What Is An Indian? “Racism”

Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there is no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained . . .  Bob Marley

It doesn’t have to be but, tragically, racism is part of the “being Indian” experience here in America. Native people report all the time of being treated as less than equal by white people in our communities.

So what is racism and where does it fit into our society? So that we’re on the same page, here are some definitions that bear explaining.

Public domain image from the National Archives, according to Ping News.

U.N. on Racism:  The 3rd Preambular Paragraph of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, passed by the UN Human Rights Council on June 29, 2006, affirms that: “…all doctrines, policies, and practices based on or advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national origin, racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust, . . .”

Cultural Racism:  “Those aspects of society that overtly and covertly attribute value and normality to white people and whiteness, and devalue, stereotype, and label People of Color as ‘other,’ different, less than, or render them invisible… Examples include defining white skin tones as nude or flesh colored, having future time orientation, emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology, defining one form of English as standard, and identifying only Whites as the great writers and composers.” (Excerpt from Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook)

Individual Racism:  “…the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of individuals that support or perpetuate racism. Individual racism can occur at both a conscious and unconscious level, and can be both active and passive. Examples include telling a racist joke, using a racial epithet, or believing in the inherent superiority of Whites.”  (Excerpt from Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook)

Institutional Racism:  “…refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups. The institutional policies may never mention any racial group, but their effect is to create advantages for whites and [to create] oppression and disadvantage for people from groups classified as non-white… Examples include Government policies that explicitly restricted the ability of people to get loans to buy or improve their homes in neighborhoods with high concentrations of African Americans (also known as red-lining”), or city sanitation department policies that concentrate trash transfer stations and other environmental hazards disproportionately in communities of color.” (Excerpt from page 45, Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building)

Structural Racism:  We are told that “The structural racism lens allows us to see that, as a society, we more or less take for granted a context of white leadership, dominance, and privilege. This dominant consensus on race is the frame that shapes our attitudes and judgments about social issues. It has come about as a result of the way that historically accumulated white privilege, national values, and contemporary culture have interacted so as to preserve the gaps between white Americans and Americans of color.”  (Excerpt from page 16, Structural Racism and Community Building)

Racist treatment of Indian people, or of anyone, is definitely a sickness in this country. It is a sickness that has to be brought out in to the light of day through organized dialogue and concerted action in partnership with those in our communities who think the same. It can be eliminated in our society, but it is all up to us.

And now you know the rez of the story,

Doksha (later). . .