Another Stereotype of the Month entry:

The Seminoles' Trail of Tears

By David Yeagley
FrontPageMagazine.com | August 15, 2005

A non-Indian committee has decided that American Indians cannot bear the shame of an Indian mascot. The National Collegiate Association of Athletes, the latest great white father figure, has banned the use of American Indian mascots and logos during post-season games and tournaments. Put simply, if the Florida State Seminoles football team wins their division, they won't be able to wear their official uniforms in any championship games after February 1, 2006.

The use of Indian names, logos, or mascots is "abusive" and "hostile" toward Indians, say these non-Indian committeemen. Of course, they're basing their theoretical righteousness on the presumptuous statement created by another non-Indian committee, United States Commission on Civil Rights (2001). Elsie Meeks, the blue-eyed, white-skinned "Indian" from South Dakota served as the first (and last?) such Indian on the USCCR, and was responsible for the much doubted and disputed research allegedly forming the foundation of the artificial statement.

NCAA Executive Committee Chairman Walt Harrison (also president of the University of Harford), says "we do not think these types of mascots are appropriate for NCAA championships" and then disguises the NCAA ruling as a gesture of freedom for the university! We want "to say to the [college] institution that you have the autonomy to deal with it as you wish."

Vernon Bellecourt, brother of Clyde葉he great Chippewa anti-"warrior" who preaches that Indians are more pitiful than a helpless, dying woman, is pleased with the NCAA's decision, but it's still not enough for him. He wants all Indian names and logos removed from all teams, everywhere. This grand vision is the antithesis of the spirit that made Indians great, but, it's what we expect from anti-Indians. These Leftist-trained protesters wreak their ethnic cleansing in ever-increasing intensity. They won't be happy until every Indian name is removed from every river, state, county and town in America.

Never mind what real Indians think. There has been only one national, professional survey (Peter Harris) of their thoughts, and 83 percent were not offended, even by names like the Washington Redskins. That survey was published in Sports Illustrated, May 4, 2002.

But the NCAA doesn't care what Indians think. The Florida Seminole Tribe was ignored completely, even after they unanimously supported the used of the Florida State "Seminole" name and mascot.

And the Florida State Seminoles aren't going to take this tyrannical ruling by the NCAA, either. Florida State University president T. K. Wetherell said, "I intend to pursue all legal avenues to insure that this unacceptable decision is overturned, and that this university will ever be associated with the' unconquered' spirits of the Seminole Tribe of Florida." Wetherell shows more respect for Indians than the Bellecourt brothers.

And Florida Governor Jeb Bush supports letting FSU keep its nickname and mascot, a spokeswoman said Friday. "The governor agrees with the Seminole Indian tribe that the term Seminole and the symbol of Chief Osceola are not offensive and are a rich part of the Florida State University tradition."

Why doesn't this matter to Harrison and the NCAA? Why don't they care what other people用articularly Indians葉hink? Where does the committee get such peremptory authority?

The same tyranny happened in the Nyack Indians story in New York. A small high school board ruled against the community to remove the school's Indian logo, yet there wasn't an Indian living in a fifty mile radius of the school. In fact, the Nyack Indians disappeared some 350 years ago. But the presumptuous school board, anxious to keep pace with the national trends of tyranny in the Leftist-controlled education system, overruled the people, declared the Nyack Indians logo offensive, and removed it.

Committees within the American educational system, even elected committees, simply do not consult the people. Committees make their own decisions. It's all about power, indeed, tyranny. It's not about what the people want. It's about power grabbing by a very few individuals妖ictating to the masses, even when the masses are opposed. Communism is alive and well in the education system.

But the NCAA is not even an educational body, and their mission statement addresses no such concerns as mascots. The blurb about "institutional autonomy" which Harrison quotes is wholly ironic, since the NCAA rule against mascots distinctly robs the college institution of its freedom to choose. "You do what we say, or you can't play." That's the NCAA position on a school's athletic activity.

The NCAA doesn't control the 28 college bowl games yet, but just 88 post-season tournaments. That should satisfy them for now.

Rob's reply
>> Of course, they're basing their theoretical righteousness on the presumptuous statement created by another non-Indian committee, United States Commission on Civil Rights (2001). <<

No, they're basing it on decades of opposition by thousands of Native individuals, tribes, and organizations.

>> Elsie Meeks, the blue-eyed, white-skinned "Indian" from South Dakota <<

As opposed to Yeagley, the white-skinned Indian from under a rock?

>> Vernon Bellecourt, brother of Clyde葉he great Chippewa anti-"warrior" who preaches that Indians are more pitiful than a helpless, dying woman <<

Typically, Yeagley thinks anyone who protests injustice against Indians is an "anti-warrior." He hasn't lifted a finger to help Native people, but he considers himself the last true Indian. Unfortunately for him, I've shredded this arrogant claim to pieces in almost every one of his columns.

Note that Yeagley, the self-appointed he-man, thinks being a woman is about the most pitiful thing he can think of. How sad and sexist.

>> This grand vision is the antithesis of the spirit that made Indians great, but, it's what we expect from anti-Indians. <<

Removing names is the antithesis of the Indian spirit? Then "the spirit that made Indians great" involves naming every person, place, and thing after an Indian? What an inane, comical statement.

For Yeagley's information, Natives weren't known for aggrandizing themselves by naming things after themselves. Duh.

>> They won't be happy until every Indian name is removed from every river, state, county and town in America. <<

Another ridiculous claim. The only place names that Indians have tried to change are those with the word squaw in them. No one has ever protested the thousands of Indian place names and Yeagley can't prove otherwise.

See the Canard of States' Names for another response.

>> There has been only one national, professional survey (Peter Harris) of their thoughts, and 83 percent were not offended, even by names like the Washington Redskins. <<

The survey may have been national, although I have a hard time imagining the pollsters trooping to all the remote reservations and Alaskan villages without phone service. But it wasn't professionally done, and it wasn't professional of Peter Harris to omit its survey methodology. See The Sports Illustrated Poll on Mascots for details.

>> But the NCAA doesn't care what Indians think. <<

Sure it does. That's why it acted: because many Indians oppose Indian mascots. The Many Voices of Opposition offers a partial list of mascot foes.

See the Canard of the NCAA Knows Best for more.

>> The Florida Seminole Tribe was ignored completely, even after they unanimously supported the used of the Florida State "Seminole" name and mascot. <<

The views of the Florida Seminoles were put in their proper context, Yeagley means, because the NCAA believed the Oklahoma Seminoles opposed FSU's names. And the unanimous vote was of the small tribal council, not the large tribe as a whole.

See Why FSU's Seminoles Aren't Okay for more information.

>> Wetherell shows more respect for Indians than the Bellecourt brothers. <<

Yeah, we can tell by how he insulted the non-Florida Seminoles. Again, see Why FSU's Seminoles Aren't Okay for more information.

>> Why doesn't this matter to Harrison and the NCAA? Why don't they care what other people用articularly Indians葉hink? <<

Why should they care what Jeb Bush thinks? His opinion is even more irrelevant than Yeagley's.

>> Where does the committee get such peremptory authority? <<

From its members, that's where. That's how voluntary associations work. They elect people to make decisions for them and these people do their jobs. It's called representative democracy, doofus.

"Tyranny" = democracy
>> The same tyranny happened in the Nyack Indians story in New York. A small high school board ruled against the community to remove the school's Indian logo <<

I gather "the same tyranny" refers to the actions of a duly elected school board. Yep, those democracies sure can seem tyrannical when you don't agree with their decisions. But the proper remedy is to elect new representatives, not squeal like a stuck pig.

>> But the presumptuous school board, anxious to keep pace with the national trends of tyranny in the Leftist-controlled education system, overruled the people <<

"Overruled" apparently means "represented" in Yeagley-speak.

>> Committees within the American educational system, even elected committees, simply do not consult the people. <<

Again, see the definition of representative democracy.

>> It's all about power, indeed, tyranny. It's not about what the people want. It's about power grabbing by a very few individuals妖ictating to the masses, even when the masses are opposed. <<

Tell it to George Bush and his unpopular war on Iraq, nitwit, if you really believe what you're saying. Or admit you're a raving hypocrite.

>> But the NCAA is not even an educational body, and their mission statement addresses no such concerns as mascots. <<

Wrong. Any body with colleges as members is an educational body by definition. And see NCAA Decides for Indians "Without Their Express Consent" for what the NCAA's mission statement actually says.

>> The blurb about "institutional autonomy" which Harrison quotes is wholly ironic, since the NCAA rule against mascots distinctly robs the college institution of its freedom to choose. <<

More nonsense. NCAA members remain free to choose to accept the ban, protest it, change the rules, elect new leaders, or quit the organization.

Related links
Team names and mascots
Yeagley the Indian apple

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