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Saturday, May 19, 2012

A sad commentary on the Oregon Board of Education and Bureaucracy in General

So the clever folks who are on the Oregon Board of Education voted to ban school mascots with Indian Native American references.
Click here for Oregon Live story.
This is an idiotic decision for two reasons.
First of all, they are behind the curve and have no clue as to what the local schools are doing.
What the local schools have been doing is making contacts with the local tribes and working with them to create positive images for their Native American Indian mascots.
So of course when progress is being made the higher ups have to assert themselves and shut it all down. Naturally they say it is for the children's sake-(to stop bullying-which is in itself a new buzzword used to oppress the children and exert more control)
The second reason is of course that this whole getting your knickers in a knot about supposed insults and oppression is just an exercise in flexing political muscle.
We have the double standard. The way we pretend things are and they way things really are.
It is hard to believe that Native Americans could be so idiotic or so programed in the concept of victimization as to actually be offended why having school teams named after them. Do they actually not understand that the American Indian is respected around the world as an example of bravery and resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.
It is totally idiotic.
Are teams named the Pancho's and have as their mascot a Mexican sleeping under a tree? Or the Lazy Frenchmen and the mascot runs away? Or what about "Trailer Trash," and the mascot would be a giant Mountain Dew bottle full of Meth mix. Has anyone suggested the mascot to replace the Warrior on the wall of the Amity Gym be replaced with a slot machine?
No, I think not! Now those are racist and offensive. Also, they would not be real inspirational to the teams. The Native American mascots are chosen to inspire teams to win, not to lose.
The third reason is perhaps the most important and the one that is never mentioned.
Native Americans do not realize that they are an inspiration to many average people. You see the Native Americans were "screwed" by the man. The US government put them on the trail of tears, put them in the reservation and violated the treaties.  This is a bit of a simplistic view of course but then again not all Native tribes were all that friendly either.
There comes a time when you have to get over your oppression. I've pretty much got over that whole Norman invasion thing, I am little mad at the Vandals and those pesky Visgoths or wait perhaps I'm related to all of them. Assimilation!!!

11 comments:

  1. You obviously have equality issues. Don't you know that knickers were a sign of wealth? A more appropriate phrase might be "spandex in a wedgie."

    As one of the tax consuming teacher class I tell you it is just as frustrating being on the classroom end of this nonsense. I have been bullied into teaching about bullying. We have a federal government grant to pay for that but no money for text books or custodians.

    Grace and peace.

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    1. Pumice, I would say after reading your blog that you are the one in 100,000 good teachers...I could go on for hours about the "teaching class," my wife is a teacher... (A good one of course)
      I would also like to hear more about the bullying. My daughter came home with a whole load of BS from here half hour indoctrination class. They have a "counselor" come in and talk to them. It is disturbing. I'm sure you know you can "bully" yourself. I had to tell her that you strive for perfection for the sake of perfection and also to make the time go faster in school and that if she broke a few stupid rules she wasn't going to get in trouble from me.
      I think this teaching against "bullying" concept is a sign of the 1. Impotence of the girly boys and women who run the school system and 2. Some sort of nefarious long term scheme for more mind control over students. Something Orwellian or Aldus Huxleyish...

      Delete
    2. One of the first things they do is redefine bullying. It now includes almost anything that could make someone feel uncomfortable at any time. It has moved from physical to mental, thus becoming an attempt to control thought. Orwellian is a good term.

      I will see if I can find time to share some of the curriculum.

      Grace and peace.

      Delete
    3. Yes, I was listening to what my daughter was telling me from their indoctrination class, er, the counselor speaking to her class and it is disturbing.

      Delete
  2. You're right, it's all about power (and maybe a tad of "feel good foolishness").

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  3. So will the Amity Warriers be affected by such lunacy? And who is going to pay for all the new signs, letterheads, mascot cotumes, etc? Idiocy.

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    Replies
    1. The name can remain but they can't use the Indian or they will lose state funding. The school pays for the new uniforms and everything else. Idiots run everything nowadays.

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  4. So are the Tillamook "Cheesemakers" disrespectful to the folks who work at the cheese factory? How about the Oakland "Oakers"? I'm thinking class action lawsuit on behalf of all Oregon White Oaks.

    The Scio "Loggers" may be offensive to folks who cut trees down but I don't see anyone in Salem being worried about them! Waldport, Sheldon (In NE Eugene) and Riddle are all the "Irish" and mascot is a leprechaun. That's OK apparently? Oh yeah....Irish folks are white- no problem.

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  5. The UofF has the Seminoles as a team mascot/team name. They actually have a person required to dress up & stay in character as a Seminole chief for the season. His costume is designed by the actual Seminoles, who have no problem with the whole thing.
    I would have no problem with a team named say, the white devils, or the long knifes.
    Is this the best use of our tax money and elected officials? What a waste of time and money. The pilgrims killed off most of the Indian population on the East coast after they arrived simply by bringing a few new diseases along. I would bet there are a few teams named after them that nobody complains about.

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  6. what people forget is that team names such as these had a purpose. it was an attempt to instill the spirit and to take on the qualities of the name into the persons of a team. People have been doing this forever on an individual basis.

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    Replies
    1. They are not forgetting. They are ignoring this in order to flex political clout and to raise money and to appear politically correct.

      Delete

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