CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The conversation for some has now turned Izzy the Islander into a victim of "cancel culture." It’s not how everyone feels, but that’s been at the forefront of comments.
Monday, we reported Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is quietly phasing Izzy out of existence. Groups of people on Facebook have been commenting that the university is making a ridiculous move.
"I feel like it’s really unnecessary," Taylor Puckett said, a TAMU-CC student. "I feel like its very much cultural appreciation. We're the Islanders, we go to school on an island. I feel that were not appropriating the culture, whatsoever."
Some have said the mascot is not offensive and there’s no reason pacific islanders would be offended.
"I think society is ridiculous during this whole COVID-19 pandemic, that they’re really honing in and starting racial tension in any way they can," Kassidy Bendle said.
A Hawaiian native that spoke to KRIS 6 News from Hawaii said seeing something like Izzy, is upsetting. She said it's nothing new but doesn't mean it's not offensive. Izzy was analyzed to show he is using sacred and religious symbols Hawaiians still use.
"I don't quite see other religious icons portrayed like that," Kaleonani Hurley said. "I'm going to guess, like the Christian faith, I don't really see..."
Some in Corpus Christi said Izzy is in some way honoring Pacific Islanders. Hurley responds to that.
"There's a lot of different even native Hawaiians with different ideas and opinions about it, but when you’re borrowing something from another person’s culture I always feel like it’s best to find out how the people within that culture view that," said Hurley. "Because as insiders, of course we see things different from people on the outside."
