Friday, April 22, 2005
PC --- not my kind.
This time the redskins were vanquished not by the U.S. Cavalry but ideological fashion, which decreed that American Indians henceforth be called Native Americans. It was a kind of Indian Removal Act, but imposed on the football team. The change was particularly wrenching for the mascot of Stanford's marching band. He would have to go, feathers and war dance and all. Call it ethnic cleansing.
I can sympathize. I myself have felt snubbed by the choice of Native American as a euphemism for American Indian, since I'm a Native American, too, but somehow I know the census-takers exclude me when they use the term.
Stanford's teams must now go by the unobjectionable name of the Cardinal — it's for the color, not the bird. But you can't very well train a color to go prancing about with the band. Hence the search began for another mascot.
The band, whose antics regularly result in suspension, finally settled on the Tree. That's right: the Tree, as in a giant redwood in nearby Palo Alto. Long the unofficial emblem of the university, it was made the band's official mascot.
The university itself has no official mascot, prudently preferring to stay out of the name game and ideological fray. Which is a great pity. I've always thought Robber Barons would be a great name for a team representing the university founded by Leland Stanford, the 19th century financier, intercontinental railroad builder and general visionary. What better name than Robber Barons for a team out to monopolize the field?
I can sympathize. I myself have felt snubbed by the choice of Native American as a euphemism for American Indian, since I'm a Native American, too, but somehow I know the census-takers exclude me when they use the term.
Stanford's teams must now go by the unobjectionable name of the Cardinal — it's for the color, not the bird. But you can't very well train a color to go prancing about with the band. Hence the search began for another mascot.
The band, whose antics regularly result in suspension, finally settled on the Tree. That's right: the Tree, as in a giant redwood in nearby Palo Alto. Long the unofficial emblem of the university, it was made the band's official mascot.
The university itself has no official mascot, prudently preferring to stay out of the name game and ideological fray. Which is a great pity. I've always thought Robber Barons would be a great name for a team representing the university founded by Leland Stanford, the 19th century financier, intercontinental railroad builder and general visionary. What better name than Robber Barons for a team out to monopolize the field?
