Reaffirming the National NAACP position against racist mascots
and
symbols, the Champaign County Branch of the NAACP unanimously passed
a
motion at their regular monthly membership meeting on Tuesday, April
21st,
1998 to publically oppose the use of "Chief" Illiniwek (the American
Indian
mascot of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and other
racist
mascots/symbols and to take the following actions:
submit a resolution to the NAACP State Conference of Branches opposing
racist mascots and symbols;
call upon the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign President and
Chancellor to take a public stance against "Chief" Illiniwek;
call upon the University of Illinois Board of Trustees to retire "Chief"
Illiniwek;
call upon the Governor of the State of Illinois to use his influence to retire "Chief" Illiniwek and other racist mascots and symbols throughout the
state;
call upon the State Legislature to create and pass legislation which
rejects the use of historically oppressed people and their cultural
traditions as sports mascots and symbols, and affirms their commitment to
respectful racial and cultural inclusion in all aspects of public life;
call upon other predominately African American community institutions
and organizations to join the NAACP in public opposition to "Chief"
Illiniwek and other racist mascots and symbols;
call upon African American community members to refrain from purchasing
items with the "Chief" logo, and to cross out the logo on apparel already in
their possesion; and
as an initial community education effort, sponsor a viewing of the film
"In Whose Honor" by Jay Rosenstein, and facilitate discussion on the relationship between Native American and African American racist stereotyping.Imani Bazzell, member of the Champaign County branch, affirmed that failure to take this step [opposing the "Chief"] would be counter to everything the NAACP stands for. Furthermore, she and member Abdul El Jamal, reminded members of the historic political and familial relationships between African Americans and Native Americans, as well as their parallel struggles to define and name themselves in the face of pervasive, unrelenting racial stereotypes.