Liberals keep erasing Native Americans from society - Washington Examiner
By: Zachary Faria (Washington Examiner)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
ByZachary Faria January 29, 2024 2:04 pm
The liberal whining about inclusion always happens to be exclusive, and that is even true for the "protected" classes liberals try to pretend they are supporting.
Museums across the country are erasingNative American exhibits after President Joe Biden's Interior Department "issued new rules to strengthen" existing law that requires museums to get consent from tribes to display certain items. The American Museum of Natural History in New York closed two halls dedicated to Native Americans, and the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Field Museum in Chicago have both covered up several displays while they figure out if they are complying with the regulations.
The new rules are both inconsistent and tedious. They do not apply to the Smithsonian, which is also lagging behind in its compliance with the law. It helped employ even more bureaucrats at Harvard University, which has doubled the size of its staff dedicated to complying with the law. But most notably of all, these rules that are supposed to benefit Native Americans are actually completely erasing them from museums, where people go to learn about history and would presumably be able to understand those cultures and what happened to those tribes better.
This is similar to the logic that has been imposed on sports leagues. While renaming sports teams is admittedly lower stakes than museum exhibits when it comes to history, the high-profile renamings of the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians also erase Native Americans from our society. In this case, it is our sports culture that is being whitewashed to erase Native Americans but keep the naming honors for other ethnic groups, such as Vikings or Celtics.
And while you can quibble about how the Interior Department rules are simply forcing museums to ask for permission and return unapproved artifacts, we know that the liberal impulse to erase Native Americans from society does not care for permission. The Washington Redskins name was universally despised not by Native American tribes but by non-Native liberal sportswriters, who launched a corporate media pressure campaign against the team and others.
This obsession with racism, racial categorization, and racial grievances is counterproductive in many ways, dividing people by race and pitting them against one another based on what people did hundreds of years ago. In this case, this obsession is isolating Native Americans and erasing them from our shared society and history while claiming that this is how to respect or honor them. You couldn't come up with a more backward "logic" than this.
no Trump, fascist crap, NT rules apply
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Helping them is hurting them instead. [deleted]
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To paraphrase Bill Maher if the group does not know enough to be offended there is always someone to be offended for them,
There's no nuance to any of this and it's just tiresome.
Sports teams with generic or arguably racist identities needn't drop their names for something completely different if the intent is to honor native people. They could be named for actual, local teams. It works for the Florida State Seminoles. Something wrong with Cleveland Iriquois? Washington Anacostans? Maybe local tribe members could become part of the organization, advising on how to best celebrate and promote their culture.
Same with museums. For sure, some items in museums were acquired unethically, and if they can be returned to their rightful place, that possibility should be - and has been - explored. But on the other hand, some things are items that were abandoned and aren't being missed by anyone. Museums are not 100% evil, nor is the field of anthropology.
Instead of running from all things Native, how about involving tribal members in the museum process? Like my sports example, they could become staff or advisors to the museum. Perhaps the museum could facilitate the development of a sister facility on tribal land and the two could work together, sharing resources.
Lack of nuance is dividing and isolating people when we could be syncretizing.
Victimologists demand spreading the victimology in the guise of communism where there is only wrong or right.
Context and nuance are foreign to those who think like Mao.
You mean like including Native American's in the naming of sports teams like Washington did when they named their team the Redskins? But wait, those that are easily offended forced that name change. So, I guess that's not an option.
I think it’s fine that names can change. After a time, you might think that the name no longer holds the meaning for you that it once did. Maybe the change is subtle or maybe it’s drastic. But I do think it’s ridiculous the way we seem to run away these days from any native inclusion like we’re in a blind panic.
Just what the world needs more leftists telling everyone how they should think and feel.
I suppose these Native American Washington Redskin fans aren't native enough for you?
Democrats are the party of the perpetually aggrieved.
So those who are perpetually offended for others are eliminating the histories of those they are offended for.
I really wish I could say I'm surprised.
Welcome to the Woke World of Whiners.
Total nonsense.