The Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition wants again to express their strong support for removal of the University of Illinois's Chief Illiniwek mascot. It promotes racial stereotyping and deforms the music and dance of Native Americans. It is unconscionable for Illinois's premier public university to be setting such a bad example for its students and the people of Illinois.

But this is not an isolated issue. It is part of a wider pattern of racism and classism that permeates all the University of Illinois campuses --where policy is set by the Board of Trustees.

'Think Globally and Destroy Locally' seems to be the University of Illinois's motto here in Chicago. Blues are among America's few indigenous art forms and its most famous style, urban electric Blues, was created on Maxwell Street. Blues musicians still play out on the street there but not for much longer. At the end of last year, the University painted over theWall of Fame and bulldozed the folk art Juketown Community Bandstand. The University is in the final phase of total destruction here, scorched earth Stukel style.

The Maxwell Street Coalition is not against neighborhood improvement nor are we against the University of Illinois as neighbors. But we are against forced removal of a people, the destruction of culture, and the attitude of manifest destiny.

Says Steve Balkin, Vice President of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition, "The University is doing what in the 1960's was called "Negro Removal". The University has acquired land using Eminent Domain and then is tearing down historic buildings and handing it over to favored developer-pals of Mayor Daley (UI's private developer partners); to kick out the businesses and people to build upscale condos with a new retail district, replacing the old businesses with new business who will cater to the 'right kind of people' ".

"The old Maxwell Street neighborhood, the Ellis Island of the Midwest, was in the area over a 100 years earlier than when the University of Illinois moved next door. At first they were neighbors. Then the University wanted to move into the neighborhood on empty land. Then they wanted all the land. Then they wanted everyone living, working, or shopping in the area to be removed including all their cultural symbols, and to even try to tear down Chicago's oldest Spanish speaking Catholic Church (built in 1861), where many of the parishioners are Mexican Native Americans.

"Is the Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois classist and racist? You do the math."

For more information about Maxwell Street see <http://www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html>.

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