Excuse me? America did not begin until the ‘Pilgrims’ arrived? America had no cultures, societies, nothing until the ‘Pilgrims’ arrived and there was supposedly a Thanksgiving feast with the Indians? This is an obvious example of Eurocentric writing discounting any view but that of Europeans. It is highly offensive to those of us who are Indian or part Indian. It should be highly offensive to everyone since incorrect information has been passed along to all readers.
4 comments:
I bet many parents would be up in arms if they heard their children were learning things like that.
Once again, most parents don't teach their children anything about Thanksgiving or the Indians' role in it. But TV specials, school plays, and children's books do.
Commercials and documentaries on the History Channel are both examples of media, so I'm not sure what your point is. You've yet to give us any examples of parents teaching children about stereotypes except (apparently) your own parents.
Most people's Native stereotypes are the same or similar, so that proves my point, not yours. If parents and communities taught stereotypes, people in the Northwest, the Southwest, the Plains, the Eastern woodlands, etc. would have substantially different stereotypes about their local Indians. Instead, almost everyone in the country associates Indians with teepees, feathers, buckskins, braves, and chiefs--the basic Native stereotypes. That's because almost everyone has watched the same media: old Western movies, The Lone Ranger, F Troop, The Go-Go Gophers, etc.
If you disagree, give us some examples of Native stereotypes that differ from one region to another. Good luck.
Sure, a rabidly racist father might have taught Mel Gibson more about Jews than the media did. So? For one thing, most of us don't have rabidly racist parents. For another, Jewish stereotypes (unlike Native stereotypes) have largely disappeared from the media. Gibson's case has no applicability to the general question of how people learn about Indians.
In other words, the Gibson case doesn't affect my overall argument. You have zero evidence that Gibson learned about Indians from his parents or community rather than the media. I have lots of evidence that people in general learn about Indians from the media. My evidence will trump your lack of evidence every time.
Feel free not to fall for my "debater's tricks, traps, and conceits." In other words, feel free to let me win the debate uncontested. It's so much easier to argue when the opposition can't or won't offer a plausible counterargument. I love it when my assertions go unchallenged and I get the final say.
Again, the media is the primary source for Native stereotypes, your opinion on the matter notwithstanding.
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