Editor,
Regarding the letters to the Daily Lobo about American-Indian mascots, I will relate an incident that a friend related to me. It illustrates how insidious such portrayals of the American Indian can be.
She said one Halloween night she dressed up her daughter in an Aunt Jemima costume and went trick-or-treating. She said the next day she received comments from her co-workers that dressing up her daughter in an Aunt Jemima costume was racist. She replied that anybody can dress up like an American Indian and that's OK. Little Anglo kids can dress up like Indians on Thanksgiving, and nobody says it's racist.
I am an American Indian, and if I say the mascots are racist, then they are racist.
Do you think we're honored when we see an Anglo doing some stupid dance and pretending to honor us? Do you think we feel proud when Atlanta Braves or other sports team fans do the Tomahawk Chop? Give me a break.
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David Velarde Jr.
UNM alumnus
