Today's football game features the top-ranked Whiteys against the second-place Darkies, who got tarred and feathered the last time the two teams faced off. The Whiteys and the Darkies entered the imaginary league amid complaints that such names were inappropriate and offensive, but owners and fans alike insist the monikers are terms of endearment—no different than, say, the Redskins.

"Whitey means all-powerful, superior, masters of the game," one fan said. "It has nothing to do with racism, slavery or bilking American Indians out of Manhattan for $24 worth of beads."

[...]

And here come the mascots. For the Whiteys: a giant saltine cracker. For the Darkies: a watermelon rolling on 20-inch rims.

( Indian Mascots Disrespect Us All )
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Related: Indian Mascots: Pride or Prejudice?

The white liberals take it too far when they start becoming "down" with the colored folks. I'm talking about those with dreadlocked hair and adopting an "urban" accent. I'm talking about upper class whites who dress in thrift shop clothing just because it's "cool to be poor." The ones who date people of color to make a political statement, and go to underground hip hop concerts yelling "down with the police!" I'm talking about white people who travel to third world countries to help the poor and needy to make themselves feel like better citizens.

I don't have a problem with white people who want to make a real change in this racist society, but I can't stand it when they forget who they are and what they always will be...

Ka Leo O Hawaii: "White Guilt" Offers No Solution For Racism
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White kids from the 'burbs are throwing up gang signs. The 2001 Grammy winner for best rap artist was as white as rice. And blond-haired sorority sisters are sporting FUBU gear. What is going on in American culture that’s giving our nation a racial-identity crisis?

Excerpt: Everything But the Burden
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And then you say, "That's the real black person there. The one with the gold teeth, the one with the handkerchief around his head, the one with his pants falling off, that's the authentic guy."

"Well, what about Tavis Smiley?" "Oh, no, no, no, no. He's not authentic. He wears those beautiful suits and those beautiful shoes. I mean, he doesn't have any gold teeth in his mouth. He's not a misogynist. He's not a real brother."

See, you can't do that. See, because the first thing is, look, think of all of these young black people, male and female, who are nothing like Lil' Kim or 50 Cent. At all.

( Tavis Smiley/Stanley Crouch )
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Editorial Review: When well-known critic Stanley Crouch surveys today's American culture, he sees a problem. He sees black music moguls celebrating a hip-hop gangland of larger-than-life thugs and hussies. He sees white writers fashioning an American fiction devoid of race and color, blacks turning their backs on education, and whites projecting a primitive tribalism on blacks.

Crouch argues Americans are yearning to be what they're not and afraid to be who they are. It's a desperate search for a grasp at cultural authenticity that's taken American culture straight into a hollow, hopeless world of artificiality that ought to stop, Crouch says.

What's at stake, according to Crouch, is nothing less than the American individual and American civilization.

The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity

The Seminoles were not always cheered, especially by southerners. They were part of five tribes that inhabited Florida dating back to the Spanish conquest. They settled there to escape slavery in the U.S. colonies, along with other bands such as the Choctaws and Chickasaws.

The Seminoles formed a bond with escaped slaves who settled near them in Florida, an act that infuriated southern slaveholders.

[...]

Osceola is offensive to many Native Americans because he is portrayed by a white student in Indian dress and war paint.

Large groups of Native Americans say the images are often crudely drawn stereotypes created by white people who have not taken the time to learn about Indian cultures ravaged in the 19th century by U.S. military forces.

( Indian Mascots: Pride or Prejudice? )

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Not too long ago, an acquaintance introduced me to his new "Indian pal" who moved just across the road. The first thing I noticed about this fella was his beaded war bonnet dangling from his rear view mirror and a hand-painted "Cherokee Proud" sign proudly mounted to his back bumper. When invited inside, the man's wife smiled and showed me into her family room and, when learning of who I was, proceeded to show off her DreamCatcher (hanging above the sofa), Hamilton plate collection of various Native scenes, an "Indian" doll collection, her crystal "spirituality" necklace and even a Native American nativity set sitting upon the television. I politely left—handing them subscription information to my column—right around the time they pulled out the plans for building their own backyard Sweat Lodge and kids teepee.

When we departed my acquaintance asked "What did you think?" And my only reply was, "So many are misguided. They want to become part of something they only know through books and movies—material stolen from Native people and then warped to meet an outsider's needs. I see it all the time..."

There is a difference between a person who seeks to learn more about Native Americans in general (or are in search of their Native American ancestry)—and a Wannabe Indian. Actually, a respectable admiration of tribal people is a compliment—as is a desire to locate long-lost bloodties and connect with distant relatives from all over the planet.

On the other hand, a Wannabe Indian is a person who wants to be involved in the culture—whether they have the bloodties or not. They mimic what they see on television—usually a romanticized or nature-oriented images—and read white-washed books that explain indigenous matter from a non-Native point of view. He gains knowledge from erroneous material and, often times, thinks he knows all he needs to know to "be an Indian." In reality, he knows little (or nothing at all) on the current plight and issues of the Native people, rather choosing to live his life within the boundaries of distorted images, fictionalized "wisdom" and circumstances of days gone by.

Cultural Theft
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A while ago, I was asked by a local university to take part in a panel on Racism and Cultural Appropriation. Although I am usually quite happy to take part in such events, and have done so on several occasions, I found myself feeling inexplicably uncomfortable with the idea.

Only at a white man's institution of higher learning would you have "stealing" referred to as "appropriation," I thought to myself. Stealing is still stealing, isn't it…no matter what nice-sounding label you put on it?

[...]

Since contact with their European brothers and sisters 500 years ago, much more than our culture has been stolen. They stole our language. They stole our spirituality. They stole our heritage, our birthright and our ceremonies. They stole our dignity and self-respect; part of the legacy of alcohol to which we were introduced. They stole our identities and our self-esteem. The list goes on and on.

The stealing has not stopped and the reasons are the same even though they are disguised in more subtle modern jargon.

[...]

As for Indian people, our people, we have to stop learning to be and teaching others to be victims. We have to stop thinking, talking, and acting like victims. We have to stop blaming the white men, the system, the politicians, and we must stop blaming ourselves. Our people blame the white man for all their troubles. There's truth in this, but this does not excuse our willingness to accept the situation and make it even worse.

[...]

Instead of wasting energy by acting like victims and laying blame, we should work at raising our level of awareness...

Awareness of Racism and Cultural Appropriation

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Following the trail blazed by Norman Mailer's controversial essay "The White Negro," Everything but the Burden brings together voices from music, popular culture, the literary world, and the media speaking about how from Brooklyn to the Badlands white people are co-opting black styles of music, dance, dress, and slang. In this collection, the essayists examine how whites seem to be taking on, as editor Greg Tate's mother used to tell him, "everything but the burden"—from fetishizing black athletes to spinning the ghetto lifestyle into a glamorous commodity. Is this a way of shaking off the fear of the unknown? A flattering indicator of appreciation? Or is it a more complicated cultural exchange? The pieces in "Everything but the Burden" explore the line between hero-worship and paternalism.

Everything But the Burden

( Excerpt: Eminem, a.k.a. Marshall Mathers, was born in St. Joseph, Missouri... )