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I encourage you to watch BOTH the @democracynow and @TODAYshow interview of Nathan Phillips and notice the differences between how they talk to and about him. Especially non-Native people: please watch with openness. Pay attention.
DN interview: democracynow.org/2019/1/22/i_wa…
DN interview: democracynow.org/2019/1/22/i_wa…
Amy Goodman of @democracynow names him as an elder of the Omaha tribe, making a clear distinction between "Native American" and actually naming the tribe of someone out of respect.
Goodman also names him as a "Vietnam-ERA Veteran," while on the Today show his veteran "status" is questioned, and he has to explain himself.
IMO, this is not the thing we need to focus on, but the systemic and continual erasure and abuse of Indigenous lives and stories.
IMO, this is not the thing we need to focus on, but the systemic and continual erasure and abuse of Indigenous lives and stories.
Goodman right away names Sandmann's statement for what it is: created by a PR firm. On the Today show, Phillips has to point that out in the interview to make it clear that this boy is not speaking on his own and actually being sincere.
Pay attention, friends.
Pay attention, friends.
You'll also notice Nathan Phillips' discomfort on the Today show, and the ease with which he speaks in the Democracy Now! interview. In one interview, his story and experience is centered. In another, a white boy's story is centered and he is asked to answer questions around it.
If nothing else, notice that at the end of the DN video, he opens up and talks about his brother, about his childhood, about where he learned the AIM song and what it means to him.
And then he SINGS, y'all.
And then he SINGS, y'all.
We all know the weight of being a reporter in America right now.
But friends, look at the way an Indigenous elder is treated in the news compared to a young white kid who has only known privilege and the ability to colonize others his entire life.
Notice.
But friends, look at the way an Indigenous elder is treated in the news compared to a young white kid who has only known privilege and the ability to colonize others his entire life.
Notice.
I hope that today some of you grieve. I hope you grieve that this is what we live in, and that this reality has been here for Indigenous peoples for a very long time.
I hope you sit in that grief awhile, and that it leads you to more respect and a deeper responsibility to listen.
I hope you sit in that grief awhile, and that it leads you to more respect and a deeper responsibility to listen.
And lastly, know this: I WANTED TO BE WRONG.
I wanted to open up that TS interview and say, "I was wrong. This is good." But I couldn't. You can see the difference. It reeks of white supremacy and if we don't name it another day goes by and Native ppl are trampled in the dust.
I wanted to open up that TS interview and say, "I was wrong. This is good." But I couldn't. You can see the difference. It reeks of white supremacy and if we don't name it another day goes by and Native ppl are trampled in the dust.
