Being Native American Living in the United States of America

It took me a while to finally write about the indigenous people still living today in the U.S. Because I do know that they have gone through a lot since Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World. And it appears that those wounds of the past still hurt. And those were about 500 years ago.

Now discrimination against these natives still exist and has been heaped on them for generations.

Here is a photo of a bar in Montana taken in 1941.

The sign on the wall says  "POSITIVELY NO BEER SOLD TO INDIANS". All other non-whites have endured similar discriminatory attitudes but it was worse for them because it was being done to them on their own land (for they were there first).
Photo Credit: Marion Post Wolcott, Wikimedia Commons

Anyway if you look at Native Americans of today, they look like Asians (particularly Northeast Asians). Today, it is still generally accepted that Native Americans came from that part of the world some 12,000 years ago. The earliest Europeans to reach America were Vikings but that was only about 1,000 years ago (yes it wasn't Columbus).

But then again Northeast Asians have also been discriminated against in the U.S.A. (like what else is new?).

The U.S. government has for generations apologized and made amends to the Native Americans and they have been awarded certain rights that were and are only applicable to them.

That is not to say that these are enough, but that is at least something.

Also we wouldn't know if the current conditions of the natives of today are enough amends but at some point we have to stop making amends for the people of today could only do so much, especially because conditions today have improved and hopefully continue to improve for these natives.

Many other people all over the planet have been subjugated and treated badly by other people in their own land and as I've said that really is a shame and almost unforgivable. But then again, until when can we not forgive? Forget we shouldn't, but forgive and to move on, we should.

Yanomami Woman & Child, Brazil 1997
Cmacauley, Wikimedia Commons

There could be many "what ifs" and "what could have beens", but what has happened, have happened, for better or for worse, and that we wouldn't know.

Like who would still want to live like the indigenous (native) people of say the Amazon basin today?

One thing I do wish for them is for the non-natives to stop acting foolishly as in sporting indian tomahawk haircuts, wearing native head dresses, loin clothes or Pocahontas' clothes or wearing face paint and feathers and worse posting their ridiculous photos online.

And maybe to stop calling the natives or even using the term Redskins.

Can't We Really Find the Silver Lining To Be Part of the Rainbow Community In America?

This is probably one of the hardest essays I have typed up, ever.

Not just because of where or how I was brought up or of things I have seen and experienced growing up. And because I am really torn on the issue of being L G B or T.

Lesbians

I empathize with lesbians. I really do. I grew up watching how some of them were ostracized. But then again, everyone else is being bullied, ridiculed, persecuted and shunned about one thing or another.

To me though, society is still evolving and slowly American society and various groups within the USA are embracing lesbians. Of course it could be better, but it is nonetheless better than in many other nations or societies.

Gays (Or Homosexuals)

I grew up and went to school with a lot of gays -- a whole lot. In fact, I have become friends with some of them and still in contact with some. In my experience, gays are more accepted than lesbians. But that is not to say that this this is enough. It's not.

And then again, like lesbians, it could be worse. They could be living in an Arab state or in some cultures or communities where they will not be tolerated at all.

In the US of A, there are a ton of Gays and Lesbians who are in power or highly successful and visible and vocal in their chosen fields and I'm not saying that's all there is to it. But various laws have been put in place and being put in place in support of their rights and such. Some things just take time.

Bisexuals

Again, I've known a few bisexuals and much like gays and lesbians, I would say the same thing. Coming out is usually the problem for the rainbow community, or for all three and the accompanying consequences. But then again, straight people have problems of their own, sometimes it is best not to focus on ours alone.

Transgenders

It is the transgenders that I am having mixed emotions with. There are so many intriguing things about them, as well as hard to explain and understand terminologies and definitions. But then again, everyone is hard to understand.

Colors of the Rainbow

So I really have nothing more to say about those who belong to the Rainbow Community living in the US of A.

I understand their gripes and frustrations and all that. And change may be slow and far in between.

But then again, as I've always said. It could be worse. Be thankful for the growing acceptance and tolerance, especially when you compare with many other societies and communities and nations. And yes, like a broken record, you could be living somewhere else. Change is coming. Just be hopeful that it would be a change for the better. People will always be people. We cannot really coexist perfectly peaceful with all our differences but sometimes looking at the issues from your opposing parties' point of view could be the only to bridge the divide.

Peace!

What's Wrong With Being Yellow In America?

So What's Wrong With Being an (Oriental/Yellow) Asian in America?

I know, it could be hard, if you are one.

I would think just as the Hispanics or the African-Americans or whatever race one belongs to, they are also undergoing much of the same or similar biases, discrimination, prejudices and the like (in the past, in the present and in almost inevitably many years to come).

What is worse is when we believe that we are the only race who have suffered or are suffering in America. (We're not!)

And even worst still is that we know that many people do not like Black people, as many people do not like Hispanics, many people do not like Caucasians either, some people have no love for American Indians, Pacific Islanders and many others and some people aren't so cool with their own people too so why expect them to cool off with people of a different ethnicity.

But by my personal experience and we all know this, many people do not like people who are different from them, it's just a fact.

And heck, as I have mentioned, we do not even like our own kind, but oddly it seems like all people do not like the Chinese or many other Asians which they just lumped into being Chinese. Ni hao.

Well, okay many people like Chinese Food (Eggrolls, Chowmein, Chinese Chicken Salad, Orange Chicken, Dimsum), but it just seems everyone does not care for the so-called Yellow Race, especially with their sing-song accent, their unpredictable driving skills, their seeming coldness or harshness, their insensitivity or political incorrectness, their business sense, their eyes and of course you can add your own reasons.

And it just seems we are concerned with what other people do to us (as a race) but if we are to look ourselves in the mirror, we are probably much worse to our Yellow Brothers and Sisters, the Huangs, the Hwangs, the Hoangs, and the rest of the gang.

I mean, Bruce Lee tried to bridge that huge gap between the East and the West fifty years ago but still for many of us the gap is still there.

For the Asian Americans or Asians in America though, I am pretty sure all or many of you would book a flight back home if you would be sure that things would be better over there for you than in the US of A.

But like the rest of the other migrants who come from all over the world, you know deep down inside, things might be hard in America but it definitely would be harder or unimaginable back home. And things are bad or worse else where.

So until the time comes when you can go back home and live in your home country, America is your home too, like the rest of the other people represented and who have migrated there.

Peace! (And yes stop complaining)

It Is Really That Bad To Be A Mexican In The US of A?

It is really that bad to be a Mexican in America?

Again (to be more politically correct), It is really all that bad to be Hispanic (or a Latino) in the United States?

Stop! Don't answer that yet, especially out loud.

Think, first.

Look around.

Do you see anybody within eyesight or who could hear you? Are they Hispanic? Are you?

Yes, this all boils down to where we came from and maybe our political leanings, our religious beliefs and the hardships we are going through right now, among many others.

And because we are all different (at least in the outside--size, shape, speech, smell, shade, etc.) then each of us also have our own unique response to this question.

But please, if the _________ (and don't get me wrong, you can put in whatever people here, aside from the Mexicans, such as the Canadians, the Cubans, the Costa Ricans, the Czechs, the Croatians, the Cambodians, the Chinese, etc., etc., etc.) yes any of these and the other people all over the world who are represented in the US of A are "happy" in their "own" homelands then why would they have to endure the "unwelcomeness" that they seem to have to endure in the US of A and from the so-called Americans?

I mean, if they have a choice and they aren't happy living or being in Uncle Sam's House then why not pack up and go home?

Look, the United States has a lot of things working for it (and of course many more totally not working for it) but take a look at the half-full/half-empty glass here as half-full instead of half-empty.

The USA is far from perfect, but if you have one country that is, then go live in that one, quick.

Look, in the USA, there are programs for the unemployed, the homeless, the disabled, those who are pregnant, single parents, the sick or those needing medical attention. I mean, people from many countries all over the world would kill to see something like these happen in their own lands.

In the US, there is a Public School System, wherein kids can obtain virtually free an education from Preschool, to Kindergarten to Grades 1 to 12 (or High School). And for a few kids, they can go get a College/University Degree after that. And I would think, kids would just need to show up for school and get their supplies, their books, their education of course if they care to take it and even free food and in many countries all over the world people would really do anything just to have something like that. And still kids in the USA don't want to go to school (and this might hurt--study and speak English, I know, ouch but I guess I needed to say that out loud).

In the US, there is the World-wide-web and you can read this (that is if you can read) and you can visit many websites which would not be the case in many other nations all over the world. (Yes, as in say what?)

In the US, there are food stamps and many other federal programs for free food, for nutritional needs, for housing, for skills training, for job programs and for other things.

I mean, many (poorer) countries all over the don't even have one of those.

And this idea, I have been playing around inside my mind for quite sometime now.

Why? Because so many kids in the USA today are so totally blind they can't even see what they have unless somebody slaps them in the face with the stark reality of what it could have been if they have been born elsewhere, and they should see it firsthand. They SHOULD BE FORCED to watch and check out for themselves what it would be like in the countries where their parents, their grandparents of their forefathers came from.

I mean, can't the School System or the Federal Government or some agency make videos of what it might be like to be born and grow up in say Mexico, and other Latin American countries, the countries in the continents of Africa and Asia, and in many parts of Europe and elsewhere?

And maybe they can Title This Short Documentary Videos Like "A Look At The Typical Life of a Mexican Born In Mexico" (again you can use whatever people and whatever country here).

And in this short video, they can show

• what a typical mother needs to endure to bear and give birth to her child,
• what the newborn could have in terms of medical and health care,
• what kind of food they eat (if any),
• what type of house they have to live in,
• what living conditions they have to endure (and for some that would be living in the midst of wars, genocides, violent protests, famine and all that),
• what little they have,
• what age they have to leave home,
• what age they have to work, etc. etc.

And in the end, say a simple but hopefully an eye-opening statement such as "If you are born of Mexican Parents abroad and you do not have to endure any of these in your homeland, then be thankful and all that crap." And yes, "stay in school, be the best that you can be and look at your life in a whole new light".

I mean, I hate to be a teacher, a principal, a school bus driver, a police officer, a parole officer, a juvenile hall worker, an employer of many young people in the USA.

And I am pretty relieved not to be high school teacher Natalie Munroe and writing any of these in her blogsite.

I mean wake up young people (and many of your parents too)!

Is it really that bad to be a Migrant (Hispanic, Black, Asian, Pacific-Islander, European, others)  in today's US of A?

It is of course! (Again do not get me wrong)

But compared to where one could be if they were born and live in their parent's home country, then we too would probably be looking at the glass as half-full and not half-empty.

Peace! (And yes, if you're back in your homeland, you would probably be complaining of something else)

So What If You Are Black In Today's America?

As I have mentioned in the previous post, for the most part, there is no escaping one's skin color.

And although even if this is a hot subject, I have always been intrigued and very much eager to write on this.

And so today, we come to this question that has always been at the back of my mind, ever since coming to America close to ten years ago.

So what if you are Black in today's America?

Okay to be more politically correct, "So what if you're an African American today in the US of A?".

Is it still that bad? It is really all that bad? Has it not been better for some time now?

And the more important question to our African-American brothers is that, "can we still not focus on the positives of being an African American in America than say as compared to being an African in say Africa, Asia or somewhere else"?

Yes, I don't get it.

And this is not just for African Americans or Africans or Americans or people of any color.

Why are we so much concerned with what the things that we don't have or lack than on the things that we do have or have an abundance of?

Yes, why oh why? And that my friend is a question for all of humankind.

Why see the glass as "half-empty" than "half-full"?

I mean sure, most if not all your forefathers were forceably taken from your homeland (your home continent), they were taken from their loved ones, it broke up their families, they were terrorized, brutally brutalized, taken advantage of, humiliated, sold off as slaves, tortured, enslaved (yes I repeated myself) and many times murdered for many, many years, decades and generations. And the wounds, the scars, the pain and the unfortunate effects are still there (don't get me wrong).

But look at where your strong-willed, strong -spirited, strong-all-over and strong-all-around forebears have come to.

I mean, we don't need to say that African-Americans dominate most if not almost all sports and sporting events in the USA.

We don't need to say that African-Americans are the most numerous and the strongest minority group in the USA.

We don't need to say that African-Americans are among the most looked up, idolized, immortalized and among the richest and most influential people in America today.

Look at the music scene and what do you see?

Look at various positions of power in many industries and in the public sector. Look at the armed forces, the military, the police.

Look at the White House and what do you see? Michelle Obama and her kids. Okay, there is Barrack as well.

You look at showbusiness and you see Oprah.

I mean, you look almost anywhere and you see a prominent African-American in places of power, prominence and prestige.

But then at the same time when we look at the lowest rungs of society, we see African-Americans too. And the sad part, that is where we normally concentrate on, linger and gripe on.

Human nature? I'd say.

Manueverings? Biases? Discrimination? Oppression? Sure, it's still going on. But don't forget people of color also do that and some Blacks included. And it happens most everywhere else in the world.

I mean, did say Lady Gaga (or some other non-Black Grammy winner) do a Kanye West and grab the microphone from Esperanza Spalding? Yes, Esperanza Spalding who? And said something like "Bieber should have won that award. That's unfair."

No.

For only somebody like Kanye can and would do that and (almost) get away with it.

Come on, I'm not saying anything not true (or partially true) here.

But all the same, peace man, whatever color you may be.

Cool it man, and always look at the positives more than the negatives. That's what I would say.

Life is good, if we would just stop and take time to think about it.

Like how many African-American teens, young adults and okay middle-aged people would wanna to switch places with an African say born and living in Sudan, in Yemen, in Nigeria and maybe even in Haiti, Egypt, Tunisia and many parts of the Middle East and the African continent, particularly in North or Western Africa nowadays?

Will you?

Yes my guess is not that many too.

If I'm Black and I was born or I live in America, I would still consider myself more blessed than my African brothers in many other nations such as the many places we have mentioned above.

Peace. (Sometimes you may want to think what if my forefathers weren't taken from Africa. Consider this, what if you were born and actually living in  Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia, Senega or Sierra Leone).

Black, Brown, Red, Yellow or White?

I understand that color or more specifically, our skin color is a very touchy subject.

But then again, we really cannot do much about this or even get away from it.

I mean, we are either Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, White or any combination.

And I do not see anything wrong with this.

I mean, why would it, if we know that certain "types" of people even use the seven colors of the rainbow to represent themselves. I mean, it is not that they are really Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo or Violet to begin with.

But then again, color, our color, our skin color, define us, at least on the outside.

And as I have mentioned earlier, we cannot get away from that.

Well, okay I know Michael Jackson was born Black, grew up Black but died White (or almost White), but that's a different story. And we all love Michael.

But for the most part, we are either Black, White, Brown, Red, Yellow, or whatever color and we just would probably need to accept that.

What I want to write and maybe discuss about today is how people of another color see us or look at us and vice-versa.

I know, most people are overly "pious" (at least they claim to be) and they would swear that they are not racist (no not me...not a racist bone in my body).

And that is well and good, but I have very little faith in anybody saying that over the age of three. And okay, I would accept that we may not be racists in the outside. But that wouldn't be 100% true with what we think and even how we view, how we perceive and how we categorize people of another color (subconsciously, accidentally or otherwise). And often times, our decisions, our actions, our words, or the choices that we make will give us out.

Yes, let us be true to ourselves, now. And I don't care what skin color you have.

For we may be whatever color we are in the outside, but in the inside, we may be all-green with envy, or all-red with hatred, or all blue with fear, or all blurry with stereotypes and generalizations or all-dark with ill-thoughts about people who look, dress and talk differently than us or our kind.

And for the most part, it may not even be our faults, or we may actually be truly not even aware of it (and this is a scary thought).

So today, what ever color you are, even if you are proud to be of the rainbow variety, we may not be able to get along (and we may never totally be) with all the other people of whatever color but first admitting (at least to ourselves) that we may be (however slightly) biased or prejudiced regarding color, race or any other protected class, then we would at least open our eyes to our own weaknesses and maybe even own up to it. And maybe, just maybe even see ourselves in the same (disgusting) category as those "people" that we look down upon just because they (too) are biased and prejudiced, yes just like you and me. And yes, not unless you are four years old and younger or maybe still think and act like one.

Peace!


Links:

So what if you are Black in today's America?

It is really that bad to be a Mexican in the US of A?

What's wrong with being Yellow in America?