“Hidden Genocide”

1 Pages 282 Words

“Crimes against Humanity” by Ward Churchill is a powerful essay that brings to light a very interesting point about the natives of our country. Ward begins this essay with an offending attitude which acts as a very effective attention getter. It is meant to show how distasteful the names of these sports team’s really are to the natives. After he has your attention and knows his point has been made clear, he goes into show the true meaning behind his essay, his main focus, the gradual and hidden genocide being committed.
This was a particularly interesting essay to me, maybe even an eye-opener you might say. As I began to read it, I looked at it as a crabby, complaining piece of writing but by the end I saw exactly what he was saying and now have a different attitude altogether. It did not offend me, more like put things in perspective. I now agree with what he was saying, and feel ignorant for feeling as I did before. I never saw all of these things the way Churchill does. It’s true that we, as a society, look at Indians as more of a whining joke. But it is in fact offensive to call a team the redskins, just as it would be to call a team the “niggers”. We put so much into trying to be “politically correct” towards blacks, Mexicans, whites, and so on, all the while, our own natives we look at as a joke. Maybe we, Americans, should take some focus off of all these other groups and look at the nation’s attitude towards our own native people....