1. How is a tiger racist? *A tiger is not racist, and this petition isn't against the use of a tiger as a mascot or symbol. It is specifically against LSU's mascot, which happens to be a tiger, and we are against this mascot because it was chosen to glorify a confederate military unit. I want to emphasize the last point, that LSU choose its mascot to glorify the Confederacy. This is the main reason used to remove monuments all over the nation. It is because despite the arguments to the contrary, the monuments were not built to honor the dead, but were indeed to glorify a cause, and the cause kept black people in bondage. LSU's mascot came from the same mindset, during the same period. Being against icons and symbols of the confederacy is not some idea that has never been heard of either. If you haven't noticed, Mayor Landrieu recently took down all of the monuments to the confederacy, in New Orleans. You may have also noticed over the years that other Southern teams have changed their mascots. Ole Miss should ring a bell to anyone considering their change was very recent, and it didn't kill them. People still go to the games, and nobody is divided because of it. ULM changed it's name because it offended Indians. http://www.espn.com/college-sports/news/story?id=2313264 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/491506-the-ole-miss-rebelsmake-that-the-ole-miss-black-bears-good-grief 2. This petition is racist. I understand how many could see some of the things said as racist. However, they are not meant to hurt anyone, but are meant instead to empower black people. Black people will be the new majority in Louisiana, and they need to recognize this new power. They need to understand that we can shape the state in our image, just as white people once shaped the state in their image. Black people feel powerless, and whites will never understand this. They will never understand that BLM, and other groups, is about lifting black people up, unifying them, and that it is not about destroying white people. This really is just a mascot, a small symbol, but if it unifies black people, if it causes a spark in black students, then it could change lives for the better, which is something mass entertainment will never do. I would rather young black people remember changing a mascot than being bitter about Alton Sterling, or many other black men who were shot down. We cannot feasibly change perceptions and the justice system; not in the short term. The black people who are focusing on these shooting will spend their lives feeling bitter toward white people. I wont be one of them. I feel that black people who are focusing on changing monuments and icons will have a more productive experience. These are the future leaders of the state, and it isn't in anyone's interest to have them bitter toward white people. These things are all a cultural catharsis that both black people and white people need. 3. Many of the comments prove my point. Comments such as "you ninjas" is plainly a euphemism for a much worse word. I've also read comments about blacks not having fathers, blacks being violent, and blacks turning the state into a third world country. And you people say we don't have racism? You people can't understand why black people feel oppressed, as you pass by these very comments? The fact is racism does exist, and black people can feel it like a wall in front of them. We feel it in the court room, while being interviewed for a job, and for our black men, they feel it when they're pulled over by a police officer.