Native American shame

It becomes apparent to me that in order to elicit sensitivity from anyone, you must first prove to be insensitive in an area that directly affects them. For instance, those of us who live in this area think we have been portrayed unfairly by the national media in any number of ways, and this treatment always leaves an ocean of outrage in it’s wake.

Most recently, A & E did a hatchet job on Pikeville while reporting (?) on an infamous murder case, and does not seem to care about any erroneous impression it may have left with its national audience.

In times past, CBS did a report on a small community in Floyd County, where it put on display all the stereotypes used to depict mountain people.
And there was the little play written about Kentucky by a New Yorker called “The Kentucky Cycle”, about which the less said, the better. The fact is the author of this play had never been in the Bluegrass State when he penned his magnum opus, so we know this fellow is probably full of that substance which, when dropped from the business end of a bull, is good for fertilizing one’s garden.

(I have never been in New York, except for a few occasions, mostly at one of its airports while in the military, so it is my dream to write a “New York Cycle” version of this play, as I am obviously more qualified to write on the history of New Yorkers than my friend ever was to write about the people of Kentucky.)

I bring all of this up because on two separate occasions in the last little bit, I have seen sports writers bring up the situation involving Marquette University, and the gradual changing of its nickname from the original “Warriors” to the “Golden Eagles” and finally, in a fit of what, conscience?, it was suggested that the name become simply “Gold”.

In the first of these articles, the Lexington Herald-Leader’s John Clay took the more extreme position when he decided that not only was it ridiculous to consider re-revising the team’s name, it should never have been, according to the learned Mr. Clay, changed from the original “Warriors”.

In fact, Mr. Clay went on, there is nothing wrong with naming sports teams for “native Americans”, and the movement against such practices smacked to him of “political correctness”, even though Mr. Clay was being politically correct himself when he used the term “native American” and not “Indian”.

And, Mr. Clay concluded, he even liked the most hated of these nicknames, Redskins”, as in the “Washington Redskins”, overlooking the similarities between this word and another word once used widely in the south when referring to the slaves and the offspring of slaves, each of these words being equally hated by those they are meant to describe.

Bob Watkins, the syndicated Kentucky sports writer, when he waded into the fray, never really came down on one side or the other as to whether the use of these terms is acceptable or not, even though one suspects he is in favor of their use, otherwise he would never have used the terms “politically correct” and “liberals” when describing those in opposition to their use.

Of course, those who are the least likely to be offended by the use of such nicknames are also least likely to be a member of one of the groups being “honored” (John Clay’s word) thusly. It is likely more difficult to work up excitement for such teams if it was your ancestors who were dispossessed of land and culture, and deprived even of citizenship, for the longest time, in the same country that abetted these crimes, and which then helped to corral you on some of the poorest lands left, and for which those of European descent could find no use.

The saddest part of the whole thing is this, that that which once was representative of proud groups of people who existed on this continent for untold thousands of years, this history and culture, has been reduced to nothing more than poorly drawn caricatures for, and representing, now, of all things, a few (and in many cases, bad) sports teams.

And sadder still, is those people who so dishonor these Native peoples, can see nothing wrong with their actions.