The Fighting Honkeys of Illinois?

I was sitting at lunch today with a few friends of mine from work. Two of them are graduates of the University of Illinois, and we started talking about the Chief Illiniwek, and how the alumni are still upset about the school not being allowed to have him as a mascot.

I went to Illinois State University (the poor man's Illinois), but I share their pain. All the hassle the school received to get rid of the Chief seemed unwarranted, especially considering the fact that there are millions of fans who follow the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Redskins. And, even in the college ranks, Florida State fans still cheer on the Seminoles.

When they came after the Illini, the politically correct sect made cries of racism, and said that the school was being insensitive to American Indians. But, if they ever listened to the student body or the alumni, they would never have heard any racism or derision in reference to the Chief or the Illini nation; on the contrary -- their mascot was revered and honored.

The fight to get rid of the Chief started years ago, and I remember back when I was in school that activists walked the ISU campus to hand out pamphlets. I was given one, and I opened it up to see what they had to say.

Inside, they had a made up list of team names -- I don't remember the specifics, but basically, it asked something like, "How would you feel if your team was known as the Peoria Honkeys? Would you cheer on the Bloomington White Men?" There were make believe pennants with different white guys on each -- and then at the end it asked -- "How would you feel?"

As I was looking at it, I thought, in all honestly, I would care less. It really wouldn't bother me in the least. And, I'm guessing that if you asked the same question to most white folk, they'd feel the same way.

You remember at the beginning of the Olympics when everyone was up in arms about the Spain basketball team posing with slanty eyes for their team photo to poke fun at the Chinese -- a lot of people in the US were enraged at the incident. Then, they asked the Chinese for their reaction, and they really didn't care.

I thought it was offensive, but at the same time, I think this country is way too "politically correct." Everyone is offended by everything -- and if they're not, the ACLU will step in to make sure they are.

Bottom line, people should worry about more important things and go after people who are truly racist. Give the Illini their Chief back!

RoadRage