Why are we so different?
Posted by Russ Communications on August 12, 2009
My family and I recently had the chance to visit with some former neighbors. Their kids are similar in age to my daughter, and everyone gets along pretty well so it’s normally a great time. When we arrived at their house their oldest greeted us dressed up in a homemade Indian headdress. My former neighbors are White, my wife is White; I am American Indian. They are well aware that I’m American Indian (fairly obvious) and they are aware of my efforts to dispel stereotypes of American Indians. Since they traveled to the North East and saw Plymouth Rock their son has been “into Thanksgiving”, so naturally he wanted to be an Indian. We arrived too late to see how “cute” he looked with his “war-paint” on. The look of shock on my face prompted them to explain to their son I was Indian, and he could ask questions to learn about us. He thought all Indians were dead, or were only in movies and Disney cartoons. He then announced he had to go chase the girls and cut off their heads because that’s what Indians do.
If their son was into MLK day, or Cinco de Mayo would it have been acceptable for him to answer the door dressed up as an African American or a Latino, complete with make-up to enhance the look? I wouldn’t think so. Would his parents explain that it is offensive to mock the way other races of people look? Probably. Why then is it ok to do that to my people? What makes us so different that it’s acceptable? Why do I have to explain all the Indian costumes, all the bumper stickers, t-shirts, and hats showing mascots “honoring” our people to my daughter? Why are we so different than everyone else that this is still allowed to take place?
William Lowry
CRL in Charlotte said
What I find offensive about the situation is not so much that the son wanted to dress up as an Indian, but the way the parents talked about it and the fact that they CLEARLY had not educated him about the history and the dignity of the people who lived in this land before they did. I personally would have a hard time telling my son that he couldn’t dress up as Martin Luther King, Jr., or a Mexican hero or an American Indian – AS LONG AS he understood who he was representing – and as long as the “dressing up” was done as a “learning” and not as a way to poke fun or be disrespectful. You’ve definitely got me thinking.