October 30, 2009

Speaking on stereotypes in the capital

As you may recall, the Department of Agriculture has invited me to speak on Native stereotypes in Washington DC Nov. 5. I'm to be the keynote speaker for the launch of Native American Heritage Month at the USDA.

Coincidentally, the White House Tribal Nations Conference will take place on the same day. My talk was scheduled long before the tribal summit was. Hey, Mr. President...are you trying to steal my thunder?

If you're in town, come on by the USDA. Whom would you rather meet: me or Obama?

My talk is apparently generating a protest among black civil rights activists at the USDA. For some reason, they want to celebrate their own diversity but not Native diversity. Perhaps they're upset because they know I'm going to criticize their beloved Washington Redskins.

If you read about a riot between blacks and Indians Nov. 5, that'll probably be my fault. Oops!

Not only will the tribal summit happen while I'm in DC, but also the NCAI's embassy opening. I hope to attend both events. And of course I've never seen the National Museum of the American Indian. Stay tuned for lots of reports and pictures.

For more on the subject, see Intro to Stereotype Presentation and the Stereotype of the Month contest.

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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:56 AM

    Hope your presentation goes well.
    Lets also hope that others develop a more inclusive perspective in the fight against racism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rob2:44 PM

    A comment received via e-mail:

    Wow! What wonderful opportunity to raise awareness and open dialogue (hopefully!).

    May this be a huge success!

    Peace,
    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  3. dmarks5:46 PM

    I hope you can post a video. Or if not, the transcript of what you will (or did, by then) read.

    ReplyDelete
  4. D3:09 AM

    Umm... in what way is "alcoholics" a myth? And one somewhat Indian astronaut does not make a trend. It's an anecdote. The reality would be if you would present statistics from different tribes and then compare and contrast that with the statistics for the White, Asian and Black community. Otherwise this is just "isolated positive stories" vs "stereotypes and sad truths".
    And what about this:
    http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/behind-22/

    The truth is that it depends from tribe to tribe...but statistically the success stories are as of yet unfortunately not the norm.

    But I'd love to read a transcript of your speech and be won over. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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