Your analysis is truly ridiculous. Of course white European-Americans
won't be offended by images like Cowboy, Angel, Pirate, etc. These have
been very useful images in the perpetration of European society and
their dominance in this hemisphere. The sturdy, individualistic cowboy
on the western frontier, the noble christian bringing civilization and
truth to "savages," the state-financed pirates who plundered ships to
get gold for the crown--these have all been beneficial to white
supremacy. For the first two examples, that's obvious. But even the
pirate image is one that people can jokingly laugh about how some
criminal activity was justified for white people to get ahead.
For the images of Native people, it's very different. Native people
have been fighting to undo the vicious, white-supremacy-serving images
of themselves as ruthless savages, unthinking tribal fighters. This
precise image was the one conjured up by the engineers of western
expansion in North America to justify genocide. Haven't you seen the
Braves "scalpings" at baseball games? It all fits the racist image
created centuries ago to rationalize slaughter.
Racism has to be confronted on ALL levels. Racism is not merely the
explicit use of demeaning words or obvious violence: it is
institutional power developed to ensure the hierarchal position and
dominance of one race. The way that is enforced is through subtle
stereotypes and vague beliefs that often require much thinking through
before they are discovered. We have internalized a hierarchy of the
white "race," and we must disabuse ourselves of its deadly presence.
COMPLETELY.
Chris