An Analysis and History of Native American Injustices
Everyone in the U.S. grows up learning about Columbus, Thanksgiving, and the British colonies. Meanwhile all that many are taught about the indigenous peoples is that the “savages” showed the Europeans how to farm, there was a good harvest, and then they lived happily ever after. A majority of people doesn’t know what the history teachers leave out. The Europeans came to the Americas not just to explore but instead to profit from its resources. Also it was the Ancient Siberians – the ancestors of the Native Americans – who found the Americas, not Columbus or Leif Erikson. The moment the Europeans discovered them, they were set on a downward spiral. After all of its deceptions, it is time …show more content…
In the most recent census 2.9 million people identified as solely Native American while 5.2 million identified as Native American with combinations of other races. According to the National Congress of American Indians, overall their economic status is trending upward and their poverty rate is trending downward. Despite this success, they still have significantly higher mortality rates and lower graduation rates. Data shows that Native Americans earn college degrees at less than half the rate of the entire U.S. population. Compared to the population as a whole, Native Americans are dying at rates: 600% higher for tuberculosis, 510% higher for alcoholism, 189% higher for diabetes, 229% higher for vehicle crashes, 152% higher for injuries, and 62% higher for suicide (“Demographics”). Their poverty rates may only be decreasing because many of the most impoverished are dying due to inadequate access to medical help, unsafe road systems, or because they fall into depression that leads to deadly alcoholism and/or suicide. Many sources have agreed that Native American youths have the highest suicide rate out of any other …show more content…
These things have been proven to negatively affect Native American children growing up. In an article done by Huffpost Politics, “Native American Youth: Stop Treating Our Culture Like a Costume” editor Rebecca Klein writes that despite the statistics being “bleak” many of the Native youths that were interviewed showed an unexpected sense of hope for their future. Yet there were still others who did not show the same level of optimism due to past negative experiences. In 2014 there were 2,129 sports teams with names referencing Native Americans. Some states like California and Oregon have banned the practice of using Native Americans as team names or mascots and Colorado has very recently commissioned the start of a “productive dialogue on the
Everyone in the U.S. grows up learning about Columbus, Thanksgiving, and the British colonies. Meanwhile all that many are taught about the indigenous peoples is that the “savages” showed the Europeans how to farm, there was a good harvest, and then they lived happily ever after. A majority of people doesn’t know what the history teachers leave out. The Europeans came to the Americas not just to explore but instead to profit from its resources. Also it was the Ancient Siberians – the ancestors of the Native Americans – who found the Americas, not Columbus or Leif Erikson. The moment the Europeans discovered them, they were set on a downward spiral. After all of its deceptions, it is time …show more content…
In the most recent census 2.9 million people identified as solely Native American while 5.2 million identified as Native American with combinations of other races. According to the National Congress of American Indians, overall their economic status is trending upward and their poverty rate is trending downward. Despite this success, they still have significantly higher mortality rates and lower graduation rates. Data shows that Native Americans earn college degrees at less than half the rate of the entire U.S. population. Compared to the population as a whole, Native Americans are dying at rates: 600% higher for tuberculosis, 510% higher for alcoholism, 189% higher for diabetes, 229% higher for vehicle crashes, 152% higher for injuries, and 62% higher for suicide (“Demographics”). Their poverty rates may only be decreasing because many of the most impoverished are dying due to inadequate access to medical help, unsafe road systems, or because they fall into depression that leads to deadly alcoholism and/or suicide. Many sources have agreed that Native American youths have the highest suicide rate out of any other …show more content…
These things have been proven to negatively affect Native American children growing up. In an article done by Huffpost Politics, “Native American Youth: Stop Treating Our Culture Like a Costume” editor Rebecca Klein writes that despite the statistics being “bleak” many of the Native youths that were interviewed showed an unexpected sense of hope for their future. Yet there were still others who did not show the same level of optimism due to past negative experiences. In 2014 there were 2,129 sports teams with names referencing Native Americans. Some states like California and Oregon have banned the practice of using Native Americans as team names or mascots and Colorado has very recently commissioned the start of a “productive dialogue on the