Fighting for Red WITH Black, Yellow, White.

I can not describe how angry some pictures made me the other day.

I live in a place that is very close to the University of N**** D*****. In fact, I have a few friends that attend that institution.

I have a problem with their mascot. As you know, it is a 'Fighting Sioux'. Now what is a Sioux, that is a name that white settlers gave to the indigenous tribes that lived around that area when America's colonization was happening.

This mascot is at least doubly offensive to me. First of all, the Sioux is not what those tribes choose to call themselves, they are the Lakota or Dakota people. Second of all, Sioux is a french word derived from a word that translates to enemy.

oh wait, it is more than doubly offensive because the title of the mascot also includes the adverb: FIGHTING.

Now if it was just the Sioux, I think I would be less angry about this. If this was halfway across the world, I probably wouldn't lift a finger to type.

But the Lakota and Dakota people are still around, even in that area, there are some. I consider myself European American, and there is no way that I would think it was funny if someone paraded my ethnicity around in a negative 'fighting' way. Even if it was just for fun, it gives some people the wrong impression of where I could have come from and I want people to judge me for how I act or what I do, not the ethnicity I identifies with in past, present or future. Definitely not because some mascot represented it in a sports game.

Now, a few years ago, it went through the process of getting rid of the name and calling them something unoffensive like the rabbits or you know, concrete rocks. (Man can you imagine playing a team called the concrete rocks---now that's intimidating!)

But so far,it hasn't happened. Some say it is because of the arena that they built for millions of dollars and how it had 'fighting Sioux' all over it. It is also controversial because an Indian tribe approved the name.

Now, just because a tribe approved it, doesn't mean they agree with the terminology, maybe they are hoping for publicity time or education of the students about these issues. Maybe they do not want any negative publicity when they do not approve it. because trust me, I can see some angry college kids doing some damage because of that.

It's still not right to me. Every time I see 'fighting Sioux', I think of the devastation that goes in to the Sioux communities and the negative stereotypes that will affect these communities.

And a lot of people ask me why I care--a white American. And it is an easy answer for me.

Because if it weren't because of the Dakota and the Lakota sacrifices to their culture, population and land, as well as every other tribe in the Americas, I would not be here today. And today, I will stand for them for they are part of me, and I am part of them. Tomorrow I hope my children and grandchildren will continue to fight for tribal recognition and individual rights.