I have to disagree with Janice Klein, director of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian (“Racial stereotypes,” Voice of the people, April 16).
After watching the cartoonish mascots of other sports teams, I wished for the dignity of Chief Illiniwek.
My father was a graduate of the University of Illinois, as are my daughters and their husbands. I first encountered the chief as a student at Purdue in the ’50s. I never failed to get goosebumps and a lump in my throat at his appearance.
Also in my childhood “Injun Summer,” published by the Tribune every fall, was something that I looked forward to as my papa liked to share it with me, and I would picture in my mind’s eye those bygone days.
Every group is stereotyped, but some stereotypes are ennobling, which is what I feel about these examples. If we censor these, will future generations even give thought to what happened in the past to these groups and strive to make sure such injustices don’t happen again?
