"Homeland Security," it reads, over a photo of four armed Indians. "Fighting Terrorists Since 1492."
I'm sure this is getting some yucks in college faculty lounges and among Ward Churchill fans in academia.
But it's not funny. In fact, it's insulting. It's insulting to you, me and should be to every single American. The fact that it is obviously not insulting to every American is the real tragedy behind the "joke."
15 comments:
So the author doesn't like the t-shirt. Okay, that's his perogative. But don't extrapolate such an absurd argument.
The implication that Natives aren't supportive of the current fight against international terrorism, well...the facts, please. More Indians, as a percentage of the US population, belong to the armed forces than any other ethnic group.
I admit to being conservative in many things. However, I quite LIKE this t-shirt image.
As usual, this guy writes the same old tired rants and misinformation about American Indians and misses the point, and the message the T-shirt is trying to convey. And as usual, he even claims to be part Indian.
I happen to own this T-shirt, which I bought "several years" ago and I still wear it. It's funny how white people never comment on it.
Writerfella here--
And where can writerfella get one of those, or maybe even a dozen?
The poor, piteous ultraconservatives. Everyone always is crapping down their rainpipes and they can't get full enjoyment out of illegal wars or a President who both jumped the shark AND the U.S. Constitution. And they get so distracted from fanning their soaring racial and religious hatreds, that they lose count. Health hath no furry like a woman's corns!
Poor babies, let us kiss it and make it all better.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Writerfella here--
POSTSCRIPTUM: the word is spelled P(R)EROGATIVE, and links inside Human Affairs pages always are broken.
Now if only we can teach the Pres how to pronounce Nu-cle-ar...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
P(r)ecisely why I haven't won a spelling bee since the 7th grade...:)
"Now if only we can teach the Pres how to pronounce Nu-cle-ar..."
Which President? Jimmy Carter pronounced it this way, and he was an actual nuclear engineer.
As for perogative, I think it is a type of Polish potatoe pastry.
I got one of these t-shirts as a present a couple of years ago. Search Google for "fighting terrorism since 1492" and you'll find several sources for them.
Writerfella here --
The Polish potato pies are perogues.
And just what does Jimmy Carter have to do with the world as it is this very moment? Does he still make foreign policy? Does he still have any say as to whether we go to war, legally or illegally? I thought not. Instead, we have The Wizard of Oil in the White House, about whom the best that can be said is, "Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot."
And eponymous 'syndicated columnist' who wrote the original article, may claim to be 'Native American. But it's dollars to doughnuts the 'Native Americans' don't claim him!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
This image by Kicking Bear might go well with the point as well:
http://www.nmculturenet.org/heritage/kicking_bear/img/kick_xl.jpg
Well, I'm Comanche & I have one of these shirts as well as one (with Geronimo's image) which reads, "My heroes have always killed cowboys!" I find BOTH a LOT more amusing than the 'REDSKINS' or the 'CHIEFS' or any of the OTHER sports team 'mascots'.
Thanks, Kai--although I do tend to oppose the glorification of violence.
I've always wondered about the old "cowboys vs indians" idea. Did the conflicts mainly involve these guys who herded and branded and drove the cattle (insert "Rawhide" lyrics here)? Or did was it instead the US Army?
I discussed the subject of cowboys vs. Indians in Adolf Hitler: A True American and Cowboys Fought "Warlike" Indians and Other "Evil Men."
Writafella's spin is too loud to hear any rhetoric. Good luck learning anything that you have not already judged.
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