"The dispute about UND’s nickname and logo seems to have entered a new phase, as North Dakota’s Sioux tribes prepare to vote on the question.

This means that the issue has become a political question.

But it doesn’t mean that it’s no longer a moral question.

The distinction is key to understanding the entrenched positions on both sides. Supporters of the name see it as a political issue. Opponents see it as a human rights question, and therefore as a moral issue.

Long experience has shown Americans that conflicting interpretations of issues — political as opposed to moral — are seldom compatible. Slavery is one example; segregation another and abortion still a third.

Not that the Sioux nickname is morally equivalent to any of these of these issues."

Get the Story:
Mike Jacobs: Nickname dispute enters a new phase (The Grand Forks Herald 4/12)

Another Story:
The nickname, the tribes and the Ralph (The Grand Forks Herald 4/11)

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