#74. Lack of any Black-themed Mascots at American Universities or Colleges

College football season kicks off the 2009 season tonight and the anticipation for watching athlete-students compete in amateur athletics has never been greater. Whereas the National Football League includes 32 teams in large cities throughout the nation, college football is spread out in 120 different cities (only referring to Division 1A or FBS teams) and alumni of these schools revel in the memories that are created Saturday’s in the fall for their entire life.

Interestingly, all colleges have nicknames that accompany their school name (Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns, etc.) and they stir just as much passion in the alumni hearts as the games themselves.

Look at how Auburn University graduates say "War Eagle" to each other when one of them is caught wearing Auburn University paraphernalia. Beloved mascots included Ole Miss' Colonel Reb, which has been banned on sidelines due to his divisive nature, since college football at historically white colleges is now performed by the few Black people on campus:

"In the summer of 2003, Ole Miss students, alumni and fans were shocked with Chancellor Khayat and Athletic Director Pete Boone's decision to strip Colonel Reb from our school. Boone's reasoning was the mascot "doesn't fit anything we do." At no point did student or alumni input factor into the decision to get rid of the mascot."

Since Black people, as we have shown through the University of Georgia's 2008 Freshmen enrollment (of the 108 Black Freshmen who entered the school of more than 33,000, nearly 25 percent where on the football team), make up the majority of FBS teams, anything that is deemed hateful or racist must be removed so as not to offend the Black people playing football.

Almost anything offends Black people these days and the last thing white alumni of major university's want is to lose the ability to watch Black people play football at their historically white schools and more importantly, not waste hours of their lives following high school seniors during the recruiting process (like www.rivals.com or www.scout.com).

Interestingly, the one aspect that might make Black people interested in attending historically white colleges - as opposed to the paltry few who enrolled (or got in) at UGA in 2008 - would be to have a few universities proudly having Black-centric nicknames.

In the United States, hundreds of colleges (both FBS and FBC) have animal themed nicknames (Tigers, Bears, Panthers, Bulldogs, etc) and hundreds more are named for Indian tribes (Seminoles, Fightin Illini, etc.). Interestingly, a lot of pressure has been exerted on university's for daring to use Indian nicknames as that is deemed insensitive:

"The use of Native American mascots in sports has become a contentious issue in the United States and Canada. Americans have had a history of "playing Indian" that dates back to at least the 1700s. Many individuals admire the heroism and romanticism evoked by the classic Native American image, but many too view the use of mascots as both offensive and demeaning (especially amongst Native Americans). Despite the concerns that have been raised, many Native American mascots are still used in American sports from the elementary to the professional level."

Black people would love to have schools (especially historically white schools) have nicknames after famous Black people, historical Black tribes and warrior's or for Black achievement.

But, it is the dreaded white race that is the beneficiary of hundreds of university nicknames and logos that far exceeds the use of Indian tribes and Indian nicknames in the United States.

Let's take a look at the numerous historic white people from around the world and throughout history that are nicknames for major colleges and universities:

"Ambassador's, Archers, Athenas, Argonauts, Athenians, Battlers, Battling Bishops, Belles, Black Knights, Blue Raiders, Cadets, Canoneers, Cavaliers, Celtics, Celts, Colonials, Colonels, Commodores, Continentals, Clippers, Conquerors, Cornhuskers, Cowboys, Crusaders, Defenders, Dukes, Dutch, Dutchmen, Engineers, Explorers, Flying Dutchmen, Flying Fleet, Friars, Generals, Gentlemen, Giants, Governors, Highland Cavaliers, Highlanders, Hilltoppers, Irish, Jets, Judges, Kingsmen, Knights, Ladies, Lakers, Loggers, Lumberjacks, Marauders, Mariners, Mavericks, Medics, Miners, Midshipmen, Minutemen, Patriots, Pilots, Pioneers, Pipers, Pirates, Poets, Praying Colonels, Raiders, Rebels, Spartans, Royals, Scots, Titans, Tritons, Trojans, Vikings, Volunteers, Warriors and 49ers"

All of these above nicknames are for white people and those of European descent. Not for Indians nor any other race. They depict memories of white people of the past and conjure ideas of men who knew who they were and didn't bow down to political correctness.

Black people play football wearing the colors of these teams and say nothing about it (save for Ole Miss). Yet, Black people have not one school nickname based on their history nor their warriors.

In fact, the University of Alabama- Birmingham used to have a white mascot named Blaze, but he was deemed "too white":

"The University of Alabama at Birmingham has dropped Blaze, the mascot for its athletic teams, which are called the Blazers. Blaze, who was a big, rough-and-tumble Norseman, drew fire for being too mean, too masculine, and too white. Grant Shingleton, sports information director for the university, explained that poor Blaze was, “I hate to use the word — too Aryan.”

What would a Black nickname be, you might ask? Based on their opinion of him, SBPDL would recommend "Obama's"...

Stuff Black People Don't Like includes the lack of any Black people themed mascots at university's or college's, for the Indian's have been romanticised by white people and get nicknames and white people are the basis of thousands of nicknames for American college teams. Black people play a lot of college football for white people's enjoyment and yet, they have not one nickname. They play for school's like the USC Trojans, which glorify the past greatness of white people and the sight of these Men of Troy might make current white people began to question why that past was so great.