Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - NCAA Bans Native American Mascots in Bowl games and Post season

MontanaXVI · 08-06-2005, 08:54 AM

Quote:

The NCAA announcement Friday that it will ban the use of American Indian mascots and logos by sports teams during postseason NCAA tournaments, but not in the regular season or in major bowl games, has created equal parts confusion and controversy.

The rule, effective Aug. 1, 2008, prohibits displays of "hostile or abusive" references on uniforms of teams, cheerleaders and bands during a postseason NCAA tournament. Also, beginning Feb. 1, 2006, institutions with "hostile or abusive" mascots or imagery are prohibited from hosting any NCAA championship competition.

Some schools are upset they will no longer be able to use American Indian mascots, and that includes Florida State, which notes its use of the Seminole mascot is supported by the Seminole Tribe. Meanwhile, some American Indian leaders claim the ban does not go far enough.

There is some confusion in the fact that some Indian mascot references are not deemed "hostile or abusive," and, therefore, can be kept. The more perplexing issue is the application of the rule: It does not apply to the regular season, and does not apply to Division I-A football bowl games.

"It's a step in the right direction, but just an incremental step," said Dr. Joely De La Torre, president of Naqmayam Communication, a Native American public relations agency, "Why just the postseason? They're just skirting the issue. This would not happen in the African American community or the Asian American community or the Jewish community."

The NCAA said it does not have the authority to legislate school's actions during the regular season.

"What each institution decides to do is really its own business" outside of NCAA championship events, said Walter Harrison, the president of the University of Hartford and chairman of the NCAA executive committee.

The NCAA also said Division I-A bowl games are out of its jurisdiction in regard to this rule, although the NCAA does legislate what sponsorship logos bowl games can display.

"The reason is, the NCAA does not run the bowls, as we do some other postseason tournaments," NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said.

Some bowl directors were surprised their games are not affected by the new rule.

"We are governed by NCAA rules and we are licensed by the NCAA, so I don't know why it doesn't apply to us," Rose Bowl executive director Mitch Dorger said. "The NCAA doesn't conduct the game, but there are some inconsistencies here."

Gary Cavalli, executive director of the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, says he finds the application "a little curious."

The Emerald Bowl, which this season matches teams from the Pac-10 and Mountain West Conference, could have a game this year that includes the Utah Utes, one of the 18 institutions affected by the NCAA ruling. The rule is not in effect this year anyway, and Cavalli said he has not yet decided whether he would observe the NCAA ban even if it is not enforced for bowls. "But we might consider it," he said.

Dorger wasn't prepared to guess whether the Rose Bowl might ban teams who use American Indian mascots either. The Rose Bowl has had teams with such mascots in the past, however: Stanford was called the Indians when it won the Rose Bowls following the 1970 and 1971 seasons.

It was soon after the second Rose Bowl victory that a group of 55 American Indian students at Stanford protested the use of the mascot, and Richard Lyman, then Stanford's president, decided to drop the Indians mascot in 1972, 42 years after it had been officially accepted.

"Back when we did this," said Lyman, now retired and living in Palo Alto, "we thought it was the wave of the future. We never thought that 35 years later, there would still be teams named Indians and Braves."

Lyman was not impressed with the way the NCAA is legislating the change now.

"It's a little silly," he said. "If you're going to do it, why not do it in a sweeping way. I'm bemused. It seems like a bumbling step in the right direction."

The Braves of North Carolina-Pembroke will be exempted, according to the Associated Press, because the school has historically had a high percentage of students, more than 20 percent, who are American Indians.

Regarding Florida State's point that the Seminole Tribe of Florida has given the university permission to continue using "Seminoles," the NCAA told the Associated Press that other Seminole tribes are not supportive.

"I intend to pursue all legal avenues to ensure that this unacceptable decision is overturned," Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said in a statement, "and that this university will forever be associated with the 'unconquered' spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida."
"Hostile or abusive"

The NCAA banned some teams from displaying American Indian names and symbols during NCAA tournaments and playoffs. Here is the NCAA's list of schools with mascots deemed "hostile or abusive":

Braves: Alcorn State (Miss.), Bradley (Ind.), Chowan (N.C.)

Indians: Catawba (N.C.), Midwestern State (Kan.), Indiana-Pennsylvania, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, McMurry (Texas), Newberry (S.C.)

Other: Central Michigan (Chippewas); Florida State (Seminoles); Utah (Utes); Carthage, Wis. (Redmen); Illinois (Illini); Mississippi College (Choctaws); North Dakota (Fighting Sioux); Southeastern Oklahoma State (Savages)

Maybe I missed a big ongoing battle or something that has been making serious headlines for them to do this, but come on. Names or symbols deemedhostile or abusive? What about a team with a Bulldog mascot, what if the dog bites you?

Being an FSU 'Noles fan I find this a bit upsetting especially given the fact that they have the OK of the Seminole people to use the mascot they have.

I don't know and I guess not being a Native American I cannot see the real harm in it, unless the mascot is in any way demeaning or defamatory to these native people.