> What follows is my reasoning (irrational notions?) why
> this isn't a NativeNet issue. It is a problem faced by many, not just first
> peoples.
>
> The reason I think racism is secondary problem, is the prevalent attitude
> was always 'us' versus 'them'. 'Them' was not necessarily darker of hue, but
> always different from the conservative idea of what constitutes a nice middle
> class group...
You are quite correct here! I live in Los Angeles and although I am white
(well, Jewish actually, but that's not really apparent from my appearance
or name), I and my friends of all races are routinely harrassed by the LAPD
for NO REASON. We are not drug users, and none of us have any criminal
record. We are not even radical political protestors. And yet, all of
us have been pulled over, searched, sometimes been done bodily harm,
and often the cops have attempted to "bait" us into saying something
insulting to them or "admitting" wrongdoing so that they can arrest us.
In no case have they ever had any reason to do any of this, save the fact
that we drive beat up cars, the men have long hair and we all look a
little "offbeat". My father, on the other hand, has short hair, wears
a suit, and drives a brand-new Buick, and although he drives like a
maniac he can't even get a speeding ticket! He has even TRIED to get
one, blatantly doing 85+ in front of a police car, and gotten no more
than a hand signal from the cop to slow down.
The irony, of course, is that most high crime (organized crime etc.) is
conducted by guys who have short hair, wear suits and drive brand new
cars. Real criminals are devious.
> The danger in any beseiged group with concentrating on racism or any other
> 'ism' allows a police department to deny it or punish a few officers and
> then continue with business as usual.
I agree; however, this does not make the issue irrelevant to NativeNet by
any means. What we are really dealing with is CLASS consciousness.
Basically, the feeling I get here in Los Angeles is that it's a crime to
be poor, or even to appear as though you are not materialistic (e.g. drive
a beat up car or wear old jeans and T shirts). If you can't afford car
insurance, you're a criminal. If you can't afford the exhorbitant housing
costs here and end up homeless, you're a criminal. And even though I
have a place to live and auto insurance, I get harrassed because I clearly
do not subcribe to the Mercedes culture. It doesn't occur to cops that
some people don't have much money by CHOICE; it may just not be the top
priority to everyone. I could be making $80k a year if I wanted to accept
a full time position as an MIS director at a corporation; however, I'd
rather struggle along with my part-time consulting business because I
have other things to do with my life that are more important. And THAT
is where the relevance to NativeNet comes in: it's the same old differ-
ence in culture that prompted Europeans to deplore Native people as
"savages" because they weren't motivated by land "ownership", technology,
climbing the economic ladder, etc.
This paternalistic attitude of "we know what's best for everyone and if
you don't want the same things you must be antisocial or a criminal"
hurts ANYONE who attempts to live outside accepted white middle class
culture, even if the person is white. Since it is the goal of NativeNet
to achieve justice for aboriginal peoples and to encourage recognition
of their culture and values in mainstream societies, I think it needs
to be pointed out that some "white" people have taken on value systems
that are more similar to those of other cultures and that these people
are also the victims of white class-conscious paternalism/persecution.
Those who would maintain the status quo feel, in many ways, even more
threatened by people like myself than by Native Americans, because it
means there are holes in their "New World Order" mentality. It means
"the system" doesn't make everybody happy, not even "decent white folks
from nice families."
> I think you have the Gulf War analogy backwards. I think most wars fought
> by the U.S., cop culture, and the historical treatment of Native peoples
> have the same roots.
You are quite correct. Cop culture is a way of maintaining this historical
attitude, and it's an attitude that hurts everyone. Native culture repre-
sents an alternative to this attitude, and continued repression of these
alternatives represses everyone, whites included. What we are doing here
on the net is trying to keep those alternatives alive for all of us, and
the cop culture is quite a relevent and very present obstacle in our
attempts.
= Lee =