Yesterday, Friday, I witnessed something that really caught my attention. As I was driving towards the Meridian Mall, I saw a man with a feather headdress holding up a Halloween USA sign dancing around. I couldn't believe how much it made me think about our class and the video we watched in class. It is crazy that even today, right here in East Lansing, I witnessed exactly what the Native American lady was talking about in the movie. I don't think it is okay that even today the stereotype still remains that it is okay to "dress up" like Native Americans.
image from: http://www.crafts-gifts.com/indian/headdress.jpg
3 comments:
Wow!!! I am glad you posted this. It does make me realize how much we have learned, when really this was not something we would have thought twice before this class!
Would that have bothered you, or even caught your eye before we talked about this in class and watched the video?
I honestly don't think that I would have taken a second to think about what it meant to me that the guy was standing there in an "indian" costume prior to understanding the issue.
Yesterday while driving down Grand River a bumper sticker on the back of a car said chiefs with what looked like lacrosse sticks under the words. This immediatly made me think of what you saw on Grand River and about all our discussion on using Indian's as mascots. Before our class's discussion on Heart of a Cheif I honestly would not have thought twice about seeing that or even as dressing up as an Indian for Halloween (which many of my friends have done in the past). Looking back I am ashamed that this has not been offensive to me before. It is interesting how much you see when you really open your eyes to discover other people's cultures and views. I cannot believe that right here you witnessed someone dressed up as an Indian and some school around here uses them as mascots!
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