Native mascots, the Tea Party, and Playing Indian

a striking convergence this morning

which began innocently enough

on facebook, of course

a friend posted a comment about

the washington football team

that has been in the news lately

with more pressure to change it’s name

they “drop washington because it’s embarrassing”

it read, in part

then i notice the post is from the tea party

and another link falls into place

what’s embarrassing is how people

won’t see how Native mascots are at best

leaving out history

at worst offensive and traumatic

then again people use terms and images

without understanding the implications

the tea party, for example

the original tea party were groups of settler rebels

attempting to overthrown British rule by

DRESSING UP LIKE INDIANS

so they could PRETEND they belonged in America

we actually have a tentative democracy

if people would vote

and corporations weren’t people

so the tea party is missing that minor detail

but they are also missing the cultural shadow

of settlers playing indian so we can be at home

they also miss the implications of

attempting to be clever about the

washington football team

then as i’m headed home

i pass a bumper sticker

“display another flag? go home!”

where is home, i might ask?