question

[Richard Zane Smith]

I think the average american conscience is pretty well seared off.
the *"we won,so get over it"* mentality seems to be the norm here in USA
and seems to justify a dominant attitude of continual slurs against the
"enemy"
from ridiculous mascots, the naming of missiles, hunting weapons, guns,
cars, etc.
Once a group of people are the  enemy...it seems enemy status is perpetuated
by degradation. Degradation is perpetuated from adults to the lives of
children,even by games.
Us children grew up fighting "japs" and "germans" with our green plastic
army men
and had no idea how prejudice was sinking its fangs into us.

HOWEVER having said all that...there might some day be some honest
comparisons
made by objective historians.
One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.
We Wyandot have war dance ceremonies that the federal government banned,
because they were once  used to prepare ourselves before fighting the
British or the Americans.
Colonizers can name a city *Sandusky* (a Wyandot corruption of Tsa'duhstih)
but strictly enforce a ban of WAR DANCES.
We were once the terrorists and yes we did spread terror on the Ohio
frontier.
Yes we were once the terrorists, we kidnapped white children, they grew up
to fight against their own white race.
we used sneaky frustrating guerilla warfare tactics against militarily
advanced troops and weapons.
The colonizers wars against each other were fought by forming opposing lines
and advancing mowing each other down till the best man won.
that was stupidity to our native way of thinking. so as "them damn redskins"
we were the terrorists...i'm not ashamed of that.

someday....there may be some Afghans who might come to understand Osama bin
Laden as a kind of Geronimo or a kind of Sitting Bull.
who dared to take on the powers of the world because he believed that they
represented greed,capitalism,and the pillaging of earths resources.

ske:noh
Richard
Wyandotte Oklahoma,



On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 9:06 AM, Resa C Bizzaro <resa.bizzaro at iup.edu> wrote:

> Hey, y'all. MJ, there are quite a number of people who are upset about the
> choice of the name Geronimo. Facebook has a bunch of stuff on there, and
> there is going to be some discussion of that choice at a hearing on
> Indigenous stereotypes. I don't have the info with me, but it's this
> afternoon and will be streamed live through Facebook and, I presume, the
> internet from 2-5.
>
> Resa
>
>
>
> On Thu, 5 May 2011 07:01:33 -0700
>  Sandra <enviro.design at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
>> ... yes...reminiscent of skull n bones
>> but not a good choice
>> my first thought after the humane burial
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> Sandra Gaskell
>>
>> On May 5, 2011, at 6:59 AM, MJ Hardman <hardman at UFL.EDU> wrote:
>>
>>  Was anyone as appalled as I was by the use ‘geronimo’ as codeword in the
>>> recent scuff-up in Pakistan? MJ
>>>
>>


-- 
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