>From: ecologycntr@igc.org (Ecology Center Fund)
I don't know if there has been discussion of this issue in this conference;
my apologies if this is old news for you folks. I just felt we had to
respond to this.
Attached to this posting is the text of a blatantly racist column
by Andy Rooney, which perpetuates offensive stereotypes against
Native Americans and holds them to blame for many of the problems
they themselves face.
For those fortunate people who are unfamiliar with Andy Rooney, he
is a syndicated columnist and also appears on CBS' weekly show 60
Minutes. He has previously been the recipient of outrage from gay
and lesbian communities across the US for making anti-gay remarks,
and this outrage forced his suspension from the show. Our outrage
at the following racist article can force his firing.
Send your complaints to CBS. Tie up their fax machines. Tell them
that such blatant racism from a member of the 60 Minutes crew
denigrates the competence of the rest of the staff there, that it
insults the intelligence of all 60 Minutes viewers and the heritage
of many of them. Demand that Rooney's presence on the show be
ended. Tell them you are contacting their advertisers.
CBS News office: (212) 975-4321
60 Minutes Fax #:(212) 757-6975
INDIANS SEEK A ROLE IN MODERN U.S.
by Andy Rooney
as printed in the Sacramento, Ca. Union
March 11, 1992
Is there anything wrong with a team calling itself "The Redskins"?
I never thought much about it until a group of American Indians
complained about the name "Atlanta Braves" during the World Series
and demonstrated against the "Washington Redskins" at the Super
Bowl game.
Going into the stadium in Minneapolis for the Super Bowl, I was
asked by a reporter what I thought about the demonstration.
"I think it's silly," I said. "American Indians have more important
problems than to worry about sports teams calling themselves by
Indian nicknames."
Ever since, I've been getting angry letters from Indians and
friends of the Indians, of whom there are a great many.
It's interesting that for all the problems they've had with white
Americans, American Indians were never subjected to the same kind
of racial bias that blacks were. They were never forced to sit in
the back of the bus. In spite of the fact that they surrounded the
wagon trains and shot flaming arrows into the stagecoach carrying
the new schoolmarm, Indians were always considered to be brave,
strong, stoic, resourceful, true to their word and unconquerable.
Anyone with a touch of Indian blood in their ancestry is proud of it.
There have been many efforts to assimilate the Indians into our
society but, for the most part, Indians don't want any part of it.
To some extent it's happening whether they want it or not. People
who are part white and part Indian are having more children than
people who are 100 percent Indian.
The real problem is, we took the country away from the Indians,
they want it back and we're not going to give it to them. We feel
guilty and we'll do what we can for them within reason, but they
can't have their country back. Next question.
While American Indians have a grand past, the impact of their
culture on the world has been slight. There are no great Indian
novels, no poetry. There's no memorable Indian music. Their totem
poles do not rank with the statuary of Greece and there's no Indian
art, except for some good craft work in wool, pottery and silver.
Their genius was for living free in a wild state...without damaging
the ozone layer.
The best thing about Indians is their fierce independence and this
virtue has made life tough for them. The colonists tried to make
slaves of Indians but it didn't work.
The two million American Indians alive today are reluctant to
concede that it's no longer practical to maintain a lifestyle that
is an anachronism. The time for the way Indians lived is gone and
it's doubly sad because they refuse to accept it.
They hang onto remnants of their religion and superstitions that
may have been useful to savages 500 years ago but which are
meaningless in 1992.
No one would force another religion on them but what if an Indian
belief, involving ritualistic dances with strong sexual overtones,
is demeaning to Indian women and degrading to Indian children?
Should they, on Indian land within the United States, be
encouraged, with government money, to continue that? Should Indians
be preserved on reservations like the redwoods and the American
eagle, or should they join the mainstream?
Unemployment as high as 50 percent and alcoholism among Indians are
more serious problems than whether a team uses an Indian name or
symbol.
Illiteracy is widespread among Indians. Indians and whites blame
whites for what's wrong and, historically, that may be true, but it
is the Indians who are doing the drinking. The phenomenon of Indian
alcohol addiction has existed since the 1600s.
If Indians are truly offended by these names and symbols we use for
fun, we'll drop them, but someone should tell the Indians living on
reservations that the United States isn't a bad country to be part of.