Racism and "Bridges of Understanding."

So, when I first began to listen to the powwow native radio stream I was taken aback because I connected right in the middle of a comedy routine that went some like this… If you’ve ever used your probation officer as a reference, you might be a redskin. If you have no screen on your screen door, you might be a redskin. If your pocket knife has ever been shown as exhibit one, you might be a redskin. Etc… I guess I was taken about because of the initial racist implications. For instance, if it were a “white” comedian saying that it would most likely be viewed in a negative light. It would be considered racist. But, as I’ve said before, I remember learning that comedy is a big part of contemporary native American culture, and they often poke fun at themselves. Only after thinking about this was I able to relax, haha.

I’m not sure what that’s about, but I guess it has to do with how touchy a subject racism seems to be at this point. Maybe not with everyone; I can’t go that far, but it does seem to be moving in the general direction of unacceptability. I feel this very strongly. I refuse to honor any racist ideology, regardless of where it comes from or who it is directed at. I agree whole heartedly with Vizenor when he says, “Sadly, the notion of four colors perpetuates a crude separation of humans and cultures rather than begetting a sense of peace” (Preface xiii). I also agree with his statement: “Race is a simulation, and the ‘science’ of race is political not biological; human differences are genetic, but the notions of four races are dubious traditions and faux science” (Preface xiv). This has always been my argument. The very idea of different races is racist and does nothing for unity and peace. So why give it power by upholding race as a defining factor in our various ways of interacting with those who share the world with us? For despite the fact that there are biological differences such as skin tone, hair type, facial structure, etc… race as a separating hierarchical system  is a socially created concept that has been taken far too seriously for far too long. Even as I write this I hear the words, “until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance then the color of his eyes, me say war.”

However, I do realize that because the concept of race has been taken so seriously for so long, it is so powerful now that it seems almost impossible to rid ourselves of its polluting influence. Although, if there is a method of purging it from our world, I believe that it can be found in the work of people like Charles Alexander Eastman. Vizenor recounts how “Eastman spent the balance of his long life making his way along the narrow path that bridged his two cultures” by building “bridges of understanding” (51). Through bridging the gap between our minor differences, and even some of our greater ones, in terms of culture, language, spirituality, etc… we may generate understanding among ourselves.

But, I also recognize that for some of us this is not so simple, because where I do not have to deal with racism on a daily basis, others have to deal with it on a level that far exceeds any understanding I could pretend to have. For example, because of what I am and how I look, I fit into the racist patriarchy of the system we currently live in, being that I am male and happen to look what is considered “white.” Due to this ridiculousness, I am not discriminated against. If my physical attributes were not male and I was not considered to be “white,” I would certainly experience a higher degree of discrimination in this world. I recognize this fact, for discrimination lives off of sexism, racism, nationality, religion, etc…

This is why I initially had trouble reading the article by Vine Deloria, Jr. His repetitive use of terms like whites and blacks bothered me. I hate it when people are referred to in this way. It sounds racist when anyone says it, regardless of their so called “race.” It would be like me refereeing to the Native Americans as the reds. To reduce a person or people to an arbitrary color that has nothing to do with anything in reality is ridiculous. But again, I know that it was Europeans that originally created these terms, including “white.” But I still struggle with these terms. Something within me is disgusted by them. And yet, I even use them at times myself.

Then I think of what happened to the Native peoples of this land at the hands of the Europeans and I find it hard to care that they would speak of Europeans as whites. Once again, I must admit that I know nothing of their struggle. I am not Native American. I have no idea what that’s like. I might think I do. But I don’t. I can sympathize when I read what it’s like from their own writings, but that’s about it. Vine Deloria says that “To be an Indian in modern American society is in a very real sense to be unreal and ahistorical” (2). I do not know what that’s like.

However, I still think that it is important that we at least try to understand one another, even if such a thing would be a long and painful process. I think that the work of people like Eastman is invaluable in this quest for understanding. For example, Vizenor writes of how Eastman reveals that “The Indian no more worshiped the Sun than the Christian adores the Cross” (50). With this short excerpt, Eastman works to undo the misperceptions that are born of ignorance, and thus foster understanding among both his cultural heritages. He also recounts the beautiful lines that follow, as further explanation:

The Sun and the Earth, by an obvious parable, holding scarcely more of poetic metaphor than of scientific truth, were in his view the parents of all organic life. From the Sun, as the universal father, proceeds the quickening principle in nature, and in the patient and fruitful womb of our mother, the Earth, are hidden embryos of plants and men. (50)

Here is an example of a person who makes great use of his cultural hybridity in bridging the gap between two cultures by  using aspects of both to encourage understanding.