Native American Stereotypes

I’ve up to this point been mum on the subject of your slogans for the sake of not stirring the pot, but since you asked, I find a lot of them in poor taste. There are quite a number of reasons why your shirts are problematic and I’ll try to touch on each of them. First, you claim that you see no problem with people of any race claiming and advertising themselves as being “U.S.A Natives” because the dictionary definition of the term has to do with a person’s birth country. Although this may be true, it requires that you selectively ignore both the common usage and the history of the term. As you know, commonly, “Native American” refers to someone of a particular ancestry. A people whose history is fraught with abuse and who are still today dealing with the effects of that history and are commonly stereotyped, negatively portrayed in the media, and otherwise not given a fair shake just due to the lot they drew when they were born. To take a term that they use to self-identify and co-opt it for the purposes of allowing a hegemonic group to proclaim their dominance is immoral and is by definition appropriation; taking what you like from a certain culture without regard for all of the other negative aspects. …show more content…
Nativism has historical ties to the anti-immigration stances of the Know-Nothing’s and the KKK. While I have no doubt that you yourself have no connections or affinity to these organizations, consider that you have little control over who wears your apparel and what meaning they ascribe to it, ultimately you’re responsible for the creation of your product and the dog-whistle messaging it might be used to