I wonder if Bradford would turn down a huge, multi-million dollar contract if it was offered to him by the Washington Redskins or the Kansas City Chiefs?
That's because he does not really regard himself as Indian, but sooner or later the media will pick up on his ancestry as soon as other sports news wanes and the media sniffs out tidbits about this bloke.
Considering Bradford is only 1/16th Cherokee and grew up unconcerned about his heritage, I'd say the answer is no, J. And...so? What does that tell us about how actual Indians feel about mascots?
Ask us again when an Indian who's immersed in his Native culture is offered a rich football contract. If he accepts it without protest, then we can talk.
Because Oklahoma is the home of the Federal Government's Assimilation Project (cultural genocide) there are many Native Americans, like me and Sam Bradford, who did not grow up near their tribe's cultural center. We also are the product of our Native parents and grandparents marrying the descendants of the white settlers who bought the "left-over" lands. The fact that other "full-blood" Native Americans try to make us feel like we are less "Indian" is just as bad as the stereotypes non-Indians use. If any Native American came to Oklahoma and saw how understanding we are to each other about how being Indian is not just about how you look, it is how you feel inside, much could be done to turn the tide of racism to Native Americans.
5 comments:
I wonder if Bradford would turn down a huge, multi-million dollar contract if it was offered to him by the Washington Redskins or the Kansas City Chiefs?
J.Kills Straight
Lakota, Sioux
That's because he does not really regard himself as Indian, but sooner or later the media will pick up on his ancestry as soon as other sports news wanes and the media sniffs out tidbits about this bloke.
Considering Bradford is only 1/16th Cherokee and grew up unconcerned about his heritage, I'd say the answer is no, J. And...so? What does that tell us about how actual Indians feel about mascots?
Ask us again when an Indian who's immersed in his Native culture is offered a rich football contract. If he accepts it without protest, then we can talk.
Because Oklahoma is the home of the Federal Government's Assimilation Project (cultural genocide) there are many Native Americans, like me and Sam Bradford, who did not grow up near their tribe's cultural center. We also are the product of our Native parents and grandparents marrying the descendants of the white settlers who bought the "left-over" lands. The fact that other "full-blood" Native Americans try to make us feel like we are less "Indian" is just as bad as the stereotypes non-Indians use. If any Native American came to Oklahoma and saw how understanding we are to each other about how being Indian is not just about how you look, it is how you feel inside, much could be done to turn the tide of racism to Native Americans.
People like Bradford irk me. I mean he even looks Indian. But he wants nothing to do with being Indian. Makes me sick.
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