[Newspoetry] The Chief

[Mike Lehman]

To Whom It May Concern,
Although I wasn't born in Illinois, I have now lived here well over half
my life.  I was born into a military family and lived many places in my
youth.  That time was a time that our country was beginning to come to
terms with the sad legacy of racism.

My father, and his military, a staid and conservative institution if
there ever was one, learned that they could not ignore that sad
legacy--they had to learn from it, and however unwilling some were, they
have made great progress.

The great institution of the University of Illinois is such an
institution.  It pains me, though, as a citizen and taxpayer of
illinois, to note that the University is sadly behind the times in
appreciating the oppressive nature of certain language and symbols,
especially so when used by a public institution.

There may be an absolute majority who want to retain the Chief.  Their
views should be taken into consideration, but I think it is time that
the Board of Trustees pay attention to the harm that his retention does
to the dignity of the University at the present time, a time where the
school is preceived as more and more out of step with the views of a
majority of the world at large.

When I first moved to this state, a quarter of a century ago, I found it
quaint that such a symbol had not already given way to a more
enlightened image that reflected better the diversity and character of
this great state.  I have been patient, knowing that such things still
occurred because of ignorance and insensitivity, but which, if called
attention to, would be given quick action so as to remediate their ill
effects.  We now no longer have Chief toilet paper.  I guess that is
progress for some, but it falls far short of dealing forthrightly with
the situation.

It is time for our Board to take a leadership direction.  This issue is
about the rights of a minority, rights that can not be protected by a
simple testing of the wind to find a purely popular solution.  It
requires hard choices, but this board will be judged in the future by
what it does or does not do about the Chief.  I fear that history will
not be kind to you if you choose the side of inaction, rather than a
side that comes to a resolution of what has now become an embarrassing
period in the history of the University of Illinois.

Please, it is time to make the Chief a dignified part of the
University's history, when you put him in the past to show that this
institution no longer clings to, at a minimum, a vaguely racist past.

Sincerely,
Mike Lehman
608 E. Green St.
Urbana, IL