We discussed Bill Cosby's comment earlier this semester when we studied Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois. DuBois also felt that it was up to the Black community to be honest within itself. He, like Cosby, felt that they had to be honest about the challenges facing them in order to overcome them.
Mary Crow Dog points out that Native Americans don't want to be like Whites. She says "I think it significant that in many Indian languages a black is called a "black white man." The blacks want what the whites have, which is understandable. They want in. We Indians want out! That is the main difference." When I first picked up this book and started reading it, my reaction was "well, they could have a better life if they choose to. There are plenty of opportunities out there for education, they could just leave the reservation and work somewhere." However, as I've read more I realized that I was thinking not only as a white person, but also as a year 2000 person. This book took place in the 1970's and discrimination was so fierce then that they literally could not make life better for themselves. It was virtually impossible, which is why they started up the AIM movement in the first place. Also, they didn't necessarily want the life that white people want. She repeatedly points out that they would have been happy with their simple ways, if they could have been left alone. Whites were constantly trying to force them to be less Indian and more white.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-05-05 04:49 pm (UTC)Mary Crow Dog points out that Native Americans don't want to be like Whites. She says "I think it significant that in many Indian languages a black is called a "black white man." The blacks want what the whites have, which is understandable. They want in. We Indians want out! That is the main difference." When I first picked up this book and started reading it, my reaction was "well, they could have a better life if they choose to. There are plenty of opportunities out there for education, they could just leave the reservation and work somewhere." However, as I've read more I realized that I was thinking not only as a white person, but also as a year 2000 person. This book took place in the 1970's and discrimination was so fierce then that they literally could not make life better for themselves. It was virtually impossible, which is why they started up the AIM movement in the first place. Also, they didn't necessarily want the life that white people want. She repeatedly points out that they would have been happy with their simple ways, if they could have been left alone. Whites were constantly trying to force them to be less Indian and more white.