Opinion: Indian people manipulated by mascots
"The North Dakota Board of Higher Education recently voted to prohibit UND from using Fighting Sioux as its nickname. As a Christian who strives to follow the commands and ethics of the Prince of Peace, I was encouraged and delighted with the board’s decision.

Non-Indian schools and universities have no moral bases for using the names or images of American Indian people for their corporate agendas. The dominant Anglo-Saxon culture has, for generations, manipulated and exploited the indigenous people of this continent for our economic gain.

Nicknames and logos are little more than mass-marketing tools that are used nationwide by schools and sports teams to create billion-dollar commercial brand allegiances among consumers.

Institutions of higher education such as UND morally discredit themselves when they stoop to using racial stereotypes as mass-marketing techniques."

Get the Story:
Rev. David Nichols: Board acts ethically by jettisoning nickname (The Grand Forks Herald 6/10)
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