Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Indian Reservation



I wanted to continue Greg's post with the political cartoon, but take it in another direction.  I found the cartoon to be an excellent representation of my beliefs on immigration.  As everyone read in the Columbus passage, Native Americans suffered greatly to let immigrants into this country and have not faired well since.  

The past two years I have visited Cherokee, NC and each time I go, I cry.  The Cherokee people are well known and considered some of the most prosperous Native American tribes in existence; but, what I have seen is a group of people commercialized just to survive.  Those who have attempted to assimilate into American society live on roads that drip with poverty and depression.  Others live on a reservation that can be easily found by the giant billboards and tourist booth nearby.  

Today, we continue to have immigrants come in to our country, many whom suffer greatly.  It seems to me that throughout history some groups of people prospered without major struggles and some have/continue to struggle their way to some form of equality.  I'm wondering if there are common characteristics of those two groups.  What are your thoughts?

(I have attached some photos of the commercialization that I describe.  Unfortunately, I do not have photos of the living conditions.)


1 comment:

Jessica C. said...

I do feel that there are similarities between the two groups. I feel that American society in general can have a very conceited attitude in considering themselves superior over groups like the Native Americans and other immigrant groups who have struggled throughout our nation’s history. The groups that are surviving and being accepted have almost had to take the, “If you can’t be ‘em, join ‘em,” mindset. Meaning if breaking the stereotypes that have been popularized by the media and entertainment is not happening, they must conform to those stereotypes. For example, in your pictures it shows displays of tepees and “trading posts” which are very stereotypical symbols of Native Americans. This group who is conforming to the stereotype becomes “safe” and accepted because American society feels comfortable and finds novelty in this depiction of Native Americans. It does not cause them to think of the horrible things that have occurred in our countries history to these people. We also do not feel threatened. The second this group tries to fight for rights as we once did against the British, we see them as trying to steal what’s ours. It all is pretty ironic.

This can also be seen with some immigrant groups as well. We as an American society can be very ignorant at times. For example, Cinco de Mayo has become quite the celebration. However, most people who celebrate it in the U.S. have no knowledge of the reason for the holiday. They think of it as a day to party and to put it bluntly, celebrate the stereotypes associated with Mexico—wearing sombreros, drinking tequila, eating tacos. In addition, many Americans may have the stereotype that Mexicans only are capable of lower end jobs. Some even criticize them for lack of education. However, the second immigrants try to go for jobs that are desirable to the average American there is a big uproar. Granted there are other factors such as illegal immigration to consider, but not every person from Mexico or of Mexican decent is an illegal immigrant, and I feel that some Americans make that assumption all too often when they encounter someone who happens to be Mexican. I do not think that it is fair for these people simply to buy into the stereotypes our society has put them in because I believe they have so much more they can offer to society than cheesy tourism.

It just amazes me how close-minded some people can be, and I think that is important to teach our students about these different groups. I think that if people were more informed about these groups the stereotypes would not be as big of an issue.