November 15, 2008 "chief" illiniwek's "Next Dance" at UIUC's Assembly Hall
As an attempt to preserve their "tradition" for the coming years, pro-mascot supporters organized a return of "chief" illiniwek at the Assembly Hall at UIUC. However, those concerned about the return of the mascot overcame a hostile environment to protest against the event. The demographics of those entering to see what was described by some protesters as "the minstrel show" was estimated by a prominent UIUC administrator as being 90% white, while those protesting the event were from much more diverse backgrounds.
Outside Protest |
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Inside Assembly Hall |
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Inside Assembly - Roger Huddleston |
I Resist Report on the November 15, 2008 student protest:
"I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant"
If any one quote sums up the nature of most public conversations about ‘the chief’, this would be it.
Everything has a meaning that goes beyond the literal thing itself of course, but seldom has a single topic -- not related to politics anyway -- been larded with more logic defying explanations for it's meaning and purpose than the dance of the ersatz Indian Chief they call ‘Illiniwek’.
I've been actively involved in fighting the use of this mascot for several years now, and I've been to more rallies, protests, and marches than I can count, so it was without any particular enthusiasm that I headed over Saturdays to yet another protest outside of the Assembly Hall.
Frankly I'm tired of dealing with this thing and I really wish it would just go away.
Students for Chief Illiniwek had rented the Hall for an event titled 'The Next Dance’. A newly selected ‘chief’ was slated to continue the decades old U of I tradition of playing Indian, albeit this time supposedly without official sanction, given that the University had been forced to 'retire' the chief back in 2007.
My friend Allyson and I had decided to document the protest that was to take place outside. It was a cold, blustery day with occasional splashes of stinging rain, and after we'd parked and spent a few minutes zipping up jackets and wrapping scarves, we were already cold even before we began the long walk to the intended site of the protest.
The rowdy attitude of the persons we encountered along the way only added to an overall atmosphere of menace, and it wasn't very encouraging to get there and discover only three shivering protestors holding a sign at the corner of 1st and Kirby where we were told the protest was to take place.
Nevertheless we set up and begin filming, and fortunately another couple of people arrived shortly after that bringing our new total to 7. However it wasn't long before what appeared to be a sea of orange clad fans began to stream down the street towards us, and the occasional yelling from a distance we’d encountered earlier quickly turned into some very close-up jostling and name calling, so we decided to head over to the Hall itself, where rumor had it that other protesters were gathered.
It was clearly not safe for us to be where we were anymore.
Now I've been doing this sort of thing for years now as I said, so you'd think I'd be a bit jaded about the whole process, but I have to say that I don’t remember ever feeling such a thrill run through me as I did when we finally made our way across the parking lot and came upon the fiery group of protesters who were stationed near the front doors of the Hall.
These people were organized, energetic, and disciplined, and it seemed to me that the chants never stopped going the entire time we were there, but beyond their enthusiasm which was instantly infectious, the most exciting part for me personally was that I didn’t know a single one of them.
This wasn’t the same old crowd who, like me, had become so worn out in this fight that they drug themselves out more from a sense of duty than any feeling of hope that their presence would actually accomplish something, this was an entirely new group of people who clearly intended to stay right where they were until they’d made a difference.
And they did.
No one who left that performance did so without being forced to reconsider their position on the chief. Many probably didn’t get beyond just being angered and frustrated about it – I saw quite a few of those – but I guarantee you that no one who walked by did so without having to at least think about what we were saying, and by extension, what they were doing.
Our purpose there wasn’t to attack any individual and we didn’t, we were there to fight an ideology and a practice that we feel is wrong. Interestingly though, the indefensible nature of the pro-chief position is such that they, instead, saw fit only to attack us as people. They called us names and hurled personal insults because they very much didn’t like how uncomfortable we made them feel.
And if the intensity of their hostility is any indication, we made them feel very, very uncomfortable indeed.
And that, to me, is a big success, and one that I was very proud to be a part of.
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