Native American Oppression - 5978 Words

Native American Oppression Santucee Bell Case Western Reserve University Native American Oppression Introduction amp; Focal Population Imagine living in a world that consistently devalues your existence and is heavily populated with individuals who are quick to use and abuse your resources, but are slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society.†¦show more content†¦The disproportionality has not only caused many Native Americans to remain destitute, but also has made it easy for majority groups to force this population into marginalization. Marginalization refers to the exclusion of others (Neufeldt et. al., 1998, p. 479). In this context, marginalization refers to the detachmen t of Native Americans from mainstream America. To not abide by the rules of â€Å"the white man† has forced most Native Americans to permanently reside on reservations, or land where those who have tribal affiliation are able to practice tribal traditions (Perry, 2002, p 233). Living on reservations is very oppressive and not as favorable as it may sound. This is because reservations are not as rich in resources as other area of the U.S. Consequently, Native Americans do not have as many pathways to success as groups that reside in more suburban areas in the world. This lack of opportunities has contributed to the powerlessness of many Native Americans. Power can be viewed as the ability to influence and/or control others. Another flaw about reservations is the fact that they are not totally governed by Native American representatives. The U.S. government actually has tight control over the majority, if not all, reservations (Perry, 2002, p 233). This tight control has left t he Native American population powerless in terms of self- regulation. Despite the fact that Native American government do exist,Show MoreRelated Oppression of Native Americans1996 Words   |  8 Pagesthere was a scientific study on the brains of Native Americans called the craniology and phrenology. The Europeans examined only indigenous people’s heads and were forbidden to use any European’s brains. The Europeans did three experiments, such as decapitating the tops of the heads and filling them with sand to see if their brains were smaller than blacks. The Europeans also looked at the bones and said that if the bones were in a certain way (such as natives cheek bones being up higher) the person wasRead MoreDiscrimination And Oppression Of Native Americans And The Souls Of Black Folk By. B. 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