Blue Corn Comics -- Stereotype of the Month Entry

Stereotype of the Month Entry
(3/29/05)

By David Yeagley
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 29, 2005

Indians are more pitiful than a helpless, dying woman. He complains that President Bush lavished attention on Terri Schiavo, but paid none to the tragedy of Red Lake. Bellecourt has reached new depths of moral depravity, and has disgraced beyond description the honor and pride of Indian people.

Last Friday, March 25, he told the Washington Post, "When people's children are murdered and others are in the hospital hanging on to life, he [Bush] should be the first one to offer his condolences...If this was a white community, I don't think he'd have any problem doing that." Bellecourt said, "The so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn't said or done a thing."

Clyde Bellecourt thinks Indians deserve more pity than the dying woman (and possible murder victim), Terri Schiavo. According to the liberal distortions of the Washington Post, Bellecourt is not alone.

"Native Americans across the country—including tribal leaders, academics and rank-and-file tribe members—voiced anger and frustration Thursday that President Bush has responded to the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with silence," reads Ceci Connolly's opening line.

"Across the country" is a stretch and creates a false impression of Indian people. Connolly quotes but five people besides Bellecourt, and only one of those is identified as "Indian" in the article (and that one is dubious). David Wilkins is interim chairman of the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota, is identified as a member of the North Carolina-based Lumbee "tribe." This is the mulatto group never recognized by the United States federal government as an Indian "tribe." Wilkins is as likely Indian as Ward Churchill, and his concerns are just as fabricated and academic, politically and professionally.

It is prejudicial stereotyping to presume everyone working for Indians is an Indian. Many are white liberals, trying to shape the American Indian image into the effeminate wet noodle that Bellecourt loves – professional "girly men."

However, there's no denying that Indians everywhere have expressed mourning and regret over the Red Lake shooting. The long trains of funeral cars and the gathering of families show a shared reaction of sorrow from all Indians.

Yet even in this, the language used by liberal Indians in the media reflect the attitude of pity-mongering, as if Indians are dependent on national media for validation. We can term this the Bellecourt Syndrome.

I look at the lines of cars making their way to the funerals of the victims; I see the crowds gathered in mourning, and I ask, "Where were you when the Indian young people needed you? Where was your devotion when the youth were desperate for your attention?"

The attention you lavish now, though traditional, though appropriate, is completely hollow. It not only has no effect on the dead, it also has none on the young people currently living. It does not change a single thing on the reservation in the relationships between Indian "leaders," parents, or youth in all of Indian country.

The pathetic, writhing appeal to national media and the president is the egregious pretense of professional leftists – Indian and white – and displays the most nauseating weakness ever associated with a people. We, once the brave warriors, are made into naļve slaves of the news. We have become the lowest of the low, the prince of spiritual paupers.

While the leftists are trying to find a way to blame whites, some Indians blame Indian country itself. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. says the tragedy stems from "the loss of tribal culture." David Anderson (Ojibwe) says "hopelessness and despair on reservations are to blame for poor student achievement," and avers, "schools, parents and tribes need to work together to instill a sense of success among Native youth."

But how can tribal culture be preserved when low-end pop culture, such as rap and hip-hop, gangs, drug dealers, and casino swindlers are either ignored or praised by so-called Indian leaders and invited onto the reservation?

How can Indian leaders instill a sense of success among Native youth when the Bellecourt bellyachers preach discontent, broadcast juvenile resentment and anger, and set the example of perpetual immaturity?

How can Indian parents expect to help our youth when parents are drunk, drugged, or otherwise absent from the home?

It takes a warrior, a responsible person, to be a parent. There are few warriors left in Indian country. All that we hear is the emasculated whining of the Bellecourt crowd, who think Indians deserve more pity than a helpless, dying woman in a Florida hospice.

Dr. David A. Yeagley is a published scholar, professionally recorded composer, and an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Studies. He's on the speakers list of Young America's Foundation. E-mail him at badeagle2000@yahoo.com. View his website at http://www.badeagle.com.

Rob's reply
So David Yeagley is exploiting Terri Schiavo to bash liberals who have bashed President Bush for exploiting Terri Schiavo. No surprise there.

>> He complains that President Bush lavished attention on Terri Schiavo, but paid none to the tragedy of Red Lake. <<

"He" presumably refers to Clyde Bellecourt, whom Yeagley identifies only in the second paragraph. Yeagley might want to get an editor or learn how to write.

>> Clyde Bellecourt thinks Indians deserve more pity than the dying woman (and possible murder victim), Terri Schiavo. <<

How stupid can Yeagley get? Pretty damn stupid, apparently.

For starters, condolences aren't pity. More important, the issue is how Bush reacted to the deaths of ten Indians vs. the politicized case of one dying woman. Yeagley is aware that ten people died at Red Lake, isn't he?

Let's turn Yeagley's statement around to see what we get. Bellecourt thinks ten murdered Indians deserve more "pity" than one woman dying of natural causes. Bush and Yeagley think one woman dying of natural causes deserves more "pity" than ten murdered Indians. Judge for yourself who holds the moral high ground.

And "possible murder victim"? Is Yeagley that ignorant about end-of-life issues? Probably. But he needn't worry in this case, because no one is committing murder. No one will be charged with murder, even when Terri Schiavo dies.

>> "Across the country" is a stretch and creates a false impression of Indian people. <<

Wrong. It creates an incomplete impression, since Connolly didn't survey all or most Indians. The impression isn't "false" unless most Indians thought Bush responded properly to the Red Lake tragedy. Yeagley provides zero evidence for this reading of public opinion, so he's the only one creating unjustified impressions.

>> Connolly quotes but five people besides Bellecourt <<

Which makes six total. For a newspaper article, I'd say that's a typical sampling of people's opinions.

One of the opinions belonged to Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who presumably knows something about what Indians think. Another belonged to the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, who also presumably knows something about what Indians think. Moreover, she cited "grumbling from tribal leaders," so the complaints aren't limited to these six people.

So look who's creating a false impression. Of the six people quoted, at least three were national Indian leaders. Who else knows more about what Indians across the country think than them? Yeagley?

I take it back. This isn't just a typical sampling of opinion, it's an atypical, above-average sampling. On a tight newspaper deadline, opinion sampling doesn't get much better than this.

>> This is the mulatto group never recognized by the United States federal government as an Indian "tribe." <<

"Mulatto group"? Wow. Yeagley might want to keep his racism better hidden in the future. He's letting it slip here.

>> Wilkins is as likely Indian as Ward Churchill, and his concerns are just as fabricated and academic, politically and professionally. <<

"As likely"? In other words, Yeagley doesn't have a clue. He's engaging in an ad hominem attack on one of six people quoted in Connolly's article in a pathetic attempt to discredit them all.

But if Wilkins weren't an Indian...so what? Non-Indians as well as Indians have been outraged by Bush's hypocritical actions in the Schiavo case. This is just the latest example of his preference for manufactured tragedies over real tragedies.

>> It is prejudicial stereotyping to presume everyone working for Indians is an Indian. <<

If this is a reference to Wilkins, Connolly wrote that he's a member of the Lumbee tribe. Wilkins identifies himself as a Lumbee—i.e., an Indian. Who is Yeagley to say different?

Yeagley not only tries to denigrate the opinions of Campbell, Bellecourt, and the rest, he's questioned their very Indianness. Look at the article title, with "Indians" in quotes. As Yeagley has implied before, anyone who disagrees with him isn't a man, a warrior, or an Indian. His arrogance is nothing short of astonishing.

>> However, there's no denying that Indians everywhere have expressed mourning and regret over the Red Lake shooting. <<

Except for Yeagley, that is. He reports other people's regret but expresses none himself.

Yeagley blames parents for children's deaths
>> I look at the lines of cars making their way to the funerals of the victims; I see the crowds gathered in mourning, and I ask, "Where were you when the Indian young people needed you? Where was your devotion when the youth were desperate for your attention?" <<

Where was Yeagley when Red Lake's youth needed him? Cloistered in his ivory tower whining about liberals, presumably.

So Yeagley is blaming the people of Red Lake for failing their children. Incredible. I'd love to see this phony "warrior" walk up to the parents of the victims and say, "Where were you when the Indian young people needed you?" One hopes someone would spit on him, slap him, or punch him in the face.

>> The pathetic, writhing appeal to national media and the president is the egregious pretense of professional leftists <<

Uh, Sen. Campbell is a Republican, doofus, not a "professional leftist."

>> We have become the lowest of the low, the prince of spiritual paupers. <<

In Yeagley's case, that's undoubtedly true. I've never heard him utter a genuine spiritual belief in his right-wing rants.

>> While the leftists are trying to find a way to blame whites, some Indians blame Indian country itself. <<

Yes...Indians such as Yeagley. You read his complaints directly above. When apportioning blame, the first and only people he attacked were the Indian parents, leaders, and elders of Red Lake.

>> Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. says the tragedy stems from "the loss of tribal culture." David Anderson (Ojibwe) says "hopelessness and despair on reservations are to blame for poor student achievement," and avers, "schools, parents and tribes need to work together to instill a sense of success among Native youth." <<

These are examples of blaming the conditions in Indian Country, not blaming Indian Country itself. If you asked Shirley and Anderson who was responsible for these conditions, I'm sure they wouldn't blame Indians alone. They might not blame Indians at all.

>> But how can tribal culture be preserved when low-end pop culture, such as rap and hip-hop, gangs, drug dealers, and casino swindlers are either ignored or praised by so-called Indian leaders and invited onto the reservation? <<

I'm not aware of any tribe that's ignoring or praising problems such as gangs, drug dealers, or casino swindlers. Yeagley undoubtedly isn't either, or he'd cite actual cases.

It's difficult to ignore rap and hip-hop since they pervade our culture. What would Yeagley suggest: that tribes impose repressive media controls like those in China or Saudi Arabia?

Many tribes have praised Indian gaming for the help it's provided in fighting gangs, drug dealers, and other social ills. A few tribes may have inadvertently ignored or praised "casino swindlers" in the 1980s or 1990s, when they first contemplated casinos. That's ancient history in the fast-changing environment of Indian gaming.

>> How can Indian leaders instill a sense of success among Native youth when the Bellecourt bellyachers preach discontent, broadcast juvenile resentment and anger, and set the example of perpetual immaturity? <<

Says Yeagley as he bellyaches, preaches discontent with tribal leaders such as Red Lake's, broadcasts his juvenile resentment and anger, and sets an example with his perpetual immaturity.

>> How can Indian parents expect to help our youth when parents are drunk, drugged, or otherwise absent from the home? <<

How does Yeagley expect to solve these problems? Who knows, since he doesn't offer any solutions amid his bellyaching?

Indian leaders like Bellecourt probably want to help Native youth by focusing attention and resources on their problems. Hence their criticism whenever Bush ignores these problems. That is, when Bush doesn't respond to a tragic shooting and when he cuts needed programs in his budget.

Whiner seeks warriors
>> It takes a warrior, a responsible person, to be a parent. There are few warriors left in Indian country. <<

If so, Yeagley isn't one of them.

Yeagley often seeks "warriors" in Indian country and fails to find them. Presumably that's because Indians tend to be liberals. And liberals, in Yeagley's mind, tend to be "girlie-men." In other words, wimps...pansies...homosexuals.

This alleged shortage of warriors implies the remaining Indians are lazy and good-for-nothing or greedy and corrupt. Either way, Yeagley is stereotyping Indians the same way sports teams stereotype them. Both parties agree: Indians are warriors or they're nothing.

Look at the accompanying pictures. You tell me which of these "warriors," if any, is a real Indian warrior.

>> All that we hear is the emasculated whining of the Bellecourt crowd <<

All I hear here is Yeagley's emasculated whining. He's gone on a lot longer about Bellecourt than Bellecourt did about Bush.

Boo hoo, Yeagley. Stop crying like a baby because Indian Country doesn't agree with you. Many tribal leaders think Bush should stop focusing on Iraq, gay marriage, and Terri Schiavo and start focusing on the real problems in America. They want to help Indians while you're hurting them.

* More opinions *

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