Week 1- Suggested Research Method/Why

I want to do a survey about racism against Native Americans! My grandmother is Native American and grew up on a Native American reservation. Some of her family still lives on the reservation and some of her family has spread to different parts of the country. I think it would be interesting to see racism throughout generations and ways racism may still be present today. My family has a "group" on Facebook consisting of 47 members. I plan to create a survey and ask the members of our group to answer. I also would like to reach out to some older family members who do not have Facebook and ask them to answer the survey. 

No Doubt Video

The band "No Doubt" has been trying to make a come back this year. They released a new album and some new singles. One of these singles, "looking hot," has sparked controversy over its video. The video was removed but the Los Angeles Times  and USA Today, among others, have covered the controversy. The video featured the band members in Native American clothing. Gwen Stefani, the band's lead singer, is seen "communing with a wolf and dancing around a bonfire in the midst of a circle of teepees." Stefani is later seen awaiting her execution after a conflict with a cowboy with her "wrists bound above her head and a bandmate is aiming a gun at her." 

I was able to see this video when it first came out but I was unable to find it again because it has been taken out off of many sites. This video was pretty strange. I couldn't really understand what Native Americans and cowboys had to do with the song. I think it was very racist because it depicted Native Americans in a very negative way. The band later released a statement saying that they did not predict this sort of reaction. I believe that the kind of reaction that would ensue was obvious from the start  and they released it anyway because they wanted the publicity. I think they used to help them stay in the spotlight a little bit longer. I do think that it could be offensive to many. One commenter on the video said that it was a "mockery of [his] culture." In many ways I think it was because it did not seem very realistic and was an extreme stereotype. 

DoSomething.org

While researching my topic I came across the website DoSomething.org. This website brings young people together to rally against various social problems like discrimination, violence, bullying, homelessness,and other abuses. They ave a specific page for racism against Native Americans. On this page, they give a brief history of Native American discrimination. They explain the long list of injustices against Native Americans including, massacres, the well-known Trail of Tears, forcing off of land and onto reservations, etc. This website also explains how racism against Native Americans is still present today, stating, "To this day, Native Americans are the most harshly affected by institutional racism." They provide examples such as how Native Americans are one of the most "economically disadvantaged groups in the country, and suffer form high levels of alcoholism and suicide." Native American women are also at a higher risk of sexual and physical abuse, three and half times greater that the national average (and this estimate is even lower than expected because 70% of these cases go unreported).A cycle of violence is starting because the police are apathetic toward the prosecution of crimes against Native Americans.  

Overall, I like this website. I think it can help young people make a difference in America today. I think it is good that they give a little bit of history but I especially like how they explained some of the effects of racism still prevalent in today's society. I think many people forget that Native Americans are still discriminated against in some ways. Many people tend to forget about it now and idealize the situation. People tend to think that all the injustice is in the past, but it is still going on today.

My only issue with this website is the picture that they used (above). I think this picture (the only picture on the page) reinforces stereotypes of Native Americans. I think they should have also included some modern day pictures of Native Americans. I think that showing that Native Americans today do not all dress this way and do look the same as everyone else could go a long way. If more people saw that Native Americans were just normal, regular people, there might be less discrimination. 

Funny....or Racist?

I am an avid Modern Family fan. But I remembered one episode that I thought was really funny the first time I saw it it, but now, I'm not sure it sits right with me anymore. In this episode, Cameron and Mitchel are trying to get Lilly into a very prestigious pre-school. They think that because they are gay and that Lilly is Asian, they will have an advantage. But when they walk into the pre-school, they see a couple who they think will have even more of an advantage. To increase their chances, Cameron pretends to be Native American. He proceeds to portray the stereotypical Native American.

The first time I saw this episode, I thought it was really funny. I never really thought much about it. But after doing research and blogging, I realized that things in the media like this lead to some of the discrimination towards Native Americans in our country. The media generally portrays just the stereotype of Native Americans. Think back to old western movies you may have seen? The Native Americans were usually portrayed as either savage people with no morals of exotic foreigners that did not belong in the area. I think that images like these lead to ignorance of the Native American culture. I believe that most of the discrimination in our world is the product of discrimination and inequality.
Our society is usually extremely politically correct. Do you think this video is racist or just funny?