Re: Amerind an offensive term (was: Early Amerind assimilation
Matt Silberstein (matts2@ix.netcom.com)
Fri, 02 Aug 1996 17:47:30 GMT
"Stephen W. Russell" <srussell@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu> wrote:
>On 1 Aug 1996, Chris Cracknell wrote:
>> In article <31FEDA32.A01@megafauna.com>, Stephen Barnard <steve@megafauna.com> wrote:
>>
>> >I find this one-upsmanship of victimhood and group identity ridiculous.
>> ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
>>
>>
>> Hey come on, get with the times. People wear victimization like a trendy
>> new T-shirt.
>>
>> CRACKERS
>> (It's now, it's wow from hell!!!)
>>
>Maybe so, Hoss, but some of those T-shirts have blood all over them.
>Fairly recent blood, as in the '70s on Pine Ridge.
>While I sympathize with the demands of the mainstream civil rights
>movement, not all Indians do. What we want is so entirely different that
>we have little in common. We don't want a piece of your pie. Keep the
>damn pie and welcome to it. Just live up to your written agreements and
>leave us alone to be who we are. Simple? You start keeping your word
>and we would need your charity about as much as we need your liquor.
What does the "You" and "Your" mean in the above? It is one thing to
claim the right to choose how you want to be called. It is another to
get to choose how to refer to others. If I don't count as native
American for reasons stated by others, then how can I count as the
descendant of "Whites" living in the U.S. in the 18th and 19th
centuries? The same kind of rules should apply. Not a single person in
my family stepped foot on this continent before 1903.
I suppose supporting human rights groups does not count. After all that
is just another attempt to impose Western European cultural values on
others. Unless all of use white folk "keep our word" then none of us
count. I don't see anyone in this discussion offering pie, charity, or
liquor. I see people trying reasonably to accommodate the needs and
values of others.
The people who lived in the Western Hemisphere before the arrival of
Columbus were treated very badly. In many ways they continue to be
treated very badly to this day. I will tell you what, though, they are
treated better in the U.S. than they are in Peru, Chile, or Guatemala.
---------------------------------------------------------
What is the scariest line you know? Mine is:
"Hi, my name is Number 6, what's yours?"
|