Florida State Can Keep Its Seminoles (NY Times login: fritopie, password: fritopie)
Florida State threatened to sue over postseason ban
It’s not about an effort to be politically correct. It is about doing the right thing.
- Myles Brand
Wanting to stop discrimination and proscribe racially exploitative team names and mascots is a good thing. In that light, I applaud Myles Brand and the NCAA for wanting to do the right thing. No institution of higher learning should be able to exploit racially discriminatory symbols in the name of marketing and school spirit. That’s just plain wrong.
If only it were that simple, though. What if the racial/ethnic group in question actively supports their association with a school? Does the NCAA then still have the right- nay, the obligation- to prohibit a school from using it’s team name and mascot in NCAA tournaments regardless of a school’s individual situation?
While the NCAA’s collective heart may be in the right place, it’s organizational brain seems to be stuck firmly in neutral. In what seems as a case of PC run amok, the NCAA has decided to employ a howitzer when a mosquito net would likely have been far more effective.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to rid college sports of school nicknames and team mascots that could be deemed “hostile and abusive”. Is it really the NCAA’s place to determine just what qualifies as “hostile and abusive”? Florida’s Seminole Nation, for example, has and continues to be wholeheartedly behind Florida State University. FSU’s athletic department has gone to great pains to observe and respect the cultural sensitivities of the Seminoles. Since the beginning of this controversy, Florida’s Seminoles have protested the characterization of FSU’s Chief Osceola as “hostile and abusive”. If the Seminoles themselves have no issues with FSU using the Seminole name and cultural symbols, why should the NCAA be allowed to say otherwise? Of course, if FSU’s teams were known as the “Wops”, “Niggers”, or “Kikes”, I would be first in line applauding the NCAA for standing up and doing the right thing. Their blanket ban is exactly the wrong thing, done in exactly the wrong manner.
Yesterday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association agreed with the 3,100-member tribe and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, which had also endorsed the nickname. The N.C.A.A. removed Florida State from the list of universities banned from using what it called “hostile and abusive” mascots and nicknames during postseason play.
“The N.C.A.A. executive committee continues to believe the stereotyping of Native Americans is wrong,” Bernard Franklin, the association’s senior vice president for governance and membership, said in a statement. “However, in its review of the particular circumstances regarding Florida State, the staff review committee noted the unique relationship between the university and the Seminole Tribe of Florida as a significant factor.”
A student dressed as Chief Osceola will ride bareback on the Appaloosa horse Renegade to midfield before the season opener against Miami on Sept. 5 in a ceremony indigenous to only Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.
“The N.C.A.A. recognizes the many different points of view on this matter, particularly within the Native American community,” Franklin added. “The decision of a namesake sovereign tribe, regarding when and how its name and imagery can be used, must be respected even when others may not agree.”
On Aug. 5, the N.C.A.A. executive committee issued the ban, which is scheduled to go into effect in February. The prohibition concerns logos, signs in stadiums, cheerleader and band uniforms, and mascots.
Yes, wanting to end racially exploitative measures is a good thing. Unfortunately, the NCAA has gone about achieving their goal bass ackwards. Instead of working with individual schools and determining if discrimination and racial exploitation was truly an issue, the NCAA decided to kill a mosquito with a howitzer. In doing so, the NCAA has displayed a complete lack of sensitivity and common sense. It has never been a secret that Florida’s Seminole Nation is supportive of FSU using their cultural imagery. FSU has taken pains to be respectful and honest in their use of all things Seminole, and both sides have been comfortable with the relationship and have benefitted from it.
There are a few school using the “Indians” nickname. These schools might well prove to be a viable target for the NCAA’s initiative. This effort could, and should, have been conducted quietly and on an individual basis. Instead, the NCAA has chosen to act like a bull in a china shop, trampling sensitivites and ignoring the realities of individual situations. It has proven to be a public relations nightmare for the NCAA, and rightly so. A minimum of thought and creative thinking could have avoided this embarrassing %$&#up. Of course, if NCAA President Myles Brand had displayed even a modicum of intelligent and inspired leadership, I’d be looking for another DUMB@$$.
Join us again next week for another edition of “Doing The Right Thing In Exactly The Wrong Way.”
My son and I went on a short road trip the first week in August. At one point, we drove through the Apache and Navaho reservations in northern New Mexico and Arizona. We passed three high schools on the reservations and they all identified their mascots as 'Chiefs' or 'Warriors'. If its ok with honest to god native americans to call their teams by these names, where does the NCAA get off deciding what is acceptable anf what is not?
I posted on this because most people are unaware of the "deal" between the Seminoles and FSU. This is a business thing, although you'll never find the contract.
The Florida Seminoles also have "issues" with the Oklahoma Seminoles over leaving the state - the Florida tribe didn't, and didn't surrender, although you have to know a Florida Seminole really well to hear about it. The Florida tribe would have fought the ban for no other reason than the Oklahoma tribe supported it.
The Florida tribe makes money from the association with FSU, the representations have to be accurate, they even "forced" the state to change the great seal to reflect a Seminole woman.
I wrote about this issue in my blog (link below) a couple of weeks ago. And I agree with your assessment. There are legitimate reasons to force SOME schools and organizations to abandon their nicknames. But there's no need to lump them all together, especially when many in the native American community are in support.
http://drewlbucket.blogspot.com/2005/08/use-native-american-mascots-for.html