Offensive to whom?

Today marks the third game between the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves in the 1995 World Series.

Throughout the series, there will certainly be plenty of references to players being on the warpath, thousands of fans will let loose with "whoops" and battle cries, others will respond with "tomahawk chops," and the silly caricature of Cleveland's Chief Wahoo will be splashed across millions of television screens around the nation. It sounds like a lot of fun.

But not everyone's cheering. Certainly not those profoundly offended and disgusted by the trivialization of their heritage. Some Native Americans have vowed to put an end to it once and for all.

Vernon Bellicort, national representative for the American Indian Movement (AIM), recently told reporters, "We want to stop the chop of the Braves, and get rid of that clownish, bucktooth, idiotic mascot called Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland team."

If Bellicort had his way, Chief Wahoo would end up blacklisted with the likes of Little Black Sambo and the Frito Bandito -- most assuredly moving Aunt Jemima, Speedy Gonzales, the stuttering Porky Pig and the Quaker Oats man a notch higher on the hit list.

There are many who would say "good riddance!" and "job well done." Why perpetuate offensive icons, behaviors or ideas? Wouldn't it be best if we could just stop offending each other?

A lot of people think so.

Some women, profoundly offended and disgusted by the crass remarks of some men, have successfully implemented legal measures to keep men in check.

Some college students and administrators, profoundly offended and disgusted by hateful statements on campus, have managed to make them "illegal" in verbal, written and even symbolic form.

And because the fear of being offensive is so prevalent in today's society, we were subjected to childishly inane dialogue like, "Fuhrman said the 'n-word' 45 times," from news reporters on the more sensitive channels during the O.J. Simpson trial

I doubt there are many on this campus who would shed a tear for the rights of a racist, a sexist or even the thoughtless. I know there are many people here on campus who actively work to keep those rights suppressed. But where do you draw the line? Whose rights are right? Whose rights are wrong.

There are many in this country who find the killing of a living fetus profoundly offensive and disgusting. Should we let them suppress a woman's right to an abortion?

Last week, a group of parents who found a word in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," profoundly offensive and disgusting tried to ban the book from San Jose schools. Should we censor an American classic because of the dated use of the word "nigger?"

At this very moment, politicians and federal law enforcement officers are devising ways to keep you from downloading dirty pictures and other "dangerous" information from the Internet.

Across the country, Traditional Values Coalition's chairman, Low Sheldon, is fighting for legislation to keep sex education out of schools, register "convicted" homosexuals as violent sex offenders, and make same-sex marriages illegal.

His cohort, Rev. Fred Phelps, and his followers are so profoundly offended and disgusted by gays that they travel around the country protesting people's right to love who they want.

Would you like these people to have a say in what your rights are?

How can we tell others what they say, think or do is not OK because it offends us, while at the same time we ignore pleas to stop offending and disgusting others?

We need to stop drawing the line for others. Draw your own lines, and let freedom of expression reign.

Yes, free-thinking offends, but this country was based on free-thinking. We, as U.S. citizens, have the right to piss each other off. And everybody, the censorers, the interest groups, the Christian right, the politically correct and, most of all, the profoundly offended need to wake up to the fact that their incessant bitching will end up muzzling us all.

No matter who you are, or what you express, there will always, always, be someone out there who's profoundly offended and disgusted by what you say, think or do.

[ Golden Gater Online October 24, 1995 ]

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