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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Stop Racism Against Native Americans |
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by geoff
Email: deathboy (nospam) bobcat.bradley.edu (unverified!) |
21 May 2001
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Bradley University has a terrible history of racism against Native Americans. Recent efforts to end their stereotypical nickname, the 'Braves,' which represents the most explicit symbol of the University's exploitative traditions, has only resulted in further offensiveness on the part of Bradley administrators. Call the President of the University (David Broski) and demand that he cease the school's use of the Braves nickname immediately! --> 309.677.3167 |
\'Going to Meet the Man\' by Geoffrey Frost
The struggle to abolish the use of Native American imagery at Bradley University has gone on for years. It has always been an uphill battle, and progres has only been achieved with the administration kicking and screaming the whole way. The most notable success is that , due to pressure from faculty and Native Americans, Bradley agreed to relinquish the offensive caricature \"Brad E. Lee\" as the tomahawk-chopping mascot in 1993. Since that time, we have worked to completely sever the ties between Bradley University and that racist legacy by ending use of the \'Braves\' as the school nickname. With the appointment of Dr. David Broski as President of the university this year, we hoped that with him might come a more proactive stance that would finally lay this embarrassment to rest.
Thus, at the beginning of the school year (September 2000), representatives from Bradley\'s students and faculty requested a meeting with the new president in order to discuss this issue. Instead, we were deflected to the Student Affairs and Dr. Alan Galsky, who promised us a meeting with the President when he spoke to us. For six months we waited, continually shunted aside by the administration, treated as though we were some kind of disease rather than the concerned members of the Bradley community that we are: long-time, respected faculty and award-winning, dedicated students. Finally, after the school year had ended, after statements from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission condemning the use of Native American nicknames, after endorsement of the abolition of the nickname by the student newspaper, and after our continued outcry in public forums, the President agreed to a meeting at 8:00 AM on Friday, May 18th.
Four of us were able to attend the meeting: Professors Dr. Zeev Gorin, Dr. Timothy Conley, as well as students Dessie Bownas and Geoffrey Frost. In response, four administrators faced us in the conference room for the meeting: Dr. David Broski, Dr. Stan Liberty, Dr. Alan Galsky, and Kathy Fuller. Once we were all seated, Broski told us to begin, arguing that we had requested the meeting so we should speak first. Thus, right from the start he treated us and our concerns as unpleasant and inconvenient. In reality, we were the ones facing unpleasantness - that of having to convince one\'s own university to end its institutional racism.
For twenty minutes we detailed the numerous negative effects that necessitate the abolition of the nickname. Dessie, a native of the Choctaw tribe herself, summarized the results of her year-long research into the history of Native American imagery at Bradley University and its heritage or racism: war paint, squaw dances, mascots, and more, always at the expense of Native Americans. Dr. Gorin explained the history of massive abuses and genocide against Indian peoples in the United States, and the dishonor of memorializing one\'s victims through sports nicknames. I spoke of the continuing hypocrisy of our university that, while arguing so vehemently that it honors and respects Native Americans, agrees to exhibition basketball games with the U of I - the most infamous of racist universities - for the sole purpose of profit at Indians\' expense. Finally, Dr. Conley reiterated the simple fact that there has never been one substantive argument for keeping the nickname offered by the administration in all the years we have been working to change it. Throughout it all, the administrators remained silent. They offered nothing. No excuses for their inaction, no contrary arguments, nothing.
We continued, with Dr. Gorin and Dr. Conley pointedly reflecting on the discomfort of teaching courses on Native Americans designed to give students an understanding that goes beyond stereotypes while the very university they teach at continues to wallow in those same stereotypical images. Dessie revealed the torment of attending a university that degrades her daily and refuses to address the concerns of perhaps its most vulnerable minority, all the while hypocritically touting diversity. Their response was nothing. No acceptance, no understanding, no apologies. Nothing. Broski glanced at his watch and announced the meeting was over. As he got up to leave, Dessie asked him what he was going to do. And that\'s when he said it: \"Nothing.\" He looked straight into her eyes and repeated it: \"Nothing,\" and again turned to leave. He said that his mind was made up.
She asked him to admit it, if he refused to do a thing to at least admit to the racism of his actions. He faked offence and walked out. Dr. Conley lamented his outrage at being invited to a meeting in futility - pouring out his heart to stone-faced administrators with no intention of listening. Broski scoffed at him and left, and the four of us walked out in shock while the rest of the administrators offered half-heartened polite formalities. This is how our new president treats his community - as uninvited guests to Bradley, Inc.
Call the President of Bradley University, Dr. David Broski, and demand that he end the use of the \'Braves\' nickname and end one of the legacies of the university\'s racist history. Call him--> 309.677.3167 |
