A New Book Idea

So I have this crazy idea for a book. It will be about the different people you meet on this earth. I have had this vision for a while but I have never really done anything past just thinking about it. There are so many types of people out there, and all can be categorized into groups. Some examples of what I am talking about are the aggressive drivers, the ignorant racists, the people who do not know how to dress their own age, the crazy cat ladies, and on and on. These are the people that you know, that you might be related to, or they might just even be you. Now, I am not saying that all of the people in one group are exactly the same. I am saying that they just so happen to have certain qualities that are very similar. Also, some people may even be in more then one group. I am also not saying that these people are bad people. I guess I could even put myself in some of these groups so I should say I do no think that we are bad people. I believe that there are just certain qualities about us that are extremely obvious.

Today in my Non-Western class we watched a video about Sports teams using American Indians as mascots. On this video were two main groups of individuals. There were the aggressive ignorant racists and the persistent minority protesters. The main team that was being criticized against in the movie was the Illinois Illini. Their mascot was the Illini chief. It was a student dressed up in an American Indian outfit with a eagle feather head dress. The woman that was offended was an American Indian. She was the persistent minority protester. She believed that the mascot was disrespectful and degrading to the American Indian population. She said that the people of the town did not understand how what they were using as a symbol for their teams was mocking the traditions of Indian tribes. First of all, the outfit of the Illini chief was not a traditional Illini wardrobe. Second, the dance that was being portrayed was not an American Indian dance. It was something that the students playing the role created.

Now, on the other side of the argument were many of the people on the school board, in the staff, and also the student body and alumni. These people were representing the aggressive ignorant racists. They believed that what they were portraying with this mascot was tradition. They claimed that it was to represent those people that were on that land before them. They truly believed that what they were doing by having this mascot was the right thing because it is what the majority wanted. It was also a tradition at the school so they did not care that it offended anyone.

I think the problem with this argument is that people do not like change. The majority group was so against changing what they knew as their mascot that they were ignorant to the effects it was having on others. They did not want to believe that what they were doing was wrong because lets face it, no one wants to admit that they are wrong. However, it did offend American Indians and in many ways. I mean, if there were teams called the Kansas Jews or the Georgia Negros, there would be many many people coming forth and standing up against it. The thing is, is that American Indians are such a small population that there is not a lot they can do to make a difference. What is the difference between kunt or red-skin. They are both extremely offensive. Yet there is not a team using a "kunt" as a mascot. It is just not right. As red-skin or the Illini chief are degrading to the traditions of the American Indians. After all, they were driven of this land by most of our ancestors. Don't we owe them a bit of respect.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that there are many types of people out there. Whether good or bad they are still there. Although we may not understand their ways of life we should at least respect them. And if that means changing what we want to think is right to what the minority tells us is wrong then so be it.