The similarities between the American Indians that Dennis Banks discussed in Ojibwa Warrior and Americans that Russell Means describes in Russell Means: Americans are the New Indians lie in the fact that both have lost constitutional rights and freedoms that they once had. This is a social problem caused by the centralized power of the United States Government. (Macaluso, 2016). Because the power lies mostly within the Executive Branch of the government, the military, and the large corporations, it is easy for laws to be passed and enforced that disadvantage people with less power and particularly people of a different race or ethnicity, which is known as institutionalized racism (Macaluso, 2016; Conley, 2015). These three groups that contain
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It was created in 1824 to deal with Native American conflict (Conley, 2016). With so much power resting on one group of people, it was easier for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to create these boarding schools in an attempt to eliminate the American Indian culture because they had the means to do so. For example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs would be able to force Native American children into boarding schools, claiming it was right using legal documentation and thus promoting institutionalized racism (Banks & Erdoes 2004; Conley 2015). From this point on, social change is motivated thought the struggle for Native Americans to gain rights and have more power over the government and law enforcement. This idea aligns with Karl Marx’s conflict theory as an explanation for social change because the conflict between the government and Native Americans motivated the formation of the American Indian Movement in 1968 (Conley, 2015; Banks & Erdoes, …show more content…
Even though the loss of rights for Americans is not a result of racism in the way that the Native American boarding schools were, they are both result of overcentralized power of the government. The education system is one of the tools the government uses to maintain and reinforce its power over the people, which Russell says is “Indian Policy that was born on the reservation in the boarding schools” (Means, 2012). Russell believes that Americans can create a social movement like the American Indians did with AIM in order to regain their constitutional rights and freedoms (Means, 2012). According to Marx’s conflict theory, there must be a revolution to create a social change of this magnitude within America (Conley, 2015). However, a simple start would be teaching the values and mechanisms needed for change within the education system and driving America towards localized governments for more control as Russell Means believes is necessary for the prosperity of America (Means,
It was created in 1824 to deal with Native American conflict (Conley, 2016). With so much power resting on one group of people, it was easier for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to create these boarding schools in an attempt to eliminate the American Indian culture because they had the means to do so. For example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs would be able to force Native American children into boarding schools, claiming it was right using legal documentation and thus promoting institutionalized racism (Banks & Erdoes 2004; Conley 2015). From this point on, social change is motivated thought the struggle for Native Americans to gain rights and have more power over the government and law enforcement. This idea aligns with Karl Marx’s conflict theory as an explanation for social change because the conflict between the government and Native Americans motivated the formation of the American Indian Movement in 1968 (Conley, 2015; Banks & Erdoes, …show more content…
Even though the loss of rights for Americans is not a result of racism in the way that the Native American boarding schools were, they are both result of overcentralized power of the government. The education system is one of the tools the government uses to maintain and reinforce its power over the people, which Russell says is “Indian Policy that was born on the reservation in the boarding schools” (Means, 2012). Russell believes that Americans can create a social movement like the American Indians did with AIM in order to regain their constitutional rights and freedoms (Means, 2012). According to Marx’s conflict theory, there must be a revolution to create a social change of this magnitude within America (Conley, 2015). However, a simple start would be teaching the values and mechanisms needed for change within the education system and driving America towards localized governments for more control as Russell Means believes is necessary for the prosperity of America (Means,