Speaking of family separation: for decades—well over a century—the federal government removed Native American children from their homes and sent them to brutal English-only boarding schools, on the principle of “kill the Indian in him, save the man.”
“Sixty years later, he still remembers watching his mother through the window as he left.
At first, he thought he was on the bus because his mother didn't want him anymore. But then he noticed she was crying.”
Tens—likely hundreds—of thousands of kids.
npr.org/templates/stor…
At first, he thought he was on the bus because his mother didn't want him anymore. But then he noticed she was crying.”
Tens—likely hundreds—of thousands of kids.
npr.org/templates/stor…
At American Indian boarding schools, if kids were caught speaking their native tongues, staff would wash their mouths out with lye soup. Staff cut off kids’ traditional braids—a humiliation. Policy was abusive; other kinds of abuse was common. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_…
This isn’t to say that there wasn’t huge variations in experience. Some students attended voluntarily, albeit sometimes to escape poverty. & some Native American scholars argue that cross-cultural experiences at these schools laid groundwork for 20th century pan-Indian movements.
But the core concept of the schools was, in the phrase of Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation commission about its parallel system, “cultural genocide.”
That’s why parents who tried to hide their children were denied food.
theguardian.com/world/2015/jun…
That’s why parents who tried to hide their children were denied food.
theguardian.com/world/2015/jun…
Indian boarding schools. Families broken up in slavery, or to enforce unjust drug laws. It doesn’t fly to say family separation is not “who we are,” or that it’s un-American. The truth is that it’s the worst of who we are—the part of our heritage we must struggle to end forever.
It’s precisely because we know about the devastating consequences of family separation every time it’s been US policy that we have to fight it now.
And we can find strength in another fundamental American tradition: those who’ve struggled in every generation against injustice.
And we can find strength in another fundamental American tradition: those who’ve struggled in every generation against injustice.
“It was not until 1978 with the passing of the Indian Child Welfare Act that Native American parents gained the legal right to deny their children’s placement in off-reservation schools.”
Native activists & allies fought for that law. Now it’s our turn.
nativepartnership.org/site/PageServe…
Native activists & allies fought for that law. Now it’s our turn.
nativepartnership.org/site/PageServe…
