Discrimination against Native Americans

The article why I’m not thankful for thanksgiving by Michael Dorris (1977) narrates the stereotypes that are suffered by Africans. As the children grow, they are met with depictions of Indians as a barbaric tribe and expectations of them to behave in a similar way. The depictions of Indians in such manners are often mistaken. In one instance, the author shares an experience point obtained from a book. In this book, Indians are regarded as hungry individuals who do not even get enough food. The book says “the Indians had never seen such a feast.” Of course this is mistaken. The foods in questions are all traditional foods obtained from the Indian community. In that case, the Indian have had their share of this food. On another note, while it should not matter, the pilgrims were from another community and may not have had prior exposure to such foods. It was therefore mistaken.

The author shows many mistaken stereotypes. He talks about Indians being used when ideas of savagery need to be passed. He further states the need to curb the problem. Accurate and truthful information should be provided to children. The untruthful is destructive to both the children of native communities and the children with whom it is shared.

True information is unavailable. As noted by Randoph and DeMulder (2008), a majority of children are only provided with information that depicts Africa and other areas as arid and uncivilized. They have no idea of the urbanization in Africa or any other lands. This kind of misinformation was initially used to justify slavery. Today as Dorris (1977) notes, it is used to justify all forms of racism. There is therefore a need to end all these forms of racism. This could be best done by providing the right information to people and especially children.

The image above was obtained from a blog. According to the blog, this image is agood depiction of thanksgiving. Sadly, the picture contains misinformation that would be inappropriate in a society where people are trying to fight racism. It depicts Indians dressed in feathers. Of course this is misinformation as Indians have become civilized today and dress like the majority of Americans. With this kind of misinformation, it is only expected that children of the natives will continues to suffer stereotypes.

This image is a depiction of an Indian dancer. It is one that is available for customization so that it may be sent out as any sort of a card. In this case, it could reach so many individuals in the form of thanksgiving cards, Halloween cards or post cards. This card is misinforming. It is the kind of card that would lead to children being asked to dance to the others some of their dances. The kind of dressing or dance is unknown to the majority of natives.

This assignment provided me with information that I would have initially contested. In this assignment, I came across the stereotypes that are met upon natives and other minorities first hand. Sadly, I also learned that most of the depictions are based on untrue information. My fear is that there have not been attempts to end this injustice. There is an urgent need to end the injustices met upon these people to ensure that the society is better tomorrow. The first step will be to provide the right information.

References

Dorris, M. (1977). Why I’m not thankful for Thanksgiving. Through Indian Eyes.

Judy’s Card Making and papercrafts,. (2014). Retrieved 26 November 2014, from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7fY2uWoCAE/TsF7c5xOC6I/AAAAAAAACJc/koo0n3XLbMk/s1600/Happy%2BThanksgiving%2Bwith%2BIndians%2B2.JPG

Randolph, B., & DeMulder, E. (2008). I didn’t know there were cities in Africa. Teaching Tolerance, 34, 36-43.

Zazzle.com,. (2014). Buffalo Dancer Native American Indian Posters | Zazzle. Retrieved 26 November 2014, from http://www.zazzle.com/buffalo_dancer_native_american_indian_posters-228957887010366243