Just curious (Metlakatla, Hope, Prudhoe Bay: mineral rights, land, racism)

[karfar]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Kind of a side note...though it ties into what Floyd is saying...but there seems to be a different "feeling" in the general air of the United States these days concerning Hispanics. People flat out ask me if (or assume that) I'm Hispanic these days based on my first name. That never used to happen. My first name isn't even Spanish; it's as Aryan as it gets. But yes, there seems to be a heightened sensitivity within the general populace to race these days. Like AKGirl says, the media is no doubt responsible for that.

Agreed, it's just like what happened to all the muslims in our country after 9/11, god they were just persecuted, it was scary! My boyfriend that I had at that time is Malaysian & even HE felt it...he's muslim but he's as western as any of us, he doesn't even look middle-eastern, he actually looks more hispanic I always thought, but the paranoia, man it just runs rampant doesn't it? I feel bad for these people, regardless if they're illegal or not because the hostility towards them is just so out of control in some areas. There's no need for that, people are people & they should be treated w/dignity & respect, just like how we all want to be treated.

[Alaskagrl]

Yeah, as strong as my feelings are politically, I sure wouldn't go out there and spit on someone or yell at them as they were going into a store or something...that's classless, wrong, and ignorant no matter who you are or where you stand.

[karfar]

Originally Posted by Alaskagrl

Yeah, as strong as my feelings are politically, I sure wouldn't go out there and spit on someone or yell at them as they were going into a store or something...that's classless, wrong, and ignorant no matter who you are or where you stand.

That's good to hear, I'm glad you're not like those freaks on the immigration forum, I was talking about that on the chat forum...scary!

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by Alaskagrl

Yeah, as strong as my feelings are politically, I sure wouldn't go out there and spit on someone or yell at them as they were going into a store or something...that's classless, wrong, and ignorant no matter who you are or where you stand.

Its too much like the way that the Nazis treated people.

[karfar]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

Its too much like the way that the Nazis treated people.

Ding dong, you hit the nail on the head. And I thought our country was supposed to be all about democracy, tolerance, blah blah blah. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be the one to re-educate everyone

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by karfar

And I thought our country was supposed to be all about democracy, tolerance, blah blah blah. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be the one to re-educate everyone

We're all in the same boat. If it springs a leak we can all drown.

[karfar]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

We're all in the same boat. If it springs a leak we can all drown.

You got that right...unfortunately, the majority of people haven't quite grasped that concept yet.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Back then, the legal immigrants committed genocide...

When they arrived at Ellis Island?

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

When you have some extra time, read up on some of the "laws" enacted in Cali right after the Gold Rush.

I have!

It was literally open season on Indians. I don't remember now if it was 20 years or 40 years, but there was a period of time in which any White could shoot any Indian on sight. They literally exterminated them.

But honestly, this is not much different in many ways that what has happened in Alaska, and what is still happening here. We've all heard about the Iditarod Trail, and the great effort to save the citizens of Nome from a diphtheria epidemic... which of course only happened because it was White people who were dying in Nome. What we didn't hear about was the many many epidemics that literally killed 90% of most Native villages in in Alaska between about 1900 and 1940. I lived in Salcha for 20 years, right across the road from the last surviving member of the Salcha Indian tribe who was actually born and raised in the village there. Nobody has ever heard how her entire tribe was virtually made extinct when disease hit and nobody brought serum or vaccines or even blankets for those who survived. And that was repeated in every village.

And today? The Indian Health Service is funded at 57% of need. People in villages die because they lack clean water, sewage systems, and adaquate health care. Yet when $100 billion dollars worth of oil was discovered on land that the US Supreme Court had already determined to fall under the color of "Aboriginal Title", the US Congress traded all Natives in Alaska $1 billion dollars and took away their sovereignty, almost all of their land, and gave them permanent socal health care via the IHS!

It is systemic racism in operation. It affects my family. It affects my friends. It affects my neighbors. (And because I choose to live where most of the population happens to be Native, it directly affects my health too!)

[RayinAK]

You most be talking about the time when Americans moved to the West, after the Spanish left California, not the legal immigration process that took place at Ellis Island.

By the way, private ownership (other than State, Federal, and Native lands) is very small, perhaps under 2%. I understand that this land allocation took place after the flu epidemic, but you have to consider that the new generations of Americans are not at fault for mistakes of the past.

http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/mlw/factsht/land_own.pdf