Chief Illiniwek: Understanding the Controversial Discourse and the Politics of Power

• In Event: Deconstructing Race, Racism, and Antiracism

Abstract

Prominent discourses surrounding the Chief Illiniwek mascot controversy on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, between the years of 2000-2007, was examined using textual analysis. Utilizing Tribal Critical Race Theory as a guiding framework, various materials have been collected (newspapers, testimonials, and personal experience), and subsequently analyzed. The aim of this project is to uncover how these discourses were being framed, who supported them, how students of color experienced their campus racial climate during this controversy, and lastly how the university played a role in perpetuating the use of stereotypical imagery on campus. Suggestions and recommendations that the university should take into consideration in order to effectively address the Chief Illiniwek mascot issue are also presented as concluding remarks.

Author

• Socorro Morales, University of Utah