Hating Indians in in vogue

Hating the American Indian, A Time Honored Tradition

By Lawrence SampsonOne can hardly peruse the romance novel section of your local bookstore or sample any Wild West movie without reading or hearing about the noble people of the past. And that perhaps is the underlying issue, for as soon as people in the present have to learn, up close and personal, that American Indian people are not a forgotten relic of the past, but part of modern vibrant cultures, with human and civil rights that have to be recognized, we get an accurate snapshot of what America really thinks about Indians.

Maybe it's your local beloved sports team with a racist mascot like the Redskins being pressured to change. Perhaps it's the revelation that a so-called Christian adoption agency is targeting Indian Country to steal and traffic in Indian babies. From time to time it's when Indians stand up against the destruction of their land base as we've seen in Canada lately. Or possibly, as a small town in Wyoming is learning, that some treaties do matter, will get enforced, and the realization that Indians have legitimate legal claims that sets the pot boiling. Imagine it, American Indians having legal and civil rights. Oh the humanity.

One need only look in the comments section after these or any number of similar stories are run in a local or national publication to get a feel for how many Americans still feel about Indian people, and Indian rights. Safe behind a keyboard, Americans blindly call for a return to scalping, argue that the theft of Indian land are the spoils of war, and that God has decreed the decimation of the Indian race. I mean really you couldn't make this shit up. It's like we turn back the pages of history two hundred years every time an Indian stands up for him or herself.

This country has a guilt trip born of a denial of its history. Every American lives their daily live knowing deep down they are the recipient of benefits born of genocide.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Mascot Love = Lack of Empathy and The Capobiancos' Anti-Indian Agenda.