May 06, 2005

Fool's Gold

It's just a school nickname. Why get so upset? Hell, I didn't even attend Marquette.

The issue of Marquette giving in again to an ethnic pressure group encapsulates a whole bunch of issues: racism, political correctness, tradition, community, and liberal dominance of universities.

Since when did any ethnic group have a monopoly on the use of a word? Marquette University seems to think that the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (GLITC) has such control of the word "warrior." They have been steadfast in their opposition to the Marquette's use of that word as an athletic nickname. I'm sorry to tell the GLITC they don't control the word. Other than in Marquette's specific historical instance warrior has no racist connotation. And that's due to the school's choice of mascots rather than the nickname. "Warrior" is simply a word for a fighter, a soldier. The word brings up feelings of pride, accomplishment, loyalty, duty, honor. No racial group, not whites, blacks, or Indians have a monopoly on those traits.

Marquette president Father Robert Wild said,

But as we worked through it, we became convinced that we live in a different era than when the Warriors name was selected in 1954. The perspective of time has shown us that our actions, intended or not, can offend others. We must not knowingly act in a way that others will believe, based on their experience, to be an attack on their dignity as human beings. We cannot teach one principle about respect for human dignity in our classrooms, than fail to act by the same principle when making decisions.

No one called for the return of the Indian mascot or Willie Wampum. Pro-warriors simply wanted the return of their school's nickname which was taken away for no good reason.

From the Journal Sentinel we get this bit of drivel from Dale Hoffman:

They fought off the pressure to re-insult an entire culture.

It goes to show even the sports page if filled with the same Lefty, politically correct as the rest of the paper. In Wild and Hoffman's world warrior equals Indian. Only Indians can be warriors. Tell that to the brave souls of many races, creeds, colors, and nationalities who fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On the editorial page we have even more politically correct, conventional wisdom:

Now is - ahem - a golden opportunity to remember and appreciate that Marquette University did not return to the Warriors nickname. Doing so would have boorishly given offense to a race of people and betrayed the principles on which the Catholic institution stands.

The board implies all those students, alumni, and MU fans are closet racists for wanted back the Warriors nickname they loved so much. None of these liberals ever has made a serious attempt to convince the pro-Warriors why the word was so offensive. That's because they have no intellectual rock to stand on. And why bother when you can just talk down to them in a language they think they can easily understand?

"Gold: Pan It or Dig it?"