Burning the "Fighting Sioux"

UND group honors NCAA for effort to ban 'Fighting Sioux' nicknameA University of North Dakota student group opposed to the school's "Fighting Sioux" nickname has nominated the NCAA for a human rights award.

Members of the student group BRIDGES nominated the NCAA for the award to recognize its efforts to eliminate American Indian logos and nicknames, said Frank Sage, the group's president.Naturally, the powers that be don't like that:

Forum editorial:  UND group pours gas on logo fireToday a UND student organization will lower itself to cheap-shot status by giving a representative of the NCAA an award as a way to say thank you for the NCAA’s work on the nickname/logo issue. The university is challenging in court the NCAA’s conclusion that the logo is part of a “hostile and abusive” environment, and therefore university athletic teams cannot participate in post-season tournaments. The NCAA’s prohibition has been put on hold by an injunction.

The awards luncheon was organized by UND’s Multicultural Student Services office to recognize contributions that reflect the spirit of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. The award to the NCAA does not serve that noble purpose. King’s life was about bringing people together, not driving them apart. Thanking the NCAA for misrepresenting the American Indian experience on the UND campus is, in effect, an in-your-face insult to all the people of good will who are trying mightily to resolve the logo controversy.Comment:  Go students! If there's a "logo fire," I say burn, baby, burn!

The only way many people at UND are trying to "resolve the logo controversy" is by denigrating mascot foes and hoping they'll go away. Too bad that ain't gonna happen.