Amidst all the other senseless leftist whining about symbols and abstractions, I had missed the controversy over the name of the University of North Dakota’s sports teams. From the beginning, the teams were called “The Fighting Sioux” but that name offended the usual people who are anxious to find some reason to force other people to obey them. The ridiculous crusade is covered in this Chronicle piece.
We learn that in 2005 the NCAA banned UND (and 17 other schools) from hosting post-season events because they had offensive names and mascots. In 2006, Dartmouth’s athletic director had to make a groveling apology for inviting UND to play in a tournament “in response to criticism from Native Americans in the Dartmouth community.” In 2007, four departments at UND took the lead in demanding a change of name. Those are, as we know, people who cannot be ignored.
Eventually, the administration caved. The Fighting Sioux will no longer be the nickname for school teams. To pick a new and presumably inoffensive name, alums are voting and the final three possibilities are: Fighting Hawks, Roughriders, and Nodaks. Voting ends tomorrow. Story here.
Will the zealots now be happy? I doubt it. For one thing, there are still reminders around campus of the bad old days, especially a Sioux warrior head emblem in the floor of the hockey arena. How can a social justice warrior tolerate such an ongoing affront?
And what about the new name? Couldn’t someone take offense at the thought of a fighting hawk, such as people who have lost a small pet to one of those predatory birds? Or what if Roughriders should be chosen? That conjures up militaristic images that are not wholesome. Not sure who might complain about Nodak but SJW types will try to find some aggrieved group.