Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Change Their Mascot

Will the Irish have to change their mascot too? If not, why?

Looks like the NCAA is up to its old tricks again.

Basically:

Mascot = an honor

But the NCAA has other ideas.

SWMBO and I talked about this briefly this morning and had the same comment that there are already a number of 'white' mascots: Bucs, Pirates, Fighting Irish, Knights, Patriots (remember their old mascot on the helmets), etc...

I'm not offended...

But what I really don't understand, is that why an Indian mascot is offensive? When a community decides to associate themselves with a caricature, they sure as heck don't want to be called the "Addicts", the "Drunks" or the "Child Pornographers".

Instead, they look for a mascot that they admire, One with redeeming qualities, in this case qualities desired in an athletic program. In the sports arena, speed, intelligence, strength, ferocity, etc. are valued. Many people thought the Indians (and all their derivations) had these qualities. These communities volunteered to be called an "Indians" for Pete's sake. They wanted to be associated with whatever valuable quality that their chosen mascot was perceived to posses.

Could the communities that have an Indian 'totem' use the opportunity to better educate people, at least their student body, about the mascot's story/history/plight? Sure. It's a crying shame that this is not taken advantage of more often.

Offensive, I don't really think so.

Shame on the NCAA for caving in to groups who do not speak for the whole of the Indian nation. At the very least, they should have held off on this 'policy' and recognize that there is NOT a consensus.

What next? NCAA caving in to PETA and not allowing any animal mascots?

Shouldn't we be more offended that there aren't many, if any, black mascots? No Asian mascots either I believe. Trying to provoke some thoughts here and answer a question SWMBO and I raised earlier.