"All’s fair in blog and war.

A Native-focused blog I like to check out from time to time, Newspaper Rock, has started a battle with an editorial posted on the South Dakota Mitchell Daily Republic’s Web site.

The editorial wrongly claims that American Indians haven’t protested offensive mascots consistently.

Rob Schmidt, writer of the Indian-focused blog, did the research to show that Seth Tupper, the writer of the editorial in question, was mistaken.

“To recap, in 15 seconds I found evidence of four decades of opposition: newspaper articles, protest videos, and a case that almost reached the US Supreme Court,” the blogger wrote. “That’s the proverbial tip of the iceberg. In 15 minutes I could’ve found 60 times as much evidence: marches and demonstrations, editorials and op/ed pieces, condemnations by Native and civil rights organizations, documentaries and videos, books and websites, and lawsuits and court rulings.”

Tupper got a little feisty after Schmidt e-mailed him his research. So he did what any respectable editorial writer would do: debase the platform on which Schmidt runs his blog.

“The fact that you’re backing up your claim with a zero-comment post on an obscure Google Blogger site only serves to underscore my point that, though there have been protests, none have risen to the level of a ’sustained, popular effort,’” Tupper wrote to Schmidt."

Get the Story:
Rob Capriccioso: Indian blog battles small town newspaper over Native American mascots (True/Slant 4/21)

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Rob Capriccioso: Two Native Americans at Washington Post (4/9)
Rob Capriccioso: Indian actor needed in DC for film role (3/9)
Rob Capriccioso: McCain claims ad insulting to Indians (3/8)
Rob Capriccioso: A Capitol Hill bias against tribal press (3/2)