Blame Baker at Mt. Rushmore?

Tim Giago talks about Gerald Baker, the Hidatsa-Mandan superintendent at Mt. Rushmore, and the recent Greenpeace stunt:

Tim Giago:  Standing ground at Mount RushmoreHe finally landed in the job as Superintendent of the Mount Rushmore National Monument, a job that has now immersed him in a controversy not of his making. Perhaps it is because he has introduced Native cultural and traditional stories and people that has, for the first time in the history of the Monument, become a part of the daily activities at Mount Rushmore. Some of the locals find it to be reprehensible and a scourge upon the Monument’s original intent.

When Greenpeace did its deed the locals came out of the woodwork looking for a scalp to hang on the wall. Baker’s scalp looked pretty inviting to those wanting to see blood.

In my mind, Gerard Baker did things to shake up the status quo. He introduced Indian culture, history and thought to a park that had long been dominated with nothing but the residue of the dominant culture. He soon discovered that the white people here hated the change especially because it seemed to elevate Native culture to an equal level with the white culture. After bearing the brunt of negative comments Baker said, “We’re promoting all cultures of America. That’s what this place is. This is Mount Rushmore. It’s America. Everybody’s something different here; we’re all different. And just maybe that gets us talking again as human beings, as Americans.”Comment:  How much do you want to bet that there's a big overlap between the people who dislike tipis at Mt. Rushmore and the Obama "birthers," the teabaggers, and Palin's "real America"? I'm guessing the overlap is huge.

This article provides a good counterpoint to Beerfests for Racial Understanding? Are whites whining about the Native culture at Mt. Rushmore simply because they haven't met Indians? When Baker talks to them, do they stop complaining and settle down? I doubt it. I think they've been brainwashed by decades of (mis)education to believe "white is right." I don't think having a beer with an Indian will change that.

For more on the subject, see:

America's shrine to hypocrisy
"Where are the Indians?"
What Mt. Rushmore tells us
Healing through Mt. Rushmore