Newberry College was recently forced by the NCAA to “retire the use of ‘Indians’ as the school’s athletic nickname, effective with the end of all team’s current playing seasons.”

It’s appalling to me that the Newberry College press release uses “retire” to describe the termination of their racist nickname. Newberry College should have gotten rid of their nickname a long time ago. I decided to write them a letter:

Dear Newberry College,
It is time to remove your nickname, do not retire it, delete it. Listen and learn, using Native American imagery/names, unless tacitly approved by a Native Nation, is racist and harmful.

Please disband the “Indian Club” and the “Rowdy Reds.” Stop using arrowheads and spears as derogatory accessories to your racist nickname.

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• College of William and Mary replaces logo to shed Indian feathers
• Undocumented students in U.S. could pay in-state tuition
• Oregon Panel Explores In-state Tuition For Undocumented Immigrants
• Northeastern State University revises graduation policy and allows Native American students to wear items such as feathers, beads, medallions, stoles, or other relevant tribal insignia during NSU commencement ceremonies.
• N.C. Community Colleges President Defends Undocumented Immigrant Policy
• Tenure at MIT still largely a male domain

The NCAA and the University of North Dakota have come to an agreement regarding the racist Fighting Sioux logo. Instead of banning UND for division I athletics until they remove the racist logo, the NCAA has decided to collaborate with UND. In an unbelievably awful move, the NCAA has given (gotta love it when non-Native American institutions give each other power over Native Americans…ugh!) UND three years to get the Sioux tribes to change their minds about the racist logo/mascot/symbol. WTF!

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Chief Illiniwek was eliminated at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Richard Herman, the Chancellor of UIUC, apparently did not get the memo about the end of the Chief’s racist reign.

Dave Zirin of Sports Illustrated writes about the unbelievably awful resurrection of the chief.

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Update: I dug through a recycling bin and found a copy of the Daily Barometer with the blackface photograph:

The Daily Barometer is the student-run newspaper at Oregon State University. A recent front page article showed a photograph of a white student in blackface. The article encouraged OSU students to “blackout” the football stadium.

Renee Roman Nose, an OSU student and frequent Daily Barometer columnist, wrote a column in response to the Barometer blackface photograph/article.

Unfortunately, the Barometer editorial staff/advisory board took umbrage with Renee’s column and have banned that column and any of her future columns from being printed in the student newspaper.

I found out about Renee’s column and sent her an email asking if I could post it on my blog. Renee’s response: “Please feel free to post it. It’s nice to know that there is freedom of speech at ericstoller.com!

Renee’s column entitled, Blackface: It’s Just for Racists, is after the cut…

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Apparently things are worse than I thought at the University of North Dakota. Sally Page, UND’s affirmative action officer, has stated in a memo to campus administrators that publicly opposing the UND “nickname and Indian-head logo” could create an “unwelcome” climate for students who support the “nickname.” I think that Sally Page is forgetting about all of the UND students, staff, and faculty members who are made unwelcome on a DAILY basis by the presence and implied university support of UND’s racist imagery.

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