Choice is an illusion, created between those with pants, and those without
From What the Fighting Sioux can tell us about white people, by Robert Jensen:
Appeals to the dominant white society to abolish the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo typically are framed in terms of respect for the dignity and humanity of indigenous people. That is the appropriate way to address the question, but it has failed -- at least in North Dakota -- to persuade most white folks. So, today I want to pursue another argument.I want to suggest to my fellow non-Indian North Dakotans -- those of us whose ancestors came from some other continent, primarily those of us who are white and of European descent -- that we should support the campaign to change the University of North Dakota name and logo not just because it is offensive, exploitative, and racist (it is all of those things) but also for our own sake. Let us do it for our own dignity. Let us join this struggle so that we can lay honest claim to our own humanity.
Sorry about mentioning this. Y'know, since Jensen is so damned ubiquitous in the media. As Jesse wrote:
Yeah, you remember how you couldn't turn anywhere [post-9/11] without Noam Chomsky being on the airwaves, especially that immortal edition of the Today Show where he got Katie Couric to agree to be the white Angela Davis? How Robert Jensen stormed the ABC News set and wouldn't let Peter Jennings back in? How Erin O'Connor and Matt Welch went insane and lived in an alternate reality where any of this was anywhere close to what happened?
Anyway, the rest of the piece (found at ZNet, by way of Common Dreams), goes into history and power relations and lots of other boring stuff that has no bearing whatsoever on contemporary 'Mercan society.
And don't get me started on fucking Chief Illiniwek.
I yield the balance of my time to my distinguished colleague from -- nigga, where the fuck you livin' now? -- Uppity-Shinob.
I'm gonna go read Indianz.com and get more pissed off.
Audrey Sunnyboy noticed a troubling trend when she entered the drug and alcohol treatment field in 1990."I was watching people and was realizing that most of the Alaska Native people did not recover from alcoholism," she said. "And as I was going along, I would ask, 'Did you ever go to AA?' Then they would say, 'No, because I didn't want to talk.'"
Sunnyboy said the realization that AA's 12-step program does not work for everyone, especially people who are reluctant to talk about themselves, is what led to her interest in providing an alternative form of treatment.
Last month, Sunnyboy, a 57-year-old certified traditional counselor originally from Nenana, opened the Sunny Denyaave Center, an office where she hopes to help alcoholics and drug users quit their habits by repairing their bodies through nutrient replacement and proper diet.
Or maybe less so. Depends which article I click on.