay Leno
(news - Y! TV) on the Tonight Show on Tuesday. The American Indian
Movement has weighed in supporting the name.
The team has been referred to as "The Fightin' Whities" around campus,
and that variant caught on nationally.
The team chose the name after it couldn't persuade nearby Eaton High
School to abandon its nickname, "the Fightin' Reds," and the American
Indian caricature on the team logo. The students say the logo is
offensive, a claim Eaton School District Superintendent John Nuspl
disputes.
Some critics say the "Fightin' Whites" name is the wrong way to
protest the high school logo.
"If you are fighting against a perceived injustice, is the proper
recourse to go out and do the very same thing?" asked Michael
Gonsalves of New York.
Others say the team's mascot should be even more exaggerated than a
middle-aged white man with a tie.
"Some people online were saying that the mascot should be ... a fat
guy with buckteeth kissing his sister," said Tom Crebbs of Oakland,
Calif., who heard about the idea and started his own Web site selling
spin-off shirts, hats and mugs.
VanIwarden said demand for the jerseys has been overwhelming. He said
when the shirts are printed, they will have a message condemning
racial stereotypes to dissuade people from making light of the issue.
___
On the Net:
The University of Northern Colorado: http://www.unco.edu
The American Indian Movement: http://www.aimovement.org
Ken (NY)
--
Chairbeing,
Department of Redundancy Department
Assistant Grand Poobah, Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
___________________________________
The Surgeon General advises that eating this message
may be hazardous to your health.
"If man evolved from monkeys and apes,
roman suchecki
These so called native americans ,are they not the decendents of
migrants with mongoloid features that came from Siberia a few thosand
years ago??
RomanEv...@aol.com