Petition against LSU

[LKEEL75 2,558]

Heard about this on Rick & Bubba this morning.  If people are trying to take Mike away from LSU then it is a small step to try and take the eagles from AU.  The original part of the petition describes that the original name is from Confederate army regiment but goes on to say that it is "cruel" to cage a wild animal.

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Petition Started To Change “Racist Mascot” For LSU

Baton Rouge (CBS HOUSTON) – A petition on the website Change.org has been started to try and have the powers that be at Louisiana State University to change the mascot of the school away from the Tigers.

According to the petition, which as of this post has 346 signatures, the LSU Tigers took on the mascot to honor a Confederate army regiment called the Louisiana Tigers which had a history of violence towards black slaves and free black Americans.

“It is incredibly insulting for any African American to have to attend to a school that honors confederate [sic] militantism,” the petition reads. “It is already hard enough to be black at LSU, and these symbols must be changed.”

The petition also points to Mike, the live Tiger kept at LSU as a mascot for the school calling it “cruel” to cage a wild animal.

The LSU official athletic site corroborates the petition’s claim with a story of the team receiving their nickname in 1895 from their first football coach Dr. Charles E. Coates:

“It was the custom at that time, for some occult reason, to call football teams by the names of vicious animals; the Yale Bulldogs and the Princeton Tigers, for example. This is still the vogue. It struck me that purple and gold looked Tigerish enough and I suggested that we choose “Louisiana Tigers,” all in conference with the boys. The Louisiana Tigers had represented the state in Civil War and had been known for their hard fighting.”

The state of Louisiana has been removing Confederate memorial statues over the last few months.

 

[meh130 976]

This is getting crazy. The first superintendent of LSU was William Tecumseh Sherman.

LSU indeed chose the Tiger as their moniker in reference to the Tiger Rifles, which did reach military acclaim during the Civil War. They may have done this in defiance of the results of the Civil War. However, from what I can find, the Tiger Rifles only fought Civil War battles in Virginia and Maryland. I cannot find anything about violence towards slaves. The only violence against free blacks may refer to the a race riot in New Orleans on July 30 1866, when the unit was mobilized to assist local police in putting down the violence.

The Tiger Rifles were a rowdy bunch. Two were executed by their Confederate military commander for drunkenness and insubordination. So they really were the original LSU fans--drunk and rowdy was a feature, not a bug.

[gravejd 3,102]

oh its coming...the eagles will stop flying in my lifetime i believe. That will be a sad day

[AUBwins 9,527]

People just need a hobby I suppose as someone could find offense to anything ...

As far as Mike the Tiger, they might as well say all zoos need to be removed (which some may argue that).  LSU took the opportunity of getting a new tiger to bring the enclosure up to code at the highest level, which would likely be better than most zoos.  Link below on the enhancements of the enclosure.

http://www.mikethetiger.com/index.php?display=habitat

[keesler 5,814]

A bunch of folks with too much time on their hands.  Sensitive snowflakes.

[thaitopher 807]

1 hour ago, AUBwins said:

People just need a hobby I suppose as someone could find offense to anything ...

As far as Mike the Tiger, they might as well say all zoos need to be removed (which some may argue that).  LSU took the opportunity of getting a new tiger to bring the enclosure up to code at the highest level, which would likely be better than most zoos.  Link below on the enhancements of the enclosure.

http://www.mikethetiger.com/index.php?display=habitat

No kidding. That tiger enclosure is state of the art and much better than most zoos.

[AUcivE09 577]

Mostly signed by bama fans if I had to guess.   =)

 

It is pretty pathetic that this is where we are today. I have to agree that we may see the last eagle flight in my lifetime. It is, after all, based on a story involving a confederate soldier IIRC. 

[LKEEL75 2,558]

2 hours ago, gravejd said:

oh its coming...the eagles will stop flying in my lifetime i believe. That will be a sad day

I agree @gravejd.  I hat to say it, but I believe there will be enough to cry about this in years to come that we will lose the greatest tradition in all sports!

[AUsince72 11,084]

I say we rename LSU the "Generic State University funded by the Federal Gov't so we kowtow to Leftist Yahoos Gray Blobs".  But then that STILL wouldn't be satisfactory cuz, you know.... Gray is racist also because it brings up images of Confederate uniforms so let's make the school colors rainbow and change the name of "Death Valley" to "Safe Space" and ban tackle football altogether cuz it's scary and makes some students feel sad and afraid.

Then once we have all universities so "diverse" that they're all the same (ironic), then next let's go after the US flag because it has red, white & blue in it cuz so did the Confederate flag.  We should just use the Mexican flag cuz we're actually just living in northern Mexico anyway.

Common sense has left the building.  This country is in DEEP trouble.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 hours ago, AUBwins said:

People just need a hobby I suppose as someone could find offense to anything ...

As far as Mike the Tiger, they might as well say all zoos need to be removed (which some may argue that).  LSU took the opportunity of getting a new tiger to bring the enclosure up to code at the highest level, which would likely be better than most zoos.  Link below on the enhancements of the enclosure.

http://www.mikethetiger.com/index.php?display=habitat

Mike the Tiger is a rescue Tiger.  What that means is that he was brought into the country, by some idiot, as a pet, and when they finally wised up to the fact that they couldn't handle him, he was shipped off to a rescue.  They rescue provided him to LSU.  Here's the thing about rescue Tigers.  The cannot be released back in the wild, because they look at humans as sources of food and never learned how to cope in the wild. They also can't be placed in zoos, because they, again, are too desensitized to humans and look to them for affection/food. The only option is for them to be provided with a habitat to live out their lives.  The habitat LSU is offering is one of the best available for this kind of situation. Any organization who has an issue with that is just proving their ignorance about the situation and will be made to look like fools if the situation ends up in court.

[lca408 348]

3 hours ago, meh130 said:

LSU indeed chose the Tiger as their moniker in reference to the Tiger Rifles, which did reach military acclaim during the Civil War. They may have done this in defiance of the results of the Civil War. However, from what I can find, the Tiger Rifles only fought Civil War battles in Virginia and Maryland. I cannot find anything about violence towards slaves. The only violence against free blacks may refer to the a race riot in New Orleans on July 30 1866, when the unit was mobilized to assist local police in putting down the violence.

The Tiger Rifles were a rowdy bunch. Two were executed by their Confederate military commander for drunkenness and insubordination. So they really were the original LSU fans--drunk and rowdy was a feature, not a bug.

The violence towards slaves addition is most likely a general reference to the aims of the Confederate army/government during the war, rather than any specific reference. Like you, I'm not aware of any specific situation regarding slaves and Hays' brigade but then again, I haven't done extensive research on them or their first hand accounts. If there is anything, it's likely in regards to the rounding up of escaped slaves/free blacks during the Gettysburg campaign which all Confederate units did from June to July 1863 but I doubt there was anything exceptional about the Tigers that made them stand out. And as far as the "battle of New Orleans," I thought the organized militia was just that - a collection of civilian militia and not necessarily the original regiments or veterans solely. They did indeed fight hard and had a reputation for being fierce fighters on the field. The original regiment was pretty much strictly from New Orleans and included some French veterans of revolts in the West Indies. They got their bell rung at 1st Manassas after a failed charge but rebounded with a full brigade in 1862 and earned a distinguished record in the Valley campaign of 62 as well as in the Railroad Cut at 2nd Manassas, the cornfield at Antietam, and briefly captured parts of Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg before being driven off by a counterattack. Their early uniforms included blue and white striped pantaloons, short blue and red jackets, and red fez caps. Definitely the precursor to the crazed corndogs of today!

As far as this petition, it's nice to see that it only has 346 signatures. A school/program/team can transcend old traditions and old ways of doing things to become something better. I doubt very much that anyone really sits around an LSU tailgate thinking often about the Louisiana Tigers of old when getting ready for a football game. The modern Tigers have long since left all that behind.

[AUwent 3,653]

I'm a left leaning person, but I loathe SJWs with the entirety of my being.

"Ain't no rest for the triggered!"

[madkat7 221]

Just another turn in the entropic downward spiral of humanity. We've gone from a people that could take it on the chin to one that becomes instantly incredulous at the barest hint of offense. Now we're just making crap up to be triggered about. 

[AUFlyer99 641]

On 5/31/2017 at 3:15 PM, lionheartkc said:

Mike the Tiger is a rescue Tiger.  What that means is that he was brought into the country, by some idiot, as a pet, and when they finally wised up to the fact that they couldn't handle him, he was shipped off to a rescue.  They rescue provided him to LSU.  Here's the thing about rescue Tigers.  The cannot be released back in the wild, because they look at humans as sources of food and never learned how to cope in the wild. They also can't be placed in zoos, because they, again, are too desensitized to humans and look to them for affection/food. The only option is for them to be provided with a habitat to live out their lives.  The habitat LSU is offering is one of the best available for this kind of situation. Any organization who has an issue with that is just proving their ignorance about the situation and will be made to look like fools if the situation ends up in court.

Similar story to our eagles.  To my knowledge they were rescued and unable to survive in the wild due to previous injuries.  I may be the outlier, but I don't think our eagle flights go anywhere.  It won't stop some namby-pamby group from trying, but I believe it will survive.  

[lionheartkc 6,150]

11 hours ago, AUFlyer99 said:

Similar story to our eagles.  To my knowledge they were rescued and unable to survive in the wild due to previous injuries.  I may be the outlier, but I don't think our eagle flights go anywhere.  It won't stop some namby-pamby group from trying, but I believe it will survive.  

Similar, but you are right... in the case of eagles, they are usually injured beyond full healing or often have contracted an illness that keeps them from surviving in the wild. Otherwise they would be reintroduced upon recovery.