At 2:43 AM -0400 7/28/96, Bill Fenwick wrote:
> As for the suspicions raised that this sudden change of heart might have to
> do with jumping on the PC bandwagon or some other kind of political
> "agenda"... pardon my child-like innocence, but must there be an ulterior
> motive behind this?
 
I don't think there has to be, but it can't be ruled out without knowing
all of the details.
 
> Whatever the university and the Miami tribe agreed to
> three years ago, I am not aware of anything which would prohibit either
> party from changing their minds.
 
I am not either, but I would still question why it happened so soon.
 
> The tribe finds the "Redskins" name
> offensive and now wants Miami University to stop using it... why is that
> not enough?  If, despite the resolution, Miami elects to stick with the
> nickname, should we laud the university for upholding their "tradition"?
 
No, I don't think so.  But if the name is offensive to the tribe now, I ask
why it wasn't offensive enough earlier.  This leads to...
 
> Should we wonder if, in the end, they didn't really care what a group of
> Native Americans thought?
 
This is the big question.  As others have said and I have agreed with, if
the people of the tribe are more in agreement with the views expressed by
their current leaders, then it should be taken seriously.
 
> >Given the situation and sudden change of opinion, it would be entirely
> >appropriate for the school to agree to change the nickname if the tribe is
> >willing to fund the costs involved - printing new literature without the
> >name, producing new uniforms, etc.
>
> Were the university to make such an offer, I would find it appallingly
> insensitive, if not just plain rude.
 
To me, this depends on what the actual feelings of the people are.  If it
did turn out that the current tribal leadership was merely trying to
advance their own agenda for whatever purpose, then this *might not* be
such an inappropriate response.  But if the people really want it changed,
then no, this would not be a response I would support.
 
I say *might not* with the qualification that I now find other factors in
this situation (more below) to outweigh what I said above (which Bill
quoted).  Given that, after reconsidering, I agree that this would not be
an appropriate response and I'll withdraw that which Bill quoted.
 
> >Yet, also given that the situation has apparently devolved into one where
> >the school is bound to be held hostage by the whims and desires of whoever
> >the current tribe leadership may be at any point
>
> A minor point, perhaps, but I don't see where Miami University is being
> held hostage.  I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, but I can't
> think of a legal way that the Miami tribe can FORCE the university to
> change their nickname.
 
I don't either, but if the school was to keep the name, then the leaders of
the tribe could probably do certain things to make life somewhat
uncomfortable for the school.  Again, my view goes back to whatever the
people themselves wish.  If it really was a case of a few leaders acting on
their own with no real support (which could have actually been the case
before!), then one could say the school is being "held hostage" in a way.
 
> Anyway, my own personal opinion (as a full-blooded WASP) is that the
> nickname should be changed.  I was surprised when the university was able
> to work out a compromise with the Miami tribe, given how offensive the
> "Redskin" nickname has been deemed by other Native American groups.
 
For the record, I agree with you on both counts.  Since the name does not
apply exclusively to the Miami tribe, I don't think it was right or wise
for the school to only reach a compromise with them and to act as if the
question had been answered.  I was going to follow up with this, but you
beat me to it.
 
Also to settle this question once and for all, I do think that the nature
of the nickname outweighs the issue of why the tribe changed its mind,
because of what I said about it not applying solely to the Miami.  Thus I
am certainly not trivializing the issue.  Yet the question of how this
situation came to be is still an important one in settling the whole thing,
and that's what I was trying to point out.  I would expect the school to
have questions about why the agreement no longer should apply, but I would
also expect them now to do more in the way of investigating seriously the
effect of the use of the name upon *everyone* it truly affects.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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