"The NCAA got itself into a briar patch, as busybodies always do, but we can suggest a way out that should satisfy everyone. Our Indians -- or "Native Americans," since the red-hots (we did not say red-skins) -- no longer have any use for the word "Indian." So the offending schools could keep their nicknames simply by announcing that when they say "Indians" they're talking about the original Indians on the Asian subcontinent. It wouldn't then be any business of the busybodies. Our quarterbacks and linebackers, in fact, would never have been called Indians in the first place if Christopher Columbus, that dead European white male, had not been suffering sailing ship-lag. Ship-lag was not as severe as jet-leg but it was severe enough to make Chris, groggy and out of it, think the dark-skinned man in a loin cloth who greeted him in the New World was a maharajah from the Old World, out for a day at the beach.

"Indian" is a proud and glorious name and it's a pity that certain Native American "activists," with wooden heads as empty as refugees from a cigar store, can't take a compliment. If the Native Americans don't want the word, let's just give it back to its original owners, and for good. Let's not be Indian givers."

Get the Story:
Editorial: A modest proposal (The Washington Times 8/25)

NCAA Announcement:
NCAA Executive Committee Issues Guidelines for Use of Native American Mascots at Championship Events (August 5, 2005)

Relevant Links:
NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee - http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/
membership/governance/assoc-wide/moic/index.html
National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media - http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm

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