Today the Sunday news shows are replete with talking heads pontificating on the significance of Harry Reid's reportedly referring to Barack Obama some time back as "a light-skinned Negro with no Negro dialect." The comments were revealed in a book set for release next week, and they immediately ignited a firestorm of criticism directed at Reid.
However, another incident of racist language from a political leader went largely unremarked. Republican party chairman Michael Steele was interviewed by Fox-TV's Sean Hannity about his own upcoming book. In the interview, Steele praised the Republican party platform as "one of the best political documents that's been written in the past 25 years." Then he added, "Honest Injun on that."
Honest Injun?? As a person who has worked with Indian tribes in Minnesota and elsewhere for nearly twenty years, I guess I should be accustomed to this kind of unconscious racism against American Indians, but I confess that it still has the power to enrage me.
I don't think anyone seriously believes that we live in a "post-racial" America just because a black man now occupies the White House. Most African-Americans I know are proud and thrilled to have lived long enough to see a black man elected President, but they understand that racism didn't disappear the day Barack Obama took the oath of office.
A few years ago, my tribal clients wanted to test some print ads and billboards in a focus group setting to gauge likely reaction to the proposed campaign. Focus group members were asked to look at a series of messages and share their feelings about the content. One message had to do with the number of jobs created by tribal casinos, and the opportunities those jobs offered for Indian people with historically very high unemployment rates.
An older woman in the group dismissed this message as false, saying, "I don't see any Indians working at those casinos. They're all white people there." When another group member disagreed and said she had seen many Native employees in casinos, the first woman responded, "Well, maybe you're right. I've noticed lately that there are some Indians creeping in there."
Focus groups are usually conducted under observation, in a room with a one-way glass window that permits clients and researchers to watch the process without being seen. (Focus group members are always told that observers are behind the glass.)
In this case, the observers included several tribal leaders. Upon hearing the "Indians creeping in there" comment, one tribal leader just shook his head sadly. "The more things change, the more they stay the same," he said.
Black leaders have done a terrific job of confronting racism when it appears, and calling out those who use racist language or engage in racially-motivated behavior. The political strength of black America has been brought to bear successfully on politicians who cross the line into racist rhetoric. Remember Trent Lott, who was forced to resign after saying that America would be a better place if Strom Thurmond, a virulently segregationist Senator, had been elected President.
Unfortunately, anti-Indian racism often goes unchallenged. Sports teams still carry names like the Washington "Redskins." Can you imagine a football team called the Washington "Blackskins?"
Don Imus nearly lost his job after referring to a championship Rutger's women's basketball team as a "bunch of nappy headed hos." But years before, Imus and Donald Trump belittled members of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, many of whom are of mixed racial blood, because they "don't look like Indians." Trump referred to the tribe as "the Michael Jordan Indians."
On a previous Imus program, the deejay had belittled an employee who was marrying a Native American, asking if she would have a "teepee" wedding.
On these occasions, Native Americans were the only ones who spoke up against Imus' racist speech. No one else noticed or cared.
We will never have a "post-racial" America until the phrase "honest Injun" generates the same kind of outrage that Harry Reid provoked by saying, in essence, that Barack Obama might be able to win the election because he doesn't look or sound black.
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