I’ve written before about the NCAA’s recent regulations designed to get colleges and universities to change their nicknames away from Native American images and mascots that are deemed offensive. Inevitably, there has been resistance from people associated with targeted colleges (although my post cited examples where ultimately the transition has been relatively smooth). However and unfortunately, Inside Higher Education reports on a recent incident regarding the University of Illinois that highlights how far we still need to go:

Native Americans on the Urbana-Champaign campus are demanding protection after discovering threats and racist jibes against them on a Facebook group. . . . Inside Higher Ed obtained a printed copy of the page which has been removed from Facebook. The page carries three postings, apparently by two students at the university whose names are blacked out. Neither student responded to an e-mail request for an interview.

With over 110 members, the group is titled “If They Get Rid of the Chief I’m Becoming a Racist.” One posting reads, “[W]hat they don’t realize is that there was never a racist problem before..but now I hate redskins and hope all those drunk casino owning bums die.” Another post states that one of the leaders of the movement to remove Chief Illiniwek is of Sioux descent. “I say we throw a tomohawk [sic] into her face.” . . .

[Wanda S. Pillow, director of the Native American House] said that several Native American faculty members contacted Facebook and the administration over the weekend about the threats. On Tuesday, after Pillow and others circulated an e-mail to faculty members demanding an investigation, the university announced that it would conduct one.

As one commenter at the bottom of the article notes, these types of hateful comments are the perfect example of the fact that rather than “honoring” Native American culture and ancestry that supporters of such nicknames claim, ultimately, they only illustrate the kind of racist prejudice and intolerance that these “supporters” have against Native Americans.

In other words, their hypocrisy is so thick, you can cut it with administrative red tape.

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Update: On February 16, 2007, the University of Illinois announced that after negotiations with the NCAA, the school will eliminate the Chief Illiniwek mascot and all related American Indian imagery, but will be allowed to keep using the name “Illini” and “Fighting Illini” since they refer specifically to the Illinois state name. Thus ends Chief Illiniwek’s 81-year stint as mascot of the University of Illinois.