The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

Once again Tarzan has come to the rescue. This time he is rescuing Native Americans from the “horrors” of sports teams who use Indian-themed names.

Fed up with what it considers “hostile” and “abusive” American Indian nicknames, the NCAA announced Friday it would shut those words and images out of postseason tournaments, a move that left some school officials angry and threatening legal action.

Starting in February, any school with a nickname or logo considered racially or ethnically “hostile” or “abusive” by the NCAA would be prohibited from using them in postseason events. Mascots will not be allowed to perform at tournament games, and band members and cheerleaders will also be barred from using American Indians on their uniforms beginning in 2008. (more…)

If we were in a stadium right now watching this game of political correctiveness, I would invite all of you to grab a seat near me so that we could watch this game up close. Grab a beer, a bag of peanuts, and a hot dog and let’s watch this game together, shall we?

What you will notice as we are watching this game and cheering for our favorite team, the REAL Native Americans that are sitting in the bleachers across the way are not getting the attention that they deserve from a society that claims to be moved by guilt of the past. While we are high-five’n ourselves for a victory against “stereotypes”, we have simply overlooked the fact that there are many Indian reservations out there that are still plagued with issues like poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence, and others. While we have enjoyed frequenting casinos on Indian reservations, we have not taken the time to see if monies earned from these types of ventures are having any significant impact on destructive issues I just mentioned.

Sadly, some wealthy gaming tribes have turned a blind eye to the needs of their Indian neighbors and Indian service organizations. In California many Indian families have been disenrolled with nearly 1,500 and hundreds more threatened. Gaming has brought in the dominant cultures disease of GREED. There are numerous reservations where non-Indian families were adopted into various tribes years ago. Now these non-Indians have taken control whereby they have disenrolled original Indian families. The American Indian Movement (AIM) usually fought outside forces to preserve sovereignty and culture. Now the new destructive threat is from within, something Indians never thought would happen. Our survival as Native Indians will be achieved though our unity as one people, not disunity. (more…)

Perhaps this would be a good time to stop the game of PC and listen to what THE NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE (not the activists) have to say:

The real Seminoles gave the university permission to use the “Seminoles” nickname and tribal symbols in 1997, but activist groups such as the American Indian Movement and the NCAA are pressuring the university to stop using the “racist” imagery. Real Seminoles, however, say they are proud of the association and would be somewhat dismayed if out-of-state busybodies had their way.

“I have a problem with other native groups from around the country telling the Seminoles of Florida what is right or wrong for us,” said Louise Gopher, education director for the Seminole Tribe of Florida.(more…)

Ahh! But Tarzan knows better than the native man.

Pay close attention to this whole debate. You will notice that the REAL needs of Native American people will barely be mentioned in most, if not all of the heated debates. Liberalism will once again pat itself on the back for fighting off “ignorance” but not stay long enough to CONSTRUCTIVELY address the real issues. Bellowing out that familiar Tarzan yell, Liberalism grabs for the nearest vine and swings away while the “natives” (in this case Native Americans) are supposed to look with great admiration at this great man that gave them a voice instead of a helping hand.

If y’all want to keep watching this game of PC, let me go ahead and spoil it for you by telling you the final score: PC activists 1 Native American People–a big zero.