[Peace] ANTI-"CHIEF" UPDATE and CALL TO ACTION!

[Jen Tayabji]

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ANTI-"CHIEF" UPDATE

AND

CALL TO ACTION!

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Dear Anti-"Chief" Activists and Supporters,

As many of you hopefully know, last Friday, February 16th, U of I Board
Chairman Eppley announced the end of the "Chief!" Please see our website for
our press release about this partial victory at www.prairienet.org/prc.

Tomorrow (Feb. 21), the "Chief" will perform its last dance at the UIUC home
basketball game. After that point, the dance will no longer be used at the
University.

This progress is the result of 18 years of tireless grassroots organizing:
from letter writing to petitions, from protests to rallies, from
conversations and debates to civil disobedience. This is a result of the
work of thousands of people who came together on this issue and made a
difference! Organizations like the NCAA and the North Central Association
became involved in the mascot issue after witnessing the movement against
racist mascots like "Chief Illiniwek."

While this is a great victory for the movement, this is only the FIRST step
of many towards working on issues of racism, diversity, and democracy on the
UI campus. So while we recognize this victory, we must continue forward in
the struggle for social justice!

The PRC calls on YOU to take action this Wednesday, February 16th by:

* Contacting the UI Board of Trustees! You can reach them via the UI Board
Secretary, Michele Thompson, at (217) 333-1920 or mthompsn at uiuc.edu

* Writing letters to the editor to your local newspapers. For The Daily
Illini, please send all letters to opinions at DailyIllini.com with the subject
"Letter to the Editor." Letters are limited to 300 words and must include
name and contact information. To submit letters to The News-Gazette, please
visit http://www.news-gazette.com/editorial/.

POSSIBLE TALKING POINTS:

* Let the Board know you support their decision to end the "Chief!"

* Call on the Board to not transfer the trademark rights of the "Chief" logo
to any other organization and to discontinue its use in all respects. By
transferring the rights, the Board is perpetuating the use of racist and
stereotypical imagery for someone else's profit.

* Call on the Board to eliminate the use of the terms "Illini" and "Fighting
Illini." Although the term "Illini" was first used to refer to the
university's newspaper in 1874, it was quickly used in context with
"Indians," "Illini tribesmen," "braves," "warriors" and other terms that
connected U of I's athletics to a fascination with American Indians. This
connection was well established before the campaign to build Memorial
Stadium and by the time "Chief Illiniwek" was created in 1926 (source: "The
Illio"). Historical evidence makes it quite clear that the use of the term
"Fighting Illini" is not and cannot be separated from the use of the "Chief"
or from American Indian references in general.

* Call on the Board to end the "tradition" now. No memorials, retirement
ceremonies, etc. 81 years was long enough!

* Call for the practice of democracy in the University Administration. The
issue should have been decided by a public vote of all of the UI Board
members. Also, the Board should be restructured to where the members are
ELECTED by the people of Illinois and not APPOINTED by the governor (as was
the case until 1996). The process of appointing Board members eliminates
democracy from the highest levels of Illinois' flagship institution.

* Call on the University Administration, and the campus as a whole, to
address the issues of racism on campus, epitomized by the "Tacos and
Tequila" party and the recent FaceBook hate crimes. Students, faculty, and
staff must be held accountable for actions of discrimination, racism,
threats, and violence!


CONGRATULATIONS ON ALL OF OUR WORK! And continue the struggle for social
justice at the University of Illinois!

In solidarity,

The PRC
http://www.prairienet.org/prc