American Authenticity

Dear Philip J. Deloria,

In your book Playing Indian you make the argument that "whenever white Americans have confronted crises of identity, some of them have inevitably turned to Indians," linking "Indianness" with "authenticity." Throughout the book, you discuss that what Americans mean when they use the terms "Indian" or "Native American" often does not refer to the realities of the people themselves, but rather a sort of misunderstood and romanticized notion of The Indian: someone who simultaneously bears strong roots to the environment of North America (and evidenced by his diet) and yet whose wild nature can also be used as 1) a costume, allowing colonists to engage in usually inappropriate practices like rioting under the guise of a savage who embodies freedom to do as one pleases; and 2) a scapegoat, whose savageness can be used to blame anything that happens. These two phenomenons are clearly seen not only in the Boston Tea Party case but in the Mast Tree riot as well. I wonder if donning an Indian costume helped those participants feel more strongly connected to their cause, and thus more "authentic," in the face of a lack of true American identity.

Sincerely,
Dana

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Discern a Race Issue?

Dear Claudia Rankine, I found your writing about Serena Williams to be particularly fascinating and it brings up a lot of questions about the current state of race in corporate America. I would be curious to hear your thoughts on a few things. I'm not sure if the officials in these games were confirmed to be racist in that sense, but if so that would affect the interpretation. If, for example, they have no known racist background, how do you tell if such an incident is inherently about race? You say that the ref didn't like seeing the black body on her court, but without evidence how can you in fact confirm such a thing? Not that I am questioning your assertions directly, but in what situations can you discern that actions are definitely a race issue? I know that there are plenty of situations in which refs have screwed over white men in sports, so I wonder as to how you can tell. Thanks, Vaughan Siker
Read more
Dear Willow S. Lung-Amam, I really loved your piece on the minority myth mostly due to my own experiences with this myth. Yes, we are expected to get amazing grades, be perfect in class, and do all things perfectly, and those expectations are good to some extent. But when these expectations become stereotypes and not parents' projected wishes upon their children, it becomes detrimental to all Asian Americans. I had to force myself to be the best in everything to further the stereotype of academic exceptionalism. This is exactly why I understand this notion is a myth because Asian Americans do receive privileges that other minority groups may not and and I enjoy certain benefits from being a "model minority," it's definitely detrimental in certain aspects for kids, not only a positive thing. In an ideal world, projecting no stereotypes onto a minority group is the best because less external pressures will affect development of the members of these races.
Read more
Dear Claudia Rankine, I love your book Citizen , from your language style to the way you described the experiences of black people. Using your own experience coupled with those of your friends and celebrities, you build images of everyday racist encounters that shocked me. "The past is a life sentence, a blunt instrument aimed at tomorrow." When reading your book, the idea that racism is still rampant in nowadays struck me so hard. Chapter two impressed me most. I am a tennis lover and I have watched a lot of Serena Williams' games. However, I never thought of the hardship she suffered as a black people in such a white dominated sport. The sufferings did not always come from punishments like probationary periods, but from "every look, every comment, every bad call blossom". She tried to fight back once, "reacting immediately to be thrown against a sharp white background", which resulting in loss, fine and probationary period. Later, she learnt t...
Read more