Missing The Point

February 21, 2007

I’ve got a short missive up on Page 2 on the retirement of Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois. Look below the picture of Captain Kangaroo.
Well, here’s a brief MAIL CALL!!! This is from Travis.

Because of you pc hammer-heads, we have to make a big deal about a guy dressed in full Indian gear.
How about making yourself a hero and find out who is using steroids in baseball or rail against the NBA thug-reefer league
instead of college mascots.
Give us a break

You know, I love how the retort to an attack of a stereotype involves invoking another stereotype.
The funniest part to me, though, is being called a “pc hammerhead.” I’ve been called lots of things. Politically correct? Well, this is a first.

8 Comments

Prev Next

Comments

reply

evan

September 21, 4681, 9:48 pm

I'm down with tribal names for a school, but mascots are easily as much a caricature as a tribute in most instances. Uninformed bigots can't ever make their "point" without trying to come off as much smarter than they coudl hope to be. Go travis!
reply

Chrichelle

September 21, 4682, 9:48 pm

I have to agree with evan on the caricature/tribute point. Honestly, I think that Travis needs to ponder how it'd feel to have your culture exclusively represented as mascots rather than respectable individuals or figures of prominence. Above/beyond all, Travis' response is one that doesn't deserve a response. I certainly hope you ignored it Bo. The tenor of his response was not one to begin a thoughtful discussion, but rather a childish rant.
reply

Natalie

September 21, 4683, 9:48 pm

What is even sadder is that U of I is only doing this because they have not been allowed to host (or is it play in) some tournaments because of the mascot. There have been complaints about the mascot being insulting caricature forver but until the money was messed with it didn't really matter.
reply

Rachel

September 21, 4684, 9:48 pm

He could have summed it up as--"Why are you attacking the Negros; we want you Injun mascots."
reply

Rachel

September 21, 4685, 9:48 pm

Typo....Why aren't you attacking the Negros.
reply

Rex

September 21, 4686, 9:48 pm

I was in Subway today getting my grub when a fellow ordered his sandwich on "white bread." The "sandwich artist" replied that he had to specify which one he wanted. So, he asks which one was plain, and she responded "Italian" bread. He then said, "OK, on the 'Italian' bread then. I didn't know I had to be politically correct in ordering my sandwich." Everyone in the place busted out laughing...
reply

Brian

September 21, 4687, 9:48 pm

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 Overkill When my son was an adolescent, at times he seemed to feel it was a great personal trial to be burdened with two younger sisters. They gossiped about his business, they drank the last bottle of soda. They even, occasionally, had the temerity to date his friends. Invariably, "incidents" would occur. that he felt needed parental adjudication. He would come to us, in what my husband called "high torque."...demanding reparation, revenge,or a little of both. Soon, as parents, we noticed a pattern developing. Although, he was usually "right" in these incidents...often, we ended up truly annoyed...with HIM. . One fine day, he emerged from the basement, red-faced, clutching an opened old record album. It was so old that my daughter had assumed it was one of mine. "No," he explained. It was a "collectors" Fats Domino album (Who knew he knew about Fats Domino? ... We were more of the Chubby Checker ilk.) He had purchased it from a friend, unopened, as an "investment"... now forever denied him because his sister removed the cellophane. He wanted her grounded. He wanted her allowance. He wanted her first born child sold to compensate for his financial loss. . We were on his side for the first five minutes, still sympathetic at ten, but after fifteen minutes my husband heatedly asked our son why this great investment was tossed on a pile in the basement? Soon after, Dad summarily banned him to his room. . Later we went up to speak to him. We hadn't been entirely fair either. But we had diagnosed his problem. Why did someone, usually more sinned against than sinning, often find himself so unsympathetic? What was in play here? . Overkill. . He just didn't know when to stop. His anger, his self-righteousness, his overplayed and over-long indignation became exceedingly unattractive. He never would concede two sides to any story. He would never concede at all. So, from a position of strength , his arguments descended into the ludicrously overblown. . Overkill. . My son, I'm happy to say, outgrew that quality, so-o-o, I used to think it was adolescent in origin. But the Duke Lacrosse case has proved me wrong. Overkill affects all ages. This case is loaded with it. . Today I read the Bomani Jones article for ESPN. I felt an old familiar reaction. Is it just me, or are we on overkill here? ENOUGH about the stripper party and underage drinking! Spare me one more description of this "racist" team! To paraphrase Shakespeare ( are you out there President Brodhead?) whatever happened was a grievous fault and grievously have these boys PAID for it. . It's been a year of astounding pain for these young men. You and others like you... that have repeated the same now overblown mantra again and again... you have had your pound of flesh. The team has paid for their party in the most terrible ways. They have been slandered, and smeared, hounded, even threatened. But although the Hoax is crumbling, pundits like you... seem unable to adjust your rhetoric or your thinking. You're stuck on last Spring. STOP! For God's sake, enough about the party! . You remind me, Bomani, of another young man and what I used to think about him: "He just didn't know when to stop. His anger, his self-righteousness, his overplayed and over-long indignation became exceedingly unattractive. He never would concede two sides to any story. He would never concede at all. So, from a position of strength , his arguments descended into the ludicrously overblown." I hope you outgrow it too. . That said, let's address the "racial epithets." I abhor them in every instance. I abhor them here. I really abhorred them eleven months ago. But after media distortion, and prevaricating pundits, an outright LYING district attorney, hidden DNA results, Gottlieb's magic notes, and on and on and on ... I find myself asking some questions. Besides our "haven't had sex for a week", "new-to-dancing," troubled, self medicated, drinking stripper with "a long psychological history"...who else is there to verify anything BUT the "white cotton shirt" remark? Who else? I'm waiting. (And excuse me, there is NO record of previous racial incidents. NONE. Stop insinuating that there is.) . While we wait, let's talk about the "white cotton shirt "exchange.Kim Roberts said that the one or two comments in question were provoked by a vile racist comment of her own. (You left THAT detail out, didn't you?) So you have a sorry incident of poor behavior by two individuals: Kim and a unidentified player. . That retort was NOT made by Reade or Collin or Dave, the three falsely accused currently in Durham's collective legal clutches. But, Bomani, some of you seem to want these three boys..the ones you have in hand... to pay SOME significant price for it. And you seem to like the idea that the whole team be branded for life as part of a "racist" group...for this one nasty exchange ,one Spring night, in their youth. Do you suggest then, in the same spirit, that all Nifong's ADA's pay professionally for his transgressions: be branded as part of a group of" corrupt prosecutors" and shunned? " Or the entire English Dept at Duke be called "racist" in turn for their then-colleague Houston Baker's racist remarks in a letter last Spring? Shall we all make lists of who must be ruined for what? . If racist comments were made by anyone, it was wrong. . I think we said that eleven months ago. . And ten months ago. . And last week. We agree. We disapprove. Alrighty then.. it's one VERIFIED exchange. . PLEASE STOP NOW. . But you say, maybe there were MORE remarks. . What other credible "proof" exists of other remarks? ( "credible" being the key word here? ) Who told you that? Who are you trusting? America's most infamous D.A., the integrity-challenged, notorious Mike Nifong? And his "source" was? Oh, yes...Crystal Gayle Mangum: a troubled woman whose story changes substantially in every telling! What would give HER word any standing or credence above 47 other witnesses (48 if you count Kim)? Only the fervent DESIRE of some of you to have confirmation of something YOU WANT to have happened. That's it! . It feels good to believe it. You want these them to be guilty of SOMETHING so much. . Because although you don't know THESE boys, you think you know.... "boys like that." . Once that was called prejudice. What's it called today? . This "bad behavior" is all you have now. You clutch it to your bosom and wave it in our face to distract from the true hideousness of this Hoax. Racial epithets are the fall-back position of the "Something must have happened crowd." But..where's the proof? Every substantial lie uncovered to date has come from Crystal, Nifong or their enablers. Yet, you want to harp on these same themes, beat on them, demand apologies, demand trials, demand denunciations, demand God knows what! Bomani, you and those with your mindset, have so overplayed your hand. You are the very definition of "overkill." . Are you going to counter..."But one of them lied about their names to hire the strippers." Oh, give it up and go to your room. I said SUBSTANTIAL lies. If there were racist remarks, they were deplorable. I don't approve. . . I don't approve of parties with strippers either. Or women who work as strippers. Or using a taxi as a lethal weapon. Or pole dancing, lap dancing, trysts with strangers in motels. I don't approve of modeling lingerie for your "driver" or trolling motels while your little children are cared for by others. I don't approve of conceiving children whose Daddy you can't identify. . I don't approve of calling such a woman a "goddess," a "sister survivor," or a "queen." I don't approve of lying about rape to get out of jail free. Or lying about rape to win an election. Or lying about evidence to cover other lies. I don't approve of folks who use a tragedy like this to build an audience, sell newspapers, push an agenda, get funding, or maybe a better gig for themselves. I don't approve of folks who make the most far-fetched excuses for "their side," and ignore actual evidence that supports the other. I don't approve of reporters who insinuate, Bonami, what they can NOT prove. . There is no record of racial incidents by this team. . So I ask you...when will it be enough? And when will you and your colleagues show the slightest bit of shame for your own sorry role in this travesty. The inaccuracies, the innuendos, the truly shoddy, unsubstantiated, biased reporting? . And what about YOU? Has there never been a regretful moment, a hurtful remark, a mote in your own eye? NONE? NEVER? I watched the other night while a woman...who condemned the teams' "treatment of women" last Spring, humiliated a young waitress who had no recourse other than to endure her. Her own "treatment of women," rolling once so righteously from her lips... might need some tweaking as well. Of course, she...like some of you...might never see any similarity. You embrace the larger themes, talk the talk, and live as you wish. Bonami, what qualifies YOU to cast the first stone? . You are losing whatever validity or sympathy you once had. You are so dismayed that the Hoax is imploding, that you have to re-run your tired mantra again and again. You do yourself or your causes no favor. Considering what the boys and their families have endured, and the terrible behavior of many in the media, just like YOU, you'd think you'd show some compassion, some restraint, some shame of your own, for the egregious media rush to judgment. The "quality of mercy" enhances him that gives and him that takes. Pomposity is a real put-off. . So let's say this one last time. . Sorry about the party. Truly sorry about the "cotton shirt" comment. . But that's all you have. These are good kids. . And they've suffered enough. . Your hatred of them is obscene. . You're on overkill. . It is time to move on.
reply

Rex

September 21, 4688, 9:48 pm

Bo, did you delete some posts?