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Announcement :: Protest Activity |
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ANTI CHIEF RALLY THIS FRIDAY NITE |
Current rating: 0 |
by steven rosado
Email: rosado1 (nospam) uiuc.edu (unverified!) |
27 Oct 2005
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Anti Chief rally this friday nite, meeting at 6 pm on the quad side of illini unon to march to huff hall for 7pm volleybal game where he'll be present. Any questions e-mail me |
Chief Illiniwek is awesome and a symbol of U of I tradition! YEAH RIGHT! Now
that I have your attention with that idiotic statement I can begin.
The chief. Our Board of Trustees, claiming to speak on behalf of the
university, says he should stay and they’d like to keep him. Funny how we as
students, faculty, staff or residents of the state of Illinois are not allowed to even
elect the BOT members, for they our merely appointed essentially based on who
they can count on as friends. Yet through this appointment they wield the power
to speak for us unfortunately. It’s a travesty yes, but that’s a separate issue.
The more pertinent issue is the chief. The time is approaching when a
decision will be made, some sort of final resolution on the issue. In the
meantime, that’s only served to increase the need for drastic and direct action
to be taken by those who oppose the chief. It was recently brought to my
attention that the chief performs at women’s volleyball games, and that
admission to these games is free. The next game is this Friday, October 28th, at
7pm inside of Huff Hall. I say the time to begin taking this action is now,
beginning this Friday and continuing in some form every week in order to keep
the pressure on the university.
I realize it’s already Wednesday afternoon and people might be trying to
plan out their social calendar and making other plans for the weekend.
Regardless, I implore you all to come out for the anti-chief rally this Friday. You
have to sacrifice things sometimes in order to get results, so push back those
plans a little bit if you’re really down for the cause. Consider this a direct
challenge to all of those who claim to be “anti-chief.” It’s real easy to sit around
with your friends, or in classrooms, meetings etc. and just say you’re anti-chief
and complain about his presence on this campus. It’s a whole other thing
though to actually step up and do something yourself about it, or at the least be
a part of something yourself. Don’t expect people to do things for you if you
want to see change. If history has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t rely on
others (specifically governmental and bueracratic institutions such as the U of I)
to make change for you out the blue. You must force the issue and press for
change yourself if you wish to see it happen. Thus, you need to do more than
just say you’re “anti-chief” and saw screw the chief etc…you basically have to go
out there and REALLY screw the chief, if that makes any sense.
I’M PLEADING FOR YOU ALL TO COME OUT FRIDAY NIGHT FOR THE RALLY.
In a place like Huff Hall we can make our voices heard and start contributing in
more ways than sitting around conversing about the issue. We can let the
University know as students, staff, faculty, and community members that we
don’t support the use of this blatantly racist mascot as a symbol for the school.
Friday night we will be meeting out on the quad side of the union at 6pm.
We will wait about 20 minutes for people to show up and then head over to Huff
Hall (remember admission is FREE) to ensure we can all sit together as a
cohesive unit. We’ll wait for the chief to appear during the intermission and
begin our movement. If you are familiar with the rules of soccer, a red card
issued to a player means s/he has been ejected. Apparently there is something
similar in volleyball with the use of red cards, though I think it pertains to the
substitutions. Regardless, I plan on distributing red cards to all of the
protestors. When the chief appears we will stand in unison chanting “TAKE HIM
OUT” “NO MORE CHIEF” “RAI-SIS-IM)…I like the idea of dragging out the last
chant and stressing all the syllables. I’m going to develop some other chants
and if anyone else has some they’d like to pass along we’ll incorporate those as
well. We’ll leave immediately following his appearance. My goal is to have at
least 200 people attend this rally. Considering how many people like to label
themselves as “anti-chief” I hope this shouldn’t be difficult, and if you’re truly
committed to the removal of the chief as a symbol I hope you’ll set aside what
you may have planned and come out for the rally, so I really hope to see much
more than 200 people out. I’m asking all of you who received this e-mail to
please help spread the word since it’s so last minute by sending this letter I’ve
wrote. If you’re in an RSO (especially if you’re president of an RSO), in an
academic dept (i.e. anthropology), or an administrative unit (i.e. ODOS, OAR) I’m
BEGGING you to PLEASE forward this e-mail to whoever is on your department/
organizations/units listserv and to please send it to everyone in your address
book. For professors who’ve received this e-mail, I’d really appreciate it if you
can make an announcement about the rally to all your classes whether it’s in
class or via e-mail. If you are able to make it I hope you can bring as many
people as possible, and though I don’t want to encourage people to not show
up, if you can’t for some reason still SPREAD THE WORD PLEASE anyways and
help get people to show up. If your organization or department is anti-chief (i.e.
UC Hip-hop congress), bring your organizations/departments official poster or
banner that you have so that we can display to the university that they’re a
number of organizations that don’t support the chief. In general you all are also
encouraged to make signs and bring them down to the rally.
I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read this e-mail and I hope
to see all of you on Friday, hopefully all of you bring people as well and we can
make an impact on the issue. Please help me spread the event through word of
mouth and e-mails, and I do hope to see a significant number of students,
faculty, staff, and community members in attendance.
QUICK RECAP
This Friday October 28th, meet at 6pm in front of the union (quad side) we’ll all
walk to huff hall around 6:20 for the 7pm game
Peace
Steven Rosado |
This work is in the public domain |
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Re: ANTI CHIEF RALLY THIS FRIDAY NITE |
by a member of the silent majority
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
28 Oct 2005
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What kind of point is it you want to make here....that the minority opinion is very vocal? I agree with you that the Trustees should be elected, but do you really think this would change anything? Every survey of state residents and taxpayers, as well as the recent student election, has indicated the Chief has the support of an overwhelming majority. Even polls of American Indians, when not 'stacked' with intellectual types, has shown they either support team imagery, or are neutral on the issue.
If your rally makes you feel better, go for it! And then think about putting all that energy and passion you have into an issue that would REALLY help Native America! |
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Overheard During the Genocide of the Last Century |
by ill of the "chief"
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
28 Oct 2005
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"Just be a good German. It's what the majority wants." |
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Re: ANTI CHIEF RALLY THIS FRIDAY NITE |
by anti-silent
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
30 Oct 2005
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The majority who display the save the chief stickers are white while those who oppose are multicultural (including Anglos). If one was to disaggregate the last student referendum on the masoct, it would show students of color overwhelmingly oppose the Chief because it adds to an already hostile climate on campus and in the community. The NCAA is right to step in, just like they stepped in during the 60's to help end segregation in sports.
And yes, once the mascot is replaced, more American Indians will want to come to this campus.
Thank you Steven Rosado for speaking up, and helping to mobilize on this issue. Wish more Indy folks were inclined to address this issue of social justice. |
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Re: ANTI CHIEF RALLY THIS FRIDAY NITE |
by anti-pc
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
31 Oct 2005
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And where are your facs based, anti-silent? And by the way, when did "multi-culturalism" become the end-all be-all of existence? Multi-culturalism is a MEANS, not an END. It's a good thing, granted, but there are far more important things than making sure everyone feels really happy about themselves and what other people think of them. |
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Re: ANTI Right-Wing |
by anti-silent
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 Nov 2005
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The facts are in the CU community. Open your eyes anti-pc. Look who drives around with those pro-chief stickers, who sport the mascot logo, who attend the BOT meetings in support of the mascot, who stand and cheer the “chief” as he shamelessly dances his white man’s version of a sacred act. I agree with you that multiculturalism is a means not an end – the end being democratic participation and social justice for all – not just for those with wealth and privilege. If you follow the mascot issue, even you will see the threat of retiring the racist mascot is being strongly opposed because having an ethnic mascot represents an overall ability to keep certain population in their “place”. Connect this mind set with other issues and you’ll see that even the mascot issue is tied with reasons for invading Iraq, Haiti, etc. The mascot represents an allegiance to a right wing missionary ideology of domination and aggression. |
