Frank dialog, tough choices will pay off
In 1994, Marquette University dropped its Warriors nickname and the accompanying Indian logo. The nickname was disrespectful to Native Americans but it was a very controversial decision for many alumni. Al McGuire won the 1977 NCAA basketball championship with that logo and fans had fond memories tied in to the Warriors nickname and its symbolism – at least their definition of what they thought it meant.
Marquette still did the right thing 26 years ago by adopting the new Golden Eagles mascot, and so did other schools, like St. John’s, which dropped the Redmen.
And here’s one small example of how we can see that some people were able to move on from that name change:
Joe Chapman played for Marquette about 15 years ago and his identity doesn’t seem to be at all tied up in the mascot of the school from which he earned his communications and media degree. The coach of an MU alumni team in The Basketball Tournament,
which will play in a championship tomorrow, had very little first-hand experience with the mascot controversy of his school.
“I played in 2003 and the change happened in the ’90s,” said Chapman. “We know it was a big change; we know a lot of fans love the Warriors name. But we really didn’t get affected by that.”
That’s a sign of progress. A decade after the name change, a Marquette alumnus is proud of his association with the school and not concerned over a nickname.
And we are ready for more progress again.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Monday that when he no longer has to devote his entire focus to the health and safety of his players during baseball’s summer camp in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, he will welcome the inclusion of players who want to speak out for social change.
“We’re in an important moment in our country,” said Counsell during a video conference call with reporters. “The players have the platforms to share and I absolutely think we should encourage it, and support it, and promote it.
“I hope that it happens. Not only with us, but throughout the game I hope it happens.”
To have open and frank dialog, an exchange of experiences and perspectives about social issues like Black Lives Matter, police brutality and systemic racism is not something we hear much from the players in this sport. And yet it’s a sport that benefits from great diversity.
We need to hear more from them – the way Lorenzo Cain spoke Sunday of respect and change, for example – and it sounds like Counsell will be supportive when players are ready.
“I’m going to come at it from a little bit of just baseball in general: The culture of players – it is hard to speak out,” said Counsell.
“We’ve had a hard time in baseball getting past celebrating – just like, joy. We’ve had a hard time to show joy on the baseball field. So,
this is not something in baseball that we’ve been very good at, you know, in a lot of ways.
“And so we’ve got a long way to go here. Like most of this stuff, not easy to fix.
“What I think we all have to understand is that we have to push much harder on some of this stuff, to the point where it’s uncomfortable, and that’s just harder to do.”
And here’s another suggestion: Open up the conversation for change even further to be more inclusive. The Potawatomi Tribe asks the Brewers to obscure its banner at Miller Park when Milwaukee is playing the Cleveland Indians or Atlanta Braves.
“We still sponsor them. But we asked them to just please cover our name,” for those games, said Thomas Boelter, Potawatomi administrator of education, culture and community programs. “That’s our silent protest.”
But why be silent anymore? Being quarantined during the great pause of the pandemic has allowed us to refocus our attention onto our problems.
When games return in Major League Baseball and the NBA at the end of the month, it won’t be work as usual. So why pretend everything is back to so-called “normal”? “When we get in the daily job doing our job, we may start to avoid some of the uncomfortable stuff, and the harder stuff,” said Counsell.
“And that’s just what we can’t do at this point.”
In other words, this is an opportunity. We’re all weary of the tragedy of the coronavirus, and the massive loss of life, and the loss of jobs and security, but we still need to pay attention to the social issues.
Giannis Antetokounmpo plans to wear “Equality” on the back of his Bucks jersey this season, and Khris Middleton plans to wear “Black Lives Matter,” and if you still don’t understand why, this is an opportunity to listen and watch more than react and respond.
The NFL team in Washington is finally changing its nickname and logo. There’s a chance here to expand this discussion, for those shouting with outrage and those silent in protest.
“Today is an amazing day. Today is a day that’s really been long awaited,” said Boelter. “Anytime that you can make a correction to show respect for a culture, or a group of people, I think it’s a reason for celebration.”
We have done this before.
We can do this again. And we can do this for a lot of people who have been silent for too long.
“Oh, we definitely would love to be part of the discussion,” said Boelter. “We have something that’s called the circle of life. Some tribes call it the Medicine Wheel. Basically we live our life in a circle ... and the teachings of our elders is that we have to learn to respect one another, and we have to live our life in balance with one another.
“As indigenous people, the Potawatomi, that’s what we’re all all about, making life in balance.
“Just to make things right, it would be nice if all the mascot names can be changed. I think there’s doorways that open for opportunity to change, and I think we’ve come to one.”
Message Lori Nickel on Twitter at @LoriNickel, Instagram at @bylorinickel or Facebook at facebook.com/ChinUpLoriNickel.