Sagepaper

This is an altogether uncomfortable topic for me. I don't like racism, and I especially don't like it from myself. This interchange reveals a sympathetic view I have of Jews, while holding to many popular stereotypes. I am uncertain of my facts; I don't actually know what a breakdown of "key leadership positions" by race or ethnicity would reveal. I do assume that a disproportionate number of Jews would be found. I think that makes them successful, however, not evil.

There is an added racial issue here. Right now in Canada, there is a scandalous racial conflict between the Indians and the Jews. For the sake of simplicity and ease of writing, I did not say, "the American Indians living in the United States" everytime I referred to them. I at times called them "our American Indians." For those who don't know me, that is not meant to be patronizing, and certainly not proprietary.

I express below a sympathy for the Mescalero Apache. These good people had a deep, lasting, and beneficial effect on my character. I absorbed much of their culture, values, and way of thinking in a remarkably brief period of time. That's because I was a very small child, learning rapidly from my environment and the people around me.

As my family moved from place-to-place, the mismatch between my aculturation and the demands of mainstream society became evident. There are deep differences between me and other White-eyes. My race is a barrier to others understanding my life-experiences.

If you saw me, and I looked like an Apache, and told you a tale of moving from the Mescalero Reservation at a tender age, and relocating to the Navajo Reservation before being thrown into mainstream white schools, you would perhaps lend a sympathetic ear. But now, I look like a grown white woman, and referrences to an American Indian cultural heritage sound suspiciously new-age, or perhaps even delusional.
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YBM said...
Awhile ago here in Canada Jews were shocked to hear a guy by the name of Ahenakew, a man who has been awarded the Order of Canada and was the head of the Assembly of First Nations, spewing antisemitic hate speech. He is now on trial and he continues to make antisemitic Jew-hating tirades--not so surprising anymore. But what is surprising? Enter First Nations chief the 2nd:Roseau River First Nations Chief Terrance Nelson not only likes to make tirades about the, according to him, Jewish-controlled/owned media of Canada, but also of Jewish indifference and ignorance of the "holocaust" suffered by the natives. Are you kidding me? You gotta be kidding me.This antisemitic piece of garbage wrote a seriously antisemitic letter which can be seen here: http://www.rrafn.com/terryletter.htmAn article about the issue can be seen here: http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/jt-050414-14.htmlPerhaps he will die soon? I can only hope.
posted by YBM at 9:14 PM on Apr 18 2005
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Sagepaper said...
How closely does the history of Canada's American Indians parallel that of ours? I have had the impression that they have been treated much better, and enjoy greater staus and rights. Of course, it would not be hard to surpass the status and rights of our American Indians. To my knowledge, the racists in our tribes have not learned to be so discerning. White-eyes are White-eyes. They really aren't interested in your pedigree.In the lands that have become the United States, we do have a BIG, protracted genocidal history. The British and the French were not alone. The Spaniards wiped out whole, sophisticated cities before the English and French arrived. Europeans were so brutal that even the war-like tribes learned from them. Scalping was first a French custom.I must admit a cultural bias in favor of the Mescalero Apache, and to a certain extent other Indians. Perhaps I have not visited in quite awhile, but I didn't see any Jews going around oppressing Indians when I was on the Reservations. In fact, a liberal bias in the media here has tried to shed light on the enormity of the sins of our forefathers.
1:29 AM
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Sagepaper said...
I must confess, I was unable to finish the letter. What I read was unimaginative and dogmatic. Worse, but reassuring, it did not seem like a great mind gone astray. It certainly was offensive, though.
1:55 AM
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Sagepaper said...
Okay, I forced myself to finish the letter. I too, am under the impression that Jews have risen to power in key institutions in society. I have what is perhaps a reverse racism. I attribute this success to their cultural emphasis on education, and to an historic legacy of business know-how. This know-how dates at least to the time European Christians "forced" Jews into Banking. Christians were forbidden to loan at interest, and you cannot run a bank like that. However, banks were certainly needed economically. So the Jews stepped in and *everyone* prospered.I take a "market" view of the news. In the US, we have some Jewish leadership in the media, but they are accountable to their stockholders, as with any other type of publicly-traded corporation. If there is a consistent bias in a free market, with a free press, one must look at the readers and watchers who ultimately "buy" the media.
2:14 AM