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Parent Article: "Anti-Chief " Sit-in in Progress |
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Hidden with code "Duplicate post" |
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I'm a fascist? |
by PS
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -1
16 Apr 2004
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Dr. Hilty, if you truly believe that support for the Chief as a symbol of OUR University makes me a fascist, then I have very serious reservations about quoting anything ELSE from your rebuttal....but I will.
"First, let's be clear about one thing: the chief mascot is a symbol of hatred, oppression, racism, and genocide, and that's precisely why the pro-chief supporters love it (even though they won't admit this to either themselves or others). Once again the dark side of human nature reveals itself -- the same side of human nature that committed genocide against the native Amerindians and drove the few survivors off their land."
Actually, I think the vast majority of people see Chief Illiniwek as a symbol of pride and strength. The only hatred is coming from you and your compatriots who are trying to paint all Chief supporters with one broad, poorly-aimed brush by claiming that we support genocide, oppression, and racism.
The Chief isn't the skull of our vanquished enemy, stuck on a pole and tied to the gates of the state. Instead, the symbol exists to pay honor and tribute to the peoples that founded the state that pays your salary-a people who no longer exist, for the most part because of inter-tribal warfare. If you're going to point the genocidal finger, make sure it starts with the inter-tribal warfare that Native Americans waged among themselves for years. Are THEY also racist?
"Let's look at the historical context of this chief symbol. It was adopted as the university mascot during the 1920's. What happened during this time period? There was a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, which had an active chapter at the University of Illinois. In Champaign-Urbana, blacks weren't allowed to eat at the same restaurants as white people, and they were forced to sit in the balcony of movie theaters."
Your pretext in this paragraph is so ludicrous it's almost humorous. To say that tying the Roaring 20's to the KKK to the Chief is a stretch is understatement to the "n"th degree. I suppose that the well publicized alcohol problems suffered by some Native Americans is a result of Prohibition, which was also in effect at this time? Neither premise has any basis in fact...and Champaign Urbana wasn't alone in having racially divided issues at that time, so the Chief could have been introduced virtually anywhere in the country and the same weak argument could be made. Again, your premise has no basis in fact-you're just throwing mud on the wall.
"During the 1920's, a growing number of people were subjected to mandatory sterilization in the United States if they were in prison or institutionalized for mental illness or mental disability. Meanwhile, fascism and Nazism continued to spread throughout Europe. It was within this context that the chief became the mascot of the university."
Here's another verse, same as the other verse. I could go through history books and pick out just as many positive events that happened in the 20's to counter your "fascist regime bastards" examples, but I won't. Your agenda really comes out in this paragraph, though-if someone doesn't agree with your message, they're supporters of the police state and have their thumbs on the heads of the downtrodden.
I'll come back to this response and continue it-you've got some whoppers in the seconfd half of your post that I have yet to address.
Phil the Fascist |
