We support the campaign to remove the “Chief.”
In the U.S., deep-seated beliefs stem from centuries of Western history. The full scope of this story includes conquering and colonizing people through attempted erasure and genocide. Indigenous lands were stolen, occupied and converted into private property.
European settler colonialism in North America speaks volumes with declarations of ownership and private property. The last decade questions the championing of symbols of white supremacy, historical white dominance and privilege. In the last few years around the country, monuments to centuries of militarism, settler colonialism, enslavement and genocide tumbled to the ground in protest.
Survivors persisted in an Indigenous resistance that lives on to the present. Local voices protest “the Chief,” a symbol of racism.
Sports franchises are the private property of billionaires. The private property argument lost in professional sports with the elimination of tribal names with few exceptions remaining.
The movements of people opposing racism are on the rise. Why does one business owner deserve the privilege to assert their property rights with a relic of the “Western myth?” Why not follow the example of Fort Lewis College? Durango needs a community discussion about public displays of objectionable symbols. The exchange should be based on democracy, civility, transparency and accountability.
Thanks to Four Borderless Corners and their highly qualified and life-experienced panel for your offer to dialogue. Thanks to Hayley Kirkman for her resignation from Durango Creative District.
In the spirit of Martin Luther King Day,
Kathy Barrett and Mark Hardesty
Durango
