Teaching Intolerance: Anti-Indian Imagery, Racial Politics, and (Anti)Racist Pedagogy

Abstract

In the immediate aftermath of the semiannual University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting, which witnessed yet another official endorsement of the school's embattled mascot, Chief Illiniwek, albeit through one more deferred vote, Chris Neubauer (2003), sport columnist for the student newspaper, The Daily Illini, did not call the process obstructionist or the school symbol racist, but instead called for more education. In addition to a preponderance of courses devoted to ''Hindi, Japanese, Bulgarian and many other languages and nationalities'' and the paucity of offerings on Native Americans, Neubauer lamented the costly, decade-long debate over the use of Indian imagery, blaming it for the collective ignorance of the student body about ''their'' Indian: ''We are at one of the finest institutions of higher learning in the world, but sadly we aren't educated about our own symbol.'' To rectify this cultural illiteracy, he implores the university to teach more courses on American Indians, particularly the indigenous peoples of Illinois, and to develop a Native American Studies program. Importantly, his real commitment lies in the tradition of playing Indian at the university, evidenced by his interest in learning about the naming of the state and school symbol as well as the origins of Chief Illiniwek, rather than the complex history of the native nations of North America, including dispossession, forced removal, assimilation, survival, and sovereignty. As a consequence, Neubauer's appeal, ''Educate me, please,'' is not about empowerment or enlightenment, but a self-indulgent defense of the status quo. Neubauer's commentary reveals something more 420

“Frozen in Time”: The Impact of Native American Media Representations on Identity and Self‐Understanding

“…The representational issue, however, is not simply that Native Americans are numerically underrepresented, but that the quality of representations is also constrained. For instance, whether Native Americans are depicted as sports team mascots (e.g., Washington Redskins) or Hollywood film characters (e.g., Pocahontas), they are typically portrayed as 18th and 19th century figures (King, ; Lomawaima, ). Furthermore, these representations not only locate Native Americans as historical figures, they also depict them as particular types of Native Americans (e.g., Sioux, Apache, Navajo).…”

Formation of Social Tolerance Among Future Teachers

“…In addition to the subcultures of various social groups, one should also include the values of these groups. So notes the importance of informing about the history, culture of various groups, human races (King, 2008). Summarizing the following position (Simon et al, 2018), we note that a benevolent, respectful attitude in a group has a positive effect on attitudes towards other groups.…”

Teaching and Learning about Settler-colonial Racism: A Case for “Unsettling” Minoritizing and Multicultural Perspectives

“…Scholars frame and explain the cultural appropriation of “Indianness” in sports through a variety of disciplinary and nondisciplinary, theoretical, and epistemological frameworks. Theories vary from racial prejudice and discrimination models based on liberalism and individualistic assumptions of race and racism (e.g., American Sociological Association 2007, 2016; Fryberg et al 2008; Steinfeldt and Wong 2010) to critical race frameworks based on structural understanding of race and racism (e.g., Davis 1993; Farnell 2004; Strong 2004) and decolonial theories based on Indigenous sovereignty, land reclamation, and cultural resurgence (e.g., Deloria 1998; Fenelon 2017; King 2008, 2016; Pewewardy 1999; Robertson 2015; Staurowsky 2000; Steinman 2016).…”

“…Likewise, during the early twentieth century, commodification of “Indianness” in film and mass advertising became common (Merskin 2014). Anthropologist C. Richard King (2008) built on these insights to argue that “playing Indian” in sports “traps Native Americans with the past, in perpetual, unwinnable conflict with the superior white man” (p. 424).…”