Take comfort in the fact that every time someone types out the phrases "should of (sic) complied" or "play stupid games win stupid prizes" a spirit appears like in A Christmas Carol and shows them the future where they die alone without ever having known the love of another living being.
We hear you, we see you, and we know - as you do - that you're a miserable sorta-excuse for a human being who will never know a moment's happiness let alone be tolerable to any other person. Your existence is a cancer on the world and everyone forced to encounter you, even for a moment, is worse off for it. And unlike this woman shot down in cold blood, the moment you die will pass entirely unnoticed and unremaked upon. It will be like you never existed, and you know every word I said here is true. That's why you act the way you do and talk the way you do - because at night, when you're alone, you know all of this. The only thing that never occurs to you is that everyone around you knows it about you, too. You think your act fools anyone, and that's the scariest thing to you: the possibility that people see you for the coward you are.
They do. We do. Sleep tight. ...
It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand there, keep filming, and scream "What the fuck, you asshole" at someone wearing a badge who just shot and killed one of your neighbors in cold blood.
If you're grasping for anything to feel good about right now - and that's a very difficult thing to find - feel good about the fact that not everyone is as much of a spineless, collaborating coward as our elites. Total strangers will risk their lives to stand next to you. ...
mike says:
I miss UofI Urbana sometimes. Let me google a quote….ok here:
"The Chief is a respected and honored tradition," said Nick Klitzing, external vice-president of Students for Chief Illiniwek. "The Chief embodies qualities such as dignity, respect, honor, bravery, courage, and the students have spoken. This is what they say."
Good times. Those images from the advertisements speak to the dignity and honor of Negro servants as well.
Erik says:
Be careful there Mike. I don't know if the Chief is relavent at all to the situation. The pro-chief arguement all along has been that it is not racist. The notion being that as a symbol he is revered and respected. He is honored and not a subject of fun making or degredation.
The fact is that in the last year a number of native americans from around the country have written editorials expressing this opinion. The bulk of those who are under the impression that something needs to change are upperclass white kids from chicago, and some fellow calling himself the "white apache" or something like that.
The truth is that the Chief might be offensive to some people, but it is not because of what he is. It is a result of what he is made out to be by those who want to get rid of him.
It would be my assumption that the majority of people who would like to see him retired probably only have one opinion. That is of a man dancing at football games. A dance, mind you, that was actually taught to him by native americans. This one bit of imagery (a bit of imagery most of them have probably not even witnessed themselves) hardly goes to the heart of what the chief is.
In fairness, I suppose if his dance offends people perhaps it would be best to stop it. However, removing the Chief as the symbol of University of Illinois is just absurd.
mike says:
To use Jared's argument, if he was "The Dancing UofI Priest" we wouldn't be having this discussion. Even if he respected the Catholics by performing an actual mass during halftime. And even if said mass was taught to him by actual Catholic priests.
I bring it up only because circa 1920-40s the Chief was exactly the type of racial caricature seem in these ads. It's completely different now in presentation, agreed.
Ed says:
"We feel that Chief Illiniwek is a solemn and fitting tribute to the people we killed to get the land on which this University sits."
Dave says:
Ever considered you boys could just be too liberal for that little bit if land there?
kat in the uk says:
in prejudicial news from the uk, it has recently been confirmed that students from oxford really are elitist twats who are incapable of understanding why they can't have their way. however, i did learn that to say that something is "pants" is to say that it is nasty.