It’s time for “Things That Will Never Allow Me to Take You Seriously Ever Again” Corner, with your host, C R A M P!
Saying “Native American Culture,” singular
Or “Native American Language,” singular
THEY ARE PLUUUURAAAAAL, PEOPLE
There are scores, if not HUNDREDS, of different indigenous cultures and languages.
There is no “Native American Culture.” There are MANY. They are not this amorphous group of people in headdresses with dreamcatchers hanging over their beds, waving around tomohawks and making turquoise jewelry, okay? Any aspect of Native culture you see (and attempt to appropriate like an ASSHOLE) probably arose from ONE of these cultures. It’s not universal.
SO STOOOOOOP SAYINGGGGG THAAAAAAAT
Oops someone take meme generator away from me I’m being a prick again
Actually, I think this gets its own post, because the more I think about it the angrier I get.
This is my hometown’s current team mascot. His name is “Chief Wahoo.”
In motherfucking 2011, it is still considered acceptable to use a racist, bullshit image like this in large-scale media.
Racism. Still. Exists.
Protip:
If there is a discussion about racism against a minority going on
And you are not part of that minority
And you say “I don’t think that’s racist”
I would like to gently inform you that nobody gives a single watery shit
what do you think of people who say "well muslims don't like it when we draw mohammed but we do that anyway and wearing warbonnets/dreamcatchers/etc is the same so we can do it too"? i feel like something's wrong with this but i can't articulate it.
Anonymous
Well, first of all, it’s not the same at all! I did make a comparison between war bonnets and hijabs earlier, but that was only to explain that war bonnets are not “just clothes” but have very deep cultural and spiritual meanings, and are not just something that anyone can wear - not because I think they can be equated to one another! I don’t think it’s right to compare any kind of racial issue to another and say that they’re “the same,” because they have so many different nuances and different historical backgrounds and everything. Also, while Islam does often have very strong racial and cultural ties, that is technically a religious issue, not a racial/cultural one.
To be honest, I don’t really feel qualified to comment very much on the issue of unflattering or sacrilegious portrayals of Mohammed, because I don’t know much about it and I have never directly heard a Muslim’s opinion on it. I think the main issues here are that 1.) you cannot compare different kinds of racial/cultural disrespect as if they are the same thing, and 2. it is not okay to continue behavior like that if a marginalized group tells you it is offensive and asks you to stop! “We do it anyway” is not a respectful argument, or even a very good one.
Thanks for your question, and as always, if I have any followers who can fill in holes in my knowledge, please do so!
Uhm, just a note
I know I said I was just going to step back and let people comment on the photoset as they may, but
To all the people who are saying, “Well, I’m Native/part-Native, and I’m not offended”:
That’s fine! If it doesn’t bother you, I guess it doesn’t bother you.
But that doesn’t mean that the offense other Native people feel is any less valid, or that they SHOULDN’T feel offended by it.
I don’t know, I just … I’m seeing that argument a lot in the reblogs, and the vibe I’m getting is “I’m not offended, so NOBODY should be offended,” and that’s not cool.
Agreed though you could also argue that what right does that particular culture to have to determine how a particular piece of clothing associated with them is worn? They don't own it, of course they originally wore it, but since then it's been branded into many different forms, very much like say a kilt from a Scotsman being worn by an American. Personally I think liberty should be prioritised and the ability to wear anything non offensive (which as you say is a point of view) should be allowed
The problem here is that Natives are offended by it. If a Scotsman was offended by an American wearing a kilt (I am going to swallow my distaste at the fact that we are comparing the situation of white people v. oppressed people to white people v. white people) and asked that American to stop, because it was disrespectful to Scottish culture, I would hope to all hell that they would. But when Native people ask white people to stop appropriating their sacred traditional dress, more often than not they get “It’s a free country” “I’m APPRECIATING your culture” “It’s not racist (because white people get to decide what’s racist now? :/)” “You’re overreacting” and my personal favorite, “You’re being racist against white people!” There is an ENORMOUS lack of respect in this field.
But! There is also a difference in context here. Cultural and racial oppression do not exist in a vacuum! As counterintuitive as it may seem, equality does not mean placing every issue on a level plain and pretending that you can compare Issue A to Issue B and Issue B to Issue W, etc. It’s about looking at the issues in context, understanding all of the nuances and historical backing and intersectionality of those issues, and working on correcting injustices within that context. One of the context issues you need to understand when considering cultural appropriation is that Native people have historically been - AND STILL ARE TODAY - severely oppressed and abused by white people! So when white people co-opt very, very deeply significant Native culture, treat it like a fashion statement, and refuse to respect Native protests, it is an enormous slap in the face on top of thousands of other daily grievances.
You call allowing people to dress like this a “liberty,” but cultural appropriation is just another form of oppression. Asking that people refrain from disrespecting Native culture is not unreasonable, it is not censorship, and it is not infringing on anyone’s rights - it is asking for respect and understanding.
C R A M P’s great big gallery of racism!
I am having far more fun with these than I should. >.> If you’re going to fight oppression, might as well do it in a way that makes you laugh, right?
Congratulations! You’ve all taken/posted terribly racist, super disrespectful photos that stereotype and marginalize indigenous cultures.
