NCAA bans Native American mascots during post-season

The NCAA has banned the use of Native American- themed mascots during post-season play, effective February 1.

Teams such as the Florida State Seminoles, the Central Michigan Chippewas, and the Illinois Fighting Illini will no longer be allowed to use their mascots, emblems, and perhaps nicknames during tournament, bowl and playoff seasons because they are held to somehow be demeaning to Native Americans.

But why are the Michigan State Spartans, the Southern Cal Trojans, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, for example, not outlawed for their offensiveness to Greeks and Hibernians? Why are Norwegians not demeaned by the name of the Luther College Norse? Why are the halls of the NCAA not shaken by the the scandalous nickname of a perennial contender for the football championship of Division III, the Central College Dutch?

Surely it can't be that these groups haven't complained. For one thing, only a small minority of even Native Americans take the position that Indian-themed mascots, if they are done tastefully and with dignity, are inherently offensive. And if such ethnic nicknames are inappropriate in principle, why not simply apply that principle across the board? If Native American-themed ethnic nicknames are inherently racist, is it OK to exhibit bigotry against white ethnic groups? Or is bigotry OK if its victims don't protest?

Of course, the teams of the pioneering Native American college from which all-everything athlete Jim Thorpe graduated will not be compelled to stop calling themselves the Carlisle Indians! Schools with significant Native American student body membership appear to be exempted.But if it's OK for a school to have such a nickname if a significant percentage of its students belong to the ethnic group in question, but not otherwise, why? Why should it be considered demeaning, of all things, to pay homage to the traditions of valor and physical prowess of an ethnic group other than one's own? And does bigotry cease to be bigotry if a certain percentage of a school's population actually belongs to the ethnic group that is its target?

Perplexingly, the NCAA refused to ban Native American nicknames and emblems outright, saying that such decisions are properly left up to the administrations of individual schools! They only become racist, it seems, when the regular season ends.

Go figure.