Michelle Obama Stands Up for Native Americans, Says Natives Were Stripped of Their Culture

[sheshe2]

But I would like to call special attention to the following excerpts in which the First Lady discusses the source of challenges facing Native American communities and the role of the United States government in stripping Natives of their culture:

“You see, we need to be very clear about where the challenges in this community first started. Folks in Indian Country didn’t just wake up one day with addiction problems. Poverty and violence didn’t just randomly happen to this community. These issues are the result of a long history of systematic discrimination and abuse.”

The First Lady recognizes and affirms that many of the challenges Native American communities face have roots in systemic discrimination.

“Let me offer just a few examples from our past, starting with how, back in 1830, we passed a law removing Native Americans from their homes and forcibly re-locating them to barren lands out west. The Trail of Tears was part of this process. Then we began separating children from their families and sending them to boarding schools designed to strip them of all traces of their culture, language and history. And then our government started issuing what were known as ‘Civilization Regulations’ – regulations that outlawed Indian religions, ceremonies and practices – so we literally made their culture illegal.”

What strikes me most about this statement is the ownership. “We” passed a law. “We” made their culture illegal.

It’s a showing of respect.

Read More http://bluenationreview.com/michelle-obama-stands-native-americans-says-natives-stripped-culture/

[Zorra]

1. I like her. She should run for Prez.

[ucrdem]

8. That has crossed my mind more than once.

[dhill926]

2. this is fantastic….

good for her….

[bananas]

3. k&r nt

[BumRushDaShow]

4. But the sad irony is that

her ancestors and many of our own ancestors were enslaved by those same "we"s in 1830, completely devoid of any rights or even considered humans.

[sheshe2]

9. I know BRDS...

However, that lady has so much love, grace and respect. She puts puts others before herself.

Love that woman.

[kelliekat44]

55. Enslaved by "some" of them..not all. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

58. Not "all" oppressed the Native Americans either

But usually the oppressors of one group "not like themselves" oppressed everyone else "not like themselves", in some cases to make "Noble Savages" out of the natives and attempt to "tame the African savages through religion" after they were dragged out of their homes and brought 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to serve them here.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

5. "We" does not include "me"

I understand that I have white privilege in the present, but I in no way take responsibility for white crimes of the past. Heck, many of my ancestors weren't even here, yet.

Michelle's message is still very relevant.

[sheshe2]

15. 'We' does not include Michelle, as she was a decendent of slaves.

Yet our so very gracious First Lady accepts the responsibility as well. Such a gracious amazing woman. I love her.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

33. Truly. We accept the responsibility of righting injustices.

But there is a certain mindset among some people that since we share in some benefit not of our choosing, we also share in some guilt. They may not make an outright accusation, but the inference is always there.

I don't believe our First Lady meant that in any way. Funny typing that. She always seems like "Michelle" to me. She practically owns that name.

[Stellar]

6. I remember seeing a young woman crying on television, saying ...

'I want my country back' when the President was first elected in 2008. I could be wrong but I don't believe that she was native American.

[wolfie001]

7. This!!!!!

Replace Old Hickory on the twenty with a woman! This needs to be done!

[yellerpup]

12. I voted for Wilma Mankiller. n/t

[Travis_0004]

31. I dont think that makes sense as 90 percent of people have no idea who it is?

[yellerpup]

32. It' about time they did!

[CreekDog]

62. Most don't have any idea who Andrew Jackson is

and when they find out what he did to the Cherokee, many will think that moving him off the money and replacing him with someone like her was the right move.

as for you not agreeing, that says more about you.

[Travis_0004]

64. I think MLK would be a better choice

I realize that the goal is to put a woman on currency, but at the same time there has never been a african american on US currency either.

I think most would agree that MLK is more important in US history than Wilma Mankiller.

[CreekDog]

66. we shouldn't have to choose amongst all the people of color and/or females

this country was partly built on the backs of African American slaves and for much of its history, women couldn't vote.

we have room on our currency to recognize more than one person in these categories.

[blackspade]

46. Me too.

Poetic justice as well.
Sending "Old Hickory" to the sawmill of history.

[yellerpup]

48. Wado, blackspade

[Omaha Steve]

10. Thank you Michelle

My dad refused to teach me any of the Cherokee language he did know. It wasn't much.

K&R!

[yellerpup]

13. There are free Cherokee lessons online

at www.cherokee.org

Osiyo!

[Omaha Steve]

36. Thanks...

But this old dog is beyond new tricks.

[freshwest]

11. K&R!

[brer cat]

14. K&R!! nt

[postulater]

16. "We" learned how from our English ancestors.

They practiced in Ireland and Scotland.

In Scotland they called it the Highland Clearances.

http://www.theclearances.org

[malokvale77]

17. I cannot accept being a part of the "We".

My father was the first born American in his family (1915, Both parents immigrated from Norway a few years earlier). My mother a good part Choctaw (Trail of Tears).

I have embraced the culture. I have fought for the culture.

Truth be known, my ancestry has taught me to view all religion as enslaving.

No, I am not part of that "We".

[sheshe2]

21. Fine, don't accept it.

Your First Lady Does. She does it from respect. You need to understand, she comes from a history of slavery. Her ancestors were slaves.

FYI. I have Mohawk ancestry. Me, I accept WE.

[malokvale77]

22. Thank you for allowing me to not accept what I am not responsible for.

You can not tell me what I need to understand.

I understand thousands of things you know nothing of.

Would you like me to tell you what you need to understand?

[sheshe2]

23. Go for it....

Don't do it for a hide....not worth it.

[malokvale77]

24. "Go for it"

Really?

Are you saying that if I explain to you things you might not understand, that I will be hidden?

Are you saying only you have the right to explain things?

Please explain to me why your voice is worth more than mine.

[sheshe2]

25. Well first of all I don't do hides.

It is late and I have to work.

Add what you want to say. I will respond tomorrow night. I never said my voice carried more weight than yours. I posted Michelle Obama's voice here, not mine. I believe she has grace and beauty in her response to Native Americans, she said 'We' out of respect. I agree with her and feel the shame. The same treatment was given to her ancestors. She did not need to do that, yet she did.

Please don't take that tone with me. I do not believe I deserved that.

[malokvale77]

26. "Please don't take that tone with me"...

I do not deserve that, either.

I too have to work (seven days a week).

You posted, I responded. You didn't like my response. Now what?

[Major Hogwash]

28. That's a shame.

You don't do hides, you don't do alerts, you don't use ignore, yet you allow yourself to get kicked around on a daily basis by responding back to people who couldn't care less what you have to say!!

Why?

[sheshe2]

40. I actually meant to say alert~

Hides I do. I don't feel I get kicked around on a daily basis and I know how to kick back when needed.

Lol~ I do have one person on ignore, I never cared for the fundraising links.

Thanks for caring.

[jwirr]

65. Michelle's we refers to our government and to those individuals who were the discriminators. All

of us are part of that government WE if we did not or do not stand up against it.

[rhett o rick]

37. I don't understand your attitude in this thread. Who are you mad at?

We all suffer from frustration, but why are you taking it out on this poster? Do you support what the OP says? Seem pretty powerful to me. I applaud the First Lady for speaking out.

[malokvale77]

53. Oh for Christ's sake...

It had nothing to do with this poster.

It has to do with my ancestry. I don't accept responsibility for something me or my family had nothing to do with, and were in fact victims of.

I am part Choctaw. Do you want me to apologize for what was done to us?

[romanic]

18. Michelle is truly gracious.

But time has passed too much to give Natives their land back i think. We as immigrants and what have you need to prop Natives out of poverty and guide them to positions where they take part in running the country while allowing their cultures to prosper.

[blackspade]

47. Um, one issue I have with this statement....

"...prop Natives out of poverty and guide them... "

I think we have done entirely enough of that.
Now if you mean provide them with the resources they need to move forward culturally on their own terms.....

That gets a thumbs up from me.

[romanic]

60. Yeah that's what I was meaning when I said "prop"

.

[Hekate]

19. Both Michelle and Barack Obama are very well-grounded in US history-- the real history.

When Dubya was in office I remember thinking with despair that he lived in the ahistorical eternal now, and neither knew nor cared to know what had gone before in the world and how that had shaped the present.

The Obamas are a stunning contrast. They are so aware.

As for the "we" -- well, it's "our" country, so we are all in a sense responsible for both its past and its future.

I love the Obamas. I'm so proud they are in the White House.

[erronis]

38. Thank you. You stated eloquently what I struggled to say.

I admire anybody who cares about others and will stand up for them. No matter the race or credo or life-style.

I have no use for anybody who has a prejudgmental opinion about an individual without understanding their background. And when they voice their opinion I'd like to see the path that led them to it. Religion and Personal Hatred can be listed in that path, it just won't be worth a piss in a can.

[sheshe2]

41. I am with you, Hekate. nt

[3catwoman3]

43. "the ahistorical eternal now."

What a great turn of phrase. I will be adding that to my lexicon. Thank you.

[Heidi]

20. Kick, kick, kick!

[lovemydog]

27. K & r for a gracious, intelligent, thoughtful woman

who understands our history.

[napkinz]

29. a truth Americans refuse to face about our history ...

[erronis]

39. And it goes on. Wetbacks, slant-eyes, any immigrant

That upsets the currently established immigrants (and yes, the native americans are also immigrants.)

Fortunately, the world will belong to those that survive through their toughness and intelligence. That may not include a lot of the supposedly privileged white folks that immigrated to the US earlier. My particular lineage is mainly of those that came between the 1600's and 1800's. I don't see us a particularly tough or quick witted, anymore.

[sheshe2]

42. Truth!

Thanks napkinz.

[napkinz]

50. you're welcome sheshe

[napkinz]

30. "learn the truth"

[sheshe2]

45. +1000 for Carlin's last line.

Thanks napkinz.

[PeaceNikki]

34. I find it incredibly sad that some people's first and only reaction to this is, "not me!!!"

What happened to the native people on this country is shameful and horrific. Kudos to the first lady for discussing and acknowledging it. Even if you're not a direct descendent of any individual who was part of it, you're part of a society which did. You're a human being and should empathize.WE should all focus on being better.

Sigh.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

35. The point is that "empathy" is not the same as "collective guilt"

There is a clear difference. And a few would clearly have us move from empathy and compassion to collective guilt.

I don't believe in original sin crap (I'm tainted by the sin of others) and I sure don't believe in collective guilt crap, either.

[romanic]

61. I don't believe in it either.

Collective guilt does nothing to move things forward, it only holds progress back by feeling guilt for the past. I think we all as Americans (immigrants I should say) need to be empathetic to the Native tribes and have a dialogue about how to move forward instead of going back to the "you stole our land, we took your land" talk. We can acknowledge the wrongs done in history, but we can't feel sorry for what happened back then either.

[blackspade]

44. I like Michelle Obama more every day.

She has been an astounding First Lady.

This, of course, will send the rethugs into a tizzy.

[napkinz]

49. K&R! nt

[guillaumeb]

51. what the First Lady said about the First Peoples

applies equally well to enslaved Africans.

Striped of their freedom, stripped of their languages, stripped of their religions. Treated as less than human and obstacles to white empire building. With the same results as the First People in the US.
Very common treatment of indigenous people here, and in Canada also by the way, by the English colonizers.

I agree with one poster who rejected the concept of individual collective guilt, but there is certainly a national collective guilt for all the horrors of black slavery and the genocide of the First Peoples. I believe THAT is what the First Lady meant when she spoke of the concept of collective guilt.

Excellent post sheshe.

[sheshe2]

52. Yes it does, sadly apply to enslaved Africans.

And we own collective guilt. Did you do it, did I, did the First Lady? No, yet I claim the collective guilt.

Thank you guillaumeb.

[ismnotwasm]

54. EXCELLENT

Very happy to hear this!

[haele]

56. It's not about our ancestors.

It's about the opportunities that were taken from the natives and handed to the settlers. It's about breaking treaties and building on land given to natives to build cities and mines and industries that those natives were excluded from. It's about "The American Experience" and the American progress that made us what we are now - on the bodies and scalps of the Natives who didn't want to live as degraded dependents of Uncle Sam.
The collective "We" is the United States of America, in all its glory and its filth.

I agree with pretty much everything she said. I am a Heinz-57, an American Mutt - part settler and part native, part 3rd generation and part 8th generation European with a bit of north African and Creek Indian, and whatever else. Some of my G-G-G-parents fought on both sides of the US Civil war, and I daresay there was someone who used slaves to help on a hard-scrabble farm in Missouri.
So, yes - the mistreatment of the Native American has had an influence on all my ancestors, even the ones who came over in the late 1880's.

Haele

[Cha]

57. Our beautiful First Lady Michelle Obama is always doing the right thing.

Last edited Mon Apr 20, 2015, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

It's tragic how many invaders and marauders treated our Native Americans and continue to treat them.. coming on to their land taking over and taking away everything they have.

Thank Goodness for President Obama and First Lady Michelle~




Objibwa girl~1907~My tribe~

Mahalo, she~

[msanthrope]

59. She used the word "folks." I expect the ODS brigade to sound off. nt

[fadedrose]

63. I share her feelings

and it's nice to hear an important person say the things she said.

This is their native land.