Fans of the University of Illinois’ Chief Illiniwek are in mourning this week. They have donned black, held vigils, shed tears and expressed their heartbreak in countless news stories and opinion polls. An “honored” 80-year-old tradition has come to an end. The buckskin-clad Chief will leap no more.
You would think this is a time for American Indians and other opponents of the Chief to rejoice. After all, his demise marks the end of a 17-year battle to rid the campus of a racist symbol that has cost the university untold hours and resources, tainted its national reputation and created an atmosphere of hostility toward Native students and faculty. It is a major victory.
But Chief opponents are not celebrating. Yes, they are happy the Chief is gone, but they are also disappointed in the university’s handling of his departure and concerned about race relations on campus.
The university’s decision to oust Chief Illiniwek was borne of a long, hard struggle that began in 1989 when a Spokane Indian student named Charlene Teters braved racial slurs, profanity and death threats to speak her truth. “We are Human Beings, Not Mascots,” read the signs she held up at sporting events. What started as one woman’s concern for the effect of negative stereotypes on our children turned into a national movement that shed light on how hurtful those images can be. Over the years, many universities, including Stanford, Dartmouth and Oklahoma City University, have rid themselves of team names and mascots representing American Indians. But the University of Illinois has stood firmly by the Chief.
Years of impassioned testimony from students, faculty and members of the Native community could not shake them. Criticism from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Amnesty International and various religious and human rights organizations couldn’t sway them. In the end, as usual, it took money to see the light.
Never mind moral or ethical considerations, university officials ousted the Chief after pressure from the NCAA, which deemed the character offensive and barred the university from hosting postseason games.
