"Let's Talk About Anti-Blackness in Reservation Dogs" by Fandom Nymphs
First thing is first, do not harass this person. Any anti-blackness in the comments will be reported and you will be blocked.
Second, honestly everything listed in the video is essentially everything I had a problem with in Reservation Dogs. I'm not black-Native so I'm going to stay in my lane, but almost every black-Native I've talked to on social media has had the same problems with the series as Fandom Nymphs did. I think this is definitely a conversation to be had and Season 2 should definitely strive to do better.
Why is it controversial for me to say that mixed people are just mixed and nothing else? Like, I get really confused when a mixed person says something like they’re black or something. How come they get offended or call it “erasure” when they get called ‘white’ but never when they get called ‘black’? Aren’t you erasing yourselves by calling yourselves just “black” then?
Because you can’t determine someone’s identity for them. I’m confused as to how you’re confused. A lot of mixed with White people don’t identify with our White heritage(s) because we’ve been rejected by them and or we’re not passing. It’s not like I’m gonna get invited to a National Vanguard meeting from some racist off the street, you feel me?
I have no idea what it’s like to be White. I have never been White, I don’t have to identify with it if I don’t want to and neither does anyone else. Deciding someone’s identity for them IS erasure
I don’t mind when people call me Black or Native or BlackNDN, because I am those things. I identify as those things, I was raised with those cultures and communities and experiences. “White” doesn’t mean anything, really, culture-wise. There are hundreds of identities under the umbrella of Whiteness and someone saying “I’m White” is identifying with the institution of Whiteness; either because they don’t know/care about their individual heritage(s), or they see Whiteness as inherently more important and better as a monolithic identity and would prefer to associate with it as an institutional identity than an individual, personal identity with the implications of cultural belonging
Also, like, not all mixed people are mixed with White and not all mixed people are biracially Black/White mixes
Honestly, this ask seems real sus to me in terms of sincerity, but in the spirit of giving the benefit of the doubt to people, I’m answering in the kindest way I can--Coyote
" Black Indians are constantly confronted with the fact that they do not fit any of society's stereotypes for Native Americans. Those stereotypes are imposed by both whites and sadly, other Indians. This lack of understanding of another nation’s history has interwoven ignorance thus extinguishing fact. Nevertheless, despite their own distortions and mutations of the past, it is interesting to note how the right to remember or forget are not going unnoticed; where personal biographies have intersected with historical watershed events (i.e. slavery, blood-mixing, cultural blending) is now producing historically-conscious discourse about race, racism, and who is a “real” Indian.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/07/04/institutional-racism-against-black-indians
Another rant about colonialist oppressors in NDN Country. Oh the irony that Mixed-with-White NDNs and White Allies have far more traction with a lot of NDN Country folks than Black NDNs ever will. It's Anti-Blackness, straight up.
I finished reading The Marrow Thieves, which features four indigenous female characters. Only one of them (Rose) passes The Aila Test. Two are raped and two are killed.
Rose is also black/Native and is the hero’s love interest, who describes her in beautiful and romantic ways all throughout the book.
It’s not an easy book to read but it is really good and I absolutely recommend it.
“ But, of course, it’s not merely that another AAA blockbuster did digital red and blackface.
The problem is this kind of low-key racialized aggression doesn’t end with the act itself. This casting means a Black, Native (or, god forbid, a Black Native actor) didn’t get to play an actual Black Native role (and since Rockstar likes lesser known actors, a potential breakthrough role for them).
They didn’t get to offer any feedback or help guide the role away from the regressive stereotypes present in the game, like Michael Greyeyes (Plains Cree) was afforded with 2006’s Prey. By not casting an Indigenous actor in the role, there was no real challenge to the racism in Houser’s story or characters, and that means that challenge has to come from us, from journalists, critics, gamers.
Elisa Maza Was my favorite character as a kid! I would get up at like 6am to watch it every morning to watch it before school and I mad sure to watch it on after school too. I loved her because she looked like me and was proud of bother her heritages but like m ehad more NDN features. She was such a well written character and often pretended to be her on the play ground. #representationmatters
National Aboriginal Day is on June 21st. If it doesn’t coincide with another event (I remember a few years back that it did with BlackOut, but was worked around), I think we should celebrate. If you’re Aboriginal / Indigenous, upload your selfies, post art, talk about Aboriginal characters that you know and love, talk about books and films made by and for Indigenous people. We are still here but we are individually unique and have our own experiences and stories to tell.
Use #HappyAboriginalDay and spread the word.
EDIT: The date for BlackOut is June 6th. We’re in the clear!
SECOND EDIT:
This post has gained a lot of attention over the last couple of days! Thank you to everybody who has shared and reblogged it. I want to take a moment to address a question that keeps popping up: if you are indigenous/aboriginal, you can participate if you choose to! This is not limited just to Native American / First Nations people. If you are Ainu, Maori, Saami, native Hawaiian, etc, feel free to participate! It’s great opportunity for us to represent ourselves, our cultures, our lives, our heroes, and celebrate both our differences and similarities.
I can’t wait to see you all on June 21st! Keep boosting this post and don’t forget to use the #HappyAboriginalDay tag!
So, I’m 3/4 black and 1/4 Filipino... and I want start saying I’m part Filipino instead of a quarter. Should I? Or is that to misleading see how most people who say it are Half and half.
Tbh, I don’t think anyone should assume that someone’s exactly even mixtures of whatever they identify as. I know I’m not and personally, I feel like that’s on the other person if they make that assumption. The only thing that can really be assumed by someone who’s stating their identity in genuine earnest is that they’re either connected to, reconnecting to, and or experience the world as those identities. Dassit
You’re not “lying” or “tricking” anyone if you wanna not throw fractions in. Fractioning identities is improbable in practice. Like, I operate the world as a BlackNDN. That’s my whole identity but in some circumstances, I refer to myself as Native and in others as Black and in still others as BlackNDN. I’m not denying parts of me when I parse it like that yanno?
It’s really just the nature of being mixed. Any intersecting identities you have will be expressed different ways in different situations and that includes things like ethnicity--Coyote