And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint >Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 10:56:58 EDT >Subject: Re: Knoxville Sentinel >Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Confirm-Reading-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-pmrqc: 1 >Priority: normal >X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) > > >To: Knoxville Sentinel > R. Daniel Proctor, cartoonist > Harry Moskos, Editor > Bruce Hartmann, Publishers > Vernon Bellecourt, American Indian Movement > Charlene Teters, National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media > Roberto Rodriguez & Patrisia Gonzalez > newspaper columnists "Column of the Americas" > News from Indian Country Newspaper > Alfredo Estrada, Hispanic magazine > >From: Catherine Davids, Michigan Representative > National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media > >Sometime in late December (1998) or early January (1999) a Tennessee >university won a national football championship. The Tennessee team, known as >the Volunteers (after the famous Tennessee Volunteers who contributed mightily >to the extermination of American Indians in that part of the country) beat >Florida State University (F.S.U.) whose athletic teams are called the >Seminoles. What we have here is a celebration of history repeating itself on >the athletic field, in the sports pages, and by a cartoonist named R. Daniel >Proctor. > >R. Daniel Proctor, obviously a history buff, drew a cartoon celebrating >Tennessee's victory over F.S.U. The cartoon appeared in the Knoxville Sentinel >on Sunday, January 3, 1999. The cartoon has outraged American Indian and >Mexican American people and their friends. Letters have poured in to the >Knoxville Sentinel. F.S.U. has, for decades, shamelessly used the Seminole >people's traditions and culture to glorify their sports programs. The revered >name of Osceola is disrespectfully used as the name of F.S.U.'s student >newspaper. F.S.U. has created their own culture by bastardizing the Seminole >people. Proctor has followed F.S.U.'s bigoted traditions by reducing the >genocidal "Trail of Tears" to a mockery. Proctor's cartoon supports violence >against the American Indian people on the North American continent (I wonder >how he would like going to Chiapas or the Standing Rock reservation and drawing >what he sees). Proctor uses the word "Fiesta" to ensure that Mexican American >people will fully understand his disdain for them. A first-cousin to Speedy >Gonzales chauffeurs a blonde cheerleader while a Paul Bunyan type "trains" the >gross caricature of an American Indian male, and I am one Indian woman who >is sick of seeing her men portrayed in these disgusting ways. Responding to >the mail, and the concerns expressed about this dehumanizing cartoon, publisher >Bruce Hartmann stated "I am sorry you have such a strong feeling about this >situation." I remember a few years ago when Barry Bonds responded to criticism >of athletic mascots by stating "Indian people are just too sensitive." I >wonder if supporters of slavery ever stated "black people are just too >sensitive?" A copy of this cartoon can be viewed at >http://www.geocities.com/~earnestman/knoxville.htm, and a copy of the >cartoon is included in handouts to particular organizations. Included in the >handouts are editorials written by Charlene Teters (Senior Artist of Indian >Artist magazine), Alfredo Estrada (Editor and Publisher of Hispanic magazine), >and the article "Plotting the Assassination of Little Red Sambo" written by >Roberto Rodriguez and printed in "Black Issues in Higher Education." > >Organizations like the American Indian Movement, the National Coalition on >Racism in Sports and Media, and H.O.N.O.R. (Honor Our Neighbors Origins and >Rights) have been actively involved in this issue for many years...fighting >against the abuse of American Indian names and images to support athletics and >corporations. Dinky, the Taco Bell dog, has become the most beloved Mexican on >United States television, yet Taco Bell's corporate entities are using the dog >to mock Chicano/a heros and history. The list of sports teams and corporations >who bastardize American Indian names and images for fun, games, and ultimately >billions of dollars in profit, is endless and one cannot go a day without being >exposed to these dehumanizing mascot/icon stereotypes: Washington Redskins, >Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Frito Bandito, Jeep >Cherokee, Juan Valdez (the coffee guy), Winnebago vehicles, Sleeping Jose, El >Nino/El Nina, Mohawk carpets, and Indian Trails bus line (the abbreviated >list). These icons and mascots perpetuate an image of American Indian and >Chicano/a people that we do not see when we look at each other. That is not >how we see ourselves or think of ourselves. We are nearly invisible in the >media except for these clownish cartoonish images of our people. Weak >apologies from newspaper publishers like Bruce Hartmann do very little good to >educate the vast majority of people in the United States who cheerfully indulge >in these bigoted enjoyments and pursuits. > >Please support the efforts of our organizations by writing a letter to: > >R. Daniel Proctor & Harry Moskos (Editor) & Bruce Hartmann (Publisher) >Knoxville Sentinel Newspaper >P. O. Box 59038 >Knoxville, Tennessee 37950-9038 > >Please send copies of your correspondence to me and I will distribute it to the >other organizations. > <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
