Letter: UNM should still play teams with ethnic mascots

Editor,

I disagree with the stance taken by Stephen Kaufman in his letter arguing that UNM should not compete against colleges and universities that use American-Indian imagery in their mascots.

According to people like Kaufman, the use of American-Indian imagery in athletic mascots should be banned because such imagery is racist. Why are nicknames like the Florida State Seminoles, the Illinois Illini or the Utah Utes racist? People who agree with Kaufman believe that nicknames like the ones I just listed are racist because they are American-Indian ethnic names. Unfortunately, the tribes who are supposed to be offended have endorsed some of the nicknames that others deem racist.

For example, the Seminole Tribe of Florida even helped Florida State University design the costume of Chief Osceola, the mascot of Florida State athletics.

The use of ethnic names as collegiate nicknames in the NCAA is not limited to American-Indian ethnicities. What other ethnicities are used as mascots, you ask?

To name a few that compete at the Division I level, there are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, and the Saint Mary's College of California Gaels. Other ethnic names used by colleges include the Athenians, the Celtics, the Dutchmen, the Norse, the Saxons, the Scots and the Swedes.

People did not complain that these nicknames are racist, and the NCAA has not said these schools must change their nicknames. UNM should continue competing against schools like Utah and Notre Dame, even though these schools use ethnic nicknames.

Scott Hudson

UNM student