Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • About Us
  • Watch/Listen
  • FOIL Docs
  • Editorial Policy
  • Log in
  • Publish Article

Upcoming Events

No upcoming calendar events.

Want to Make America Great Again? Begin by Respecting Native Americans

Primary tabs

  • View
  • Devel(active tab)

Secondary tabs

  • Load(active tab)
  • Render
  • ... (Object) stdClass
    • vid (String, 6 characters ) 150979
    • uid (String, 4 characters ) 4372
    • title (String, 70 characters ) Want to Make America Great Again? Begin by Resp...
      • Want to Make America Great Again? Begin by Respecting Native Americans
    • log (String, 0 characters )
    • status (String, 1 characters ) 1
    • comment (String, 1 characters ) 2
    • promote (String, 1 characters ) 1
    • sticky (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • nid (String, 6 characters ) 147986
    • type (String, 17 characters ) drupalimc_article
    • language (String, 3 characters ) und
    • created (String, 10 characters ) 1548788554
    • changed (String, 10 characters ) 1548788657
    • tnid (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • translate (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • revision_timestamp (String, 10 characters ) 1548788657
    • revision_uid (String, 4 characters ) 4372
    • body (Array, 1 element)
      • und (Array, 1 element)
        • 0 (Array, 5 elements)
          • value (String, 8441 characters ) <p>&nbsp;</p><div style="font-family: Helvetica...
            • <p>&nbsp;</p><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">[[{"fid":"14621","view_mode":"drupalimc_large","fields":{"format":"drupalimc_large","alignment":"","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"drupalimc_large","alignment":"","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"height":735,"width":620,"class":"media-element file-drupalimc-large","data-delta":"2"}}]]</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6640" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6641" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am aware of the numerous wars and inter-tribal disputes which occurred for thousands of years before European settlers arrived in what is now the continental United States. I am also aware of the many Native American practices that make modern readers squirm with moral disgust-acts such as human kidnapping, rape, routine raids/massacres, and even human sacrifice. Yet despite these unsavory aspects, the complete picture of Native Americans tells a remarkable story of migration, survival, family loyalty, the spread of ideas, and the laying of a political foundation that influenced the creation of the United States. This is what those MAGA hat (“Make America Great Again”) wearing students failed to grasp. They failed to grasp that what we call “America” today, was great when the Indian tribes, confederacies and empires spread from shore to shore.</span></div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6642" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6643" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6644" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6645" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">If only those students were taught about the roots of American democracy, which did not begin with Jefferson and Madison, but with the Six Nation Iroquois confederacy. Would they have been so openly dismissive of the Indian marchers if they knew that the very steps they were standing on were erected to honor a political philosophy that came not from Europe but here in the “New World?” In the parlance of his age, Benjamin Franklin once said&nbsp;in 1751, “It would be a strange thing if Six Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such an union, and be able to execute it in such a manner as that it has subsisted ages and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies.” University of Buffalo American Studies Professor Donald Grinde, among others, argue that American colonists, “drew freely on the image of the American Indian as an exemplar of the spirit of liberty they so cherished.”</span></div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6646" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6647" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6648" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6649" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, no matter where European immigrants arrived from, once here they were introduced to environments that were foreign and hostile. They needed to know how to survive off the land. That knowledge came directly from the first Americans. For all of their palpable smugness, I wonder if the students would have behaved in such a manner if they knew the real indebtedness they all have to the ancestors of those who they were mocking.</span></div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6650" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6651" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></div><div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6652" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6653" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a sad but predictable spectacle. Because Native Americans are so often denied the opportunity to be seen as anything more than mascots or cultural victims, the site of many proud Native Americans joined in solidarity was not a scene that those young students were prepared to confront. When that smirking student stood in the face of the drummer Nathan Phillips-creating an image that went viral- I do not think he knew how to process what was truly happening. Caught somewhere between nervousness, fear, and resentment, he was trapped in an awkward silence. In that prescient moment he became a symbol of the white man's relationship to Native Americans since the two first came into contact more than 500 years ago.</span></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="il">George</span>&nbsp;Cassidy&nbsp;<span class="il">Payne</span>&nbsp;is an independent writer, social justice activist, and adjunct professor of philosophy at SUNY. He lives and works in Rochester, NY.&nbsp;<span class="il">George</span>'s letters and essays have been featured in a wide range of domestic and foreign outlets including The Toronto Star, The Havana Times, The South China Morning Post, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Buffalo News, and the Albany Times Union. Locally,&nbsp;<span class="il">George</span>&nbsp;is a frequent contributor to Rochester indymedia, City Newspaper, the Minority Reporter, and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.</span></i></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</div>
          • summary (String, 0 characters )
          • format (String, 9 characters ) full_html
          • safe_value (String, 8503 characters ) <p> </p> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Ar...
            • <p> </p> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><div class="media media-element-container media-drupalimc_large"><div id="file-14621" class="file file-image file-image-png"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/file/14621">phillipsmall.png</a></h2> <div class="content"> <a href="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/phillipsmall_0.png?width=620&amp;height=735" class="colorbox-load" height="735" width="620" data-delta="2"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/styles/drupalimc_large/public/phillipsmall_0.png?itok=BQddSgxf" alt="" title="" /></a> </div> </div> </div></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"> </div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6640" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6641" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am aware of the numerous wars and inter-tribal disputes which occurred for thousands of years before European settlers arrived in what is now the continental United States. I am also aware of the many Native American practices that make modern readers squirm with moral disgust-acts such as human kidnapping, rape, routine raids/massacres, and even human sacrifice. Yet despite these unsavory aspects, the complete picture of Native Americans tells a remarkable story of migration, survival, family loyalty, the spread of ideas, and the laying of a political foundation that influenced the creation of the United States. This is what those MAGA hat (“Make America Great Again”) wearing students failed to grasp. They failed to grasp that what we call “America” today, was great when the Indian tribes, confederacies and empires spread from shore to shore.</span></div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6642" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6643" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6644" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6645" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">If only those students were taught about the roots of American democracy, which did not begin with Jefferson and Madison, but with the Six Nation Iroquois confederacy. Would they have been so openly dismissive of the Indian marchers if they knew that the very steps they were standing on were erected to honor a political philosophy that came not from Europe but here in the “New World?” In the parlance of his age, Benjamin Franklin once said in 1751, “It would be a strange thing if Six Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such an union, and be able to execute it in such a manner as that it has subsisted ages and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies.” University of Buffalo American Studies Professor Donald Grinde, among others, argue that American colonists, “drew freely on the image of the American Indian as an exemplar of the spirit of liberty they so cherished.”</span></div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6646" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6647" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6648" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6649" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, no matter where European immigrants arrived from, once here they were introduced to environments that were foreign and hostile. They needed to know how to survive off the land. That knowledge came directly from the first Americans. For all of their palpable smugness, I wonder if the students would have behaved in such a manner if they knew the real indebtedness they all have to the ancestors of those who they were mocking.</span></div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6650" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6651" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div> <div id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6652" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span id="m_6872959023829730978yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1548300822638_6653" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a sad but predictable spectacle. Because Native Americans are so often denied the opportunity to be seen as anything more than mascots or cultural victims, the site of many proud Native Americans joined in solidarity was not a scene that those young students were prepared to confront. When that smirking student stood in the face of the drummer Nathan Phillips-creating an image that went viral- I do not think he knew how to process what was truly happening. Caught somewhere between nervousness, fear, and resentment, he was trapped in an awkward silence. In that prescient moment he became a symbol of the white man's relationship to Native Americans since the two first came into contact more than 500 years ago.</span></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"> </div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="il">George</span> Cassidy <span class="il">Payne</span> is an independent writer, social justice activist, and adjunct professor of philosophy at SUNY. He lives and works in Rochester, NY. <span class="il">George</span>'s letters and essays have been featured in a wide range of domestic and foreign outlets including The Toronto Star, The Havana Times, The South China Morning Post, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Buffalo News, and the Albany Times Union. Locally, <span class="il">George</span> is a frequent contributor to Rochester indymedia, City Newspaper, the Minority Reporter, and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.</span></i></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"> </div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"> </div>
          • safe_summary (String, 0 characters )
    • field_drupalimc_categories (Array, 1 element)
      • und (Array, 2 elements)
        • 0 (Array, 1 element)
          • tid (String, 2 characters ) 28
        • 1 (Array, 1 element)
          • tid (String, 2 characters ) 35
    • field_drupalimc_local_interest (Array, 1 element)
      • und (Array, 1 element)
        • 0 (Array, 1 element)
          • value (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • field_drupalimc_migrated_images (Array, 0 elements)
    • field_drupalimc_gallery (Array, 0 elements)
    • field_drupalimc_author (Array, 1 element)
      • und (Array, 1 element)
        • 0 (Array, 3 elements)
          • value (String, 20 characters ) George Cassidy Payne
          • format (NULL)
          • safe_value (String, 20 characters ) George Cassidy Payne
    • rdf_mapping (Array, 9 elements)
      • rdftype (Array, 2 elements)
        • 0 (String, 9 characters ) sioc:Item
        • 1 (String, 13 characters ) foaf:Document
      • title (Array, 1 element)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 8 characters ) dc:title
      • created (Array, 3 elements)
        • predicates (Array, 2 elements)
          • 0 (String, 7 characters ) dc:date
          • 1 (String, 10 characters ) dc:created
        • datatype (String, 12 characters ) xsd:dateTime
        • callback (String, 12 characters ) date_iso8601 | (Callback) date_iso8601();
      • changed (Array, 3 elements)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 11 characters ) dc:modified
        • datatype (String, 12 characters ) xsd:dateTime
        • callback (String, 12 characters ) date_iso8601 | (Callback) date_iso8601();
      • body (Array, 1 element)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 15 characters ) content:encoded
      • uid (Array, 2 elements)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 16 characters ) sioc:has_creator
        • type (String, 3 characters ) rel
      • name (Array, 1 element)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 9 characters ) foaf:name
      • comment_count (Array, 2 elements)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 16 characters ) sioc:num_replies
        • datatype (String, 11 characters ) xsd:integer
      • last_activity (Array, 3 elements)
        • predicates (Array, 1 element)
          • 0 (String, 23 characters ) sioc:last_activity_date
        • datatype (String, 12 characters ) xsd:dateTime
        • callback (String, 12 characters ) date_iso8601 | (Callback) date_iso8601();
    • signature (String, 0 characters )
    • spaminess (Float) 0
    • cid (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • last_comment_timestamp (String, 10 characters ) 1548788554
    • last_comment_name (NULL)
    • last_comment_uid (String, 4 characters ) 4372
    • comment_count (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • name (String, 13 characters ) rbarnabas2016
    • picture (String, 1 characters ) 0
    • data (String, 4 characters ) b:0;
  • Krumo version 0.2.1a
    | http://krumo.sourceforge.net
    Called from /home/members/rochindymedia/sites/rochester.indymedia.org/web/includes/menu.inc, line 527  

Search form

Local News

Blueprint for Engagement: Evaluating Police / Community Relations Final Report (2017)
The Police-Civilian Foot Patrol: An Evaluation of the PAC-TAC Experiemnt in Rochester, New York (June 1975)
Police Killing of Denise Hawkins (1975)
Complaint Investigation Committee Legislation (1977)
Race Rebellion of July 1964
Selections Regarding the Police Advisory Board (1963-1970)
Prelude to the Police Advisory Board
A.C. White (January 26, 1963)
Police Raid on Black Muslim Religious Service (January 6, 1963)
Rufus Fairwell (August 12, 1962)
Incarcerated Worker sheds light on Prison Labor Conditions during Pandemic
Police and Political Commentary
BWC video indicates Mark Gaskill was holding his phone as police shouted "gun"
How the NY Attorney General's defended the police who killed Daniel Prude
Hats off to Kropotkin!!
Agreement between the City of Rochester and the Rochester Police Locust Club, 2016 - 2019
Facebook Posts Lead to Federal Rioting Charges for Justice for Daniel Prude Protester
Youth Sports Leagues, Personnel Files, and Journalistic Peddling of Copaganda
Behind Those Giant Messages at the Protests
Singletary, La'Ron (2020 fired Chief of Police): personnel file; settlement

Recent Comments

Any status on FOIL request?
Media's Goebbels
Related
Related
USA as NAZI criminals
oops
PS
A message of Truth from Geral
Fyi
See related data...

Syndication

  • Feature Stories
  • Local News

Account Creation Policy Change

Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.

We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning.  We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.  As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site.  Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"

Editorial Meeting Times / Locations

The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly.
We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org.
Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.

Global IMC Network

To be downloaded