For NY Times, No Sexism Among Indian Lacrosse Players (Just Those at Duke?)

With Bush giving a press conference about the war in Iraq, Thursday wasn't exactly a slow news day. Yet the New York Times found room on Friday's front page for Winnie Hu's story about American Indian lacrosse players, "American  Indians Widen Old Outlet In Youth Lacrosse." Meanwhile, readers got to watch political correctness trump the paper's corporate-line feminism.

"While the teams do not wear native clothing or have tribal sideline chants, the players say they adhere to the spirit of the game played hundreds of years ago. For instance, the Onondaga Red Hawks and the Tonawanda Braves do not allow girls to play, and male players on some other teams forbid women to touch their sticks for fear such contact could cost them the protection of the Creator during games. If a stick has been touched by a woman or girl, some native lore says it must be put away for seven days, and some Tonawanda players have been known to discard or give away such sticks."

The Times didn't even comment on the practice, which would surely be criticized as sexist if performed by, say, a white Christian sect -- or white lacrosse players from Duke University, a group the Times rarely hesitated to assume were guilty, if not rape, then at least sexism and general hooliganism.

For more New York Times bias, visit Times Watch.