Apparently I'm racist?

[PeachPunk]

Ugh...
Who would have thought posting an Instagram photo to my Tumblr would cause such a commotion?
I can't handle this. These people have automatically assumed I'm racist, solely based on the fact that I am a white woman wearing a headdress.
I get it that the headdress is a symbol of honour and such, and they are earned, so by that analogy,military officers should be offended by children who dress up as army cadets adorned in fake badges because they didn't earn them?
Grrrr. I hate being a white person.
Discuss. But please be civil; I've had enough of strangers ganging up on me via internet.  

[rmcdra]

Sunshine Peach-Heart

Ugh...
Who would have thought posting an Instagram photo to my Tumblr would cause such a commotion?
I can't handle this. These people have automatically assumed I'm racist, solely based on the fact that I am a white woman wearing a headdress.
I get it that the headdress is a symbol of honour and such, and they are earned, so by that analogy,military officers should be offended by children who dress up as army cadets adorned in fake badges because they didn't earn them?
Grrrr. I hate being a white person.
Discuss. But please be civil; I've had enough of strangers ganging up on me via internet.

Yeah wearing a native headband can be seen as racist. It promotes a hollywood stereotype that all natives wore those type of garb and that just anyone that was native had it. It also promotes a stereotype that all native tribes were one and the same. But so what? Are you claiming to be of a particular tribe? Are you claiming it to be an actual native garb? If no, then disregard it and block the person. If yes, then you might want to actually give some consideration to what she's saying. For example, marketers will religious text way out of context. That's what outsiders of a culture will do with stuff they don't understand the meaning of. I wouldn't take what she says to heart and just let it go.  

[PeachPunk]

rmcdra

Sunshine Peach-Heart

Ugh...
Who would have thought posting an Instagram photo to my Tumblr would cause such a commotion?
I can't handle this. These people have automatically assumed I'm racist, solely based on the fact that I am a white woman wearing a headdress.
I get it that the headdress is a symbol of honour and such, and they are earned, so by that analogy,military officers should be offended by children who dress up as army cadets adorned in fake badges because they didn't earn them?
Grrrr. I hate being a white person.
Discuss. But please be civil; I've had enough of strangers ganging up on me via internet.

Yeah wearing a native headband can be seen as racist. It promotes a hollywood stereotype that all natives wore those type of garb and that just anyone that was native had it. It also promotes a stereotype that all native tribes were one and the same. But so what? Are you claiming to be of a particular tribe? Are you claiming it to be an actual native garb? If no, then disregard it and block the person. If yes, then you might want to actually give some consideration to what she's saying. For example, marketers will religious text way out of context. That's what outsiders of a culture will do with stuff they don't understand the meaning of. I wouldn't take what she says to heart and just let it go.

Agreed. I know every tribe is different. I know they don't dress up like that on a daily basis.
But really, doesn't the Native American community have bigger things to worry about than white girls in headdresses? How about being denied jobs due to their race? Or financial and health support?
What gets me is that if another person of colour who was not Native American wore a headdress, people would not be making as big a stink about this. But because I'm white I'm seen as racist.
It's not just white people that can be racist. Any race can be racist and not enough people understand that.  

[rmcdra]

Sunshine Peach-Heart

rmcdra

Sunshine Peach-Heart

Ugh...
Who would have thought posting an Instagram photo to my Tumblr would cause such a commotion?
I can't handle this. These people have automatically assumed I'm racist, solely based on the fact that I am a white woman wearing a headdress.
I get it that the headdress is a symbol of honour and such, and they are earned, so by that analogy,military officers should be offended by children who dress up as army cadets adorned in fake badges because they didn't earn them?
Grrrr. I hate being a white person.
Discuss. But please be civil; I've had enough of strangers ganging up on me via internet.

Yeah wearing a native headband can be seen as racist. It promotes a hollywood stereotype that all natives wore those type of garb and that just anyone that was native had it. It also promotes a stereotype that all native tribes were one and the same. But so what? Are you claiming to be of a particular tribe? Are you claiming it to be an actual native garb? If no, then disregard it and block the person. If yes, then you might want to actually give some consideration to what she's saying. For example, marketers will religious text way out of context. That's what outsiders of a culture will do with stuff they don't understand the meaning of. I wouldn't take what she says to heart and just let it go.

Agreed. I know every tribe is different. I know they don't dress up like that on a daily basis.
But really, doesn't the Native American community have bigger things to worry about than white girls in headdresses? How about being denied jobs due to their race? Or financial and health support?
What gets me is that if another person of colour who was not Native American wore a headdress, people would not be making as big a stink about this. But because I'm white I'm seen as racist.
It's not just white people that can be racist. Any race can be racist and not enough people understand that.

Yes anyone can be racist that's a given. Did the person single you out for being white? Who knows but again, who cares what some random person on the internet thinks. Next time don't include "How" or "nativeamerican" in your comments or hashtags, you won't attract any attention that way. "How" is a word that comes from the Sioux tribe meaning to give approval, essentially the word "yes" or "I agree". It would be like if someone said "amen" as a greeting. A headband is a headband, if you don't identify it as anything else then it's them making the assumptions.  

[Lord Alucard Ere Casanova]

Being Native Tlingit myself, no, I do not see that as racist. You may wear our cultural garb, live in a longhouse if you so desire, whatever. Go for it and have fun. It is possible Tlingits are more laid back then other tribes, but I can point out a few facts that might make a difference there too...

1: How many of your critics have cards? A non-card carrying native, especially if they claim Cherokee, is often not a native at all. Some people just like to pretend then they go out of their way to call others racist without really knowing anything about their own supposed culture. A dead giveaway is if they claim to be a "Cherokee Princess." Yeah... European royalty terms in a Native tribe... sounds legit.

2: Not claiming to be Native? Ignore. Chances are they don't know anything about the tribes either. I can't even begin to list the number of people I've met who are quick to point a finger at racism without even realizing not all Natives live in tee-pees and not all Natives would hunt buffalo. The Tlingits live in longhouses, hunt small deer (the deer there are only a little bigger than a dog), harvest berries, but their primary food source is seafood. Crabs, clams, salmon, etc.

3: Most Native Americans won't really care about what you wear so long as you are not insulting. Tips to avoid that; don't wear eagle feathers, don't claim "how" is a Native American word, don't do that thing where you go aaaa while slapping your mouth to make it sound weird, be open to facts about the various Native tribes, remember location. What is ok in one place may not be in another. If you go to an official Native gathering in which headbands are worn to mark status and you wear a headband yourself that would be rude, not racist, but very disrespectful.

Personally, I don't see it as supporting a Hollywood stereotype. Headbands of various kinds were common among Natives, that is a fact, and now many people buy them from various places. Toy stores have them for kids, pow-wows (often hosted by federally recognized Native tribes) sell headbands both with and without feathers, you can find them in many places online, and if you're lucky you can buy traditionally made headbands from Natives living on reservations. Considering all this I can not see how simply wearing one would be considered racist. Somebody is being overly sensitive, and that's coming from a Native.

Now, about the words, in many cases there was a communication error. "How" for example is European as in "How are you," "How is your family" "How is life" etc. The Europeans kept saying "How" at the beginning of a greeting so the Natives assumed "how" means hello and in their attempt to communicate began using "how" as a greeting. "How" was the only constant since various greetings request knowledge of various things (family, health, personal life, etc). The various other sounds were often misinterpreted and misquoted, including the aaaaa-mouth-slap thing.

Most Natives do have a sense of humor and will misdirect you in how to speak their language. "Squaw" is one example, I won't give the exact translation, but suffice to say it is a foul derogatory word referring to female parts. "Kimosabi," as used in "The Lone Ranger" if I remember correctly, was believed to mean teacher. It does not. The Native that called him that was giving another type of insult which I won't bother to translate. The Lone Ranger example is perhaps the finest example of why Natives do this. Considering how much disrespect we get and the obvious lack of desire to really understand us, we find it hilarious when people insult each other in our languages and think they're being polite and witty.

That's all I can think of to say here for now, but I'll post again if more is needed or comes to mind.  

[rmcdra]

Master James Ere Casanova

Being Native Tlingit myself, no, I do not see that as racist. You may wear our cultural garb, live in a longhouse if you so desire, whatever. Go for it and have fun. It is possible Tlingits are more laid back then other tribes, but I can point out a few facts that might make a difference there too...

1: How many of your critics have cards? A non-card carrying native, especially if they claim Cherokee, is often not a native at all. Some people just like to pretend then they go out of their way to call others racist without really knowing anything about their own supposed culture. A dead giveaway is if they claim to be a "Cherokee Princess." Yeah... European royalty terms in a Native tribe... sounds legit.

2: Not claiming to be Native? Ignore. Chances are they don't know anything about the tribes either. I can't even begin to list the number of people I've met who are quick to point a finger at racism without even realizing not all Natives live in tee-pees and not all Natives would hunt buffalo. The Tlingits live in longhouses, hunt small deer (the deer there are only a little bigger than a dog), harvest berries, but their primary food source is seafood. Crabs, clams, salmon, etc.

3: Most Native Americans won't really care about what you wear so long as you are not insulting. Tips to avoid that; don't wear eagle feathers, don't claim "how" is a Native American word, don't do that thing where you go aaaa while slapping your mouth to make it sound weird, be open to facts about the various Native tribes, remember location. What is ok in one place may not be in another. If you go to an official Native gathering in which headbands are worn to mark status and you wear a headband yourself that would be rude, not racist, but very disrespectful.

Personally, I don't see it as supporting a Hollywood stereotype. Headbands of various kinds were common among Natives, that is a fact, and now many people buy them from various places. Toy stores have them for kids, pow-wows (often hosted by federally recognized Native tribes) sell headbands both with and without feathers, you can find them in many places online, and if you're lucky you can buy traditionally made headbands from Natives living on reservations. Considering all this I can not see how simply wearing one would be considered racist. Somebody is being overly sensitive, and that's coming from a Native.

Now, about the words, in many cases there was a communication error. "How" for example is European as in "How are you," "How is your family" "How is life" etc. The Europeans kept saying "How" at the beginning of a greeting so the Natives assumed "how" means hello and in their attempt to communicate began using "how" as a greeting. "How" was the only constant since various greetings request knowledge of various things (family, health, personal life, etc). The various other sounds were often misinterpreted and misquoted, including the aaaaa-mouth-slap thing.

Most Natives do have a sense of humor and will misdirect you in how to speak their language. "Squaw" is one example, I won't give the exact translation, but suffice to say it is a foul derogatory word referring to female parts. "Kimosabi," as used in "The Lone Ranger" if I remember correctly, was believed to mean teacher. It does not. The Native that called him that was giving another type of insult which I won't bother to translate. The Lone Ranger example is perhaps the finest example of why Natives do this. Considering how much disrespect we get and the obvious lack of desire to really understand us, we find it hilarious when people insult each other in our languages and think they're being polite and witty.

That's all I can think of to say here for now, but I'll post again if more is needed or comes to mind.

Thank you for contributing. I'm not a Native so what your sharing means a lot.  

[Lord Alucard Ere Casanova]

rmcdra

Master James Ere Casanova

Being Native Tlingit myself, no, I do not see that as racist. You may wear our cultural garb, live in a longhouse if you so desire, whatever. Go for it and have fun. It is possible Tlingits are more laid back then other tribes, but I can point out a few facts that might make a difference there too...

1: How many of your critics have cards? A non-card carrying native, especially if they claim Cherokee, is often not a native at all. Some people just like to pretend then they go out of their way to call others racist without really knowing anything about their own supposed culture. A dead giveaway is if they claim to be a "Cherokee Princess." Yeah... European royalty terms in a Native tribe... sounds legit.

2: Not claiming to be Native? Ignore. Chances are they don't know anything about the tribes either. I can't even begin to list the number of people I've met who are quick to point a finger at racism without even realizing not all Natives live in tee-pees and not all Natives would hunt buffalo. The Tlingits live in longhouses, hunt small deer (the deer there are only a little bigger than a dog), harvest berries, but their primary food source is seafood. Crabs, clams, salmon, etc.

3: Most Native Americans won't really care about what you wear so long as you are not insulting. Tips to avoid that; don't wear eagle feathers, don't claim "how" is a Native American word, don't do that thing where you go aaaa while slapping your mouth to make it sound weird, be open to facts about the various Native tribes, remember location. What is ok in one place may not be in another. If you go to an official Native gathering in which headbands are worn to mark status and you wear a headband yourself that would be rude, not racist, but very disrespectful.

Personally, I don't see it as supporting a Hollywood stereotype. Headbands of various kinds were common among Natives, that is a fact, and now many people buy them from various places. Toy stores have them for kids, pow-wows (often hosted by federally recognized Native tribes) sell headbands both with and without feathers, you can find them in many places online, and if you're lucky you can buy traditionally made headbands from Natives living on reservations. Considering all this I can not see how simply wearing one would be considered racist. Somebody is being overly sensitive, and that's coming from a Native.

Now, about the words, in many cases there was a communication error. "How" for example is European as in "How are you," "How is your family" "How is life" etc. The Europeans kept saying "How" at the beginning of a greeting so the Natives assumed "how" means hello and in their attempt to communicate began using "how" as a greeting. "How" was the only constant since various greetings request knowledge of various things (family, health, personal life, etc). The various other sounds were often misinterpreted and misquoted, including the aaaaa-mouth-slap thing.

Most Natives do have a sense of humor and will misdirect you in how to speak their language. "Squaw" is one example, I won't give the exact translation, but suffice to say it is a foul derogatory word referring to female parts. "Kimosabi," as used in "The Lone Ranger" if I remember correctly, was believed to mean teacher. It does not. The Native that called him that was giving another type of insult which I won't bother to translate. The Lone Ranger example is perhaps the finest example of why Natives do this. Considering how much disrespect we get and the obvious lack of desire to really understand us, we find it hilarious when people insult each other in our languages and think they're being polite and witty.

That's all I can think of to say here for now, but I'll post again if more is needed or comes to mind.

Thank you for contributing. I'm not a Native so what your sharing means a lot.

You're welcome. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I don't know everything, but I have a handful of facts and can provide a Tlingit perspective on some things.  

[Eltanin Sadachbia]

I think people pointing the finger and calling someone a racist are usually racist against the person they are pointing at.

LOL...White people are racist against whites now! Thinking that most Caucasians are insensitive to the plight of minorities, and thus inadvertently propagating the continuance of racism by acknowledging minorities as needing special treatment.

I wear what I want. If I like something, I wear it. I don't care what culture it comes from.

When people approach me to say I am offensive, I ask why they think so. Normally it has something to do with the act that they think I am mocking something. This usually makes me laugh at them because almost never am I approached by someone of the culture in which I took my garb from.

I usually end up explaining that I like what I am wearing, I think it looks awesome, and I think everyone should try it. To which a conversation at length begins about why I am wrong... and in the end, I am normally told that I should just dress to fit my culture.

I am USAmerican damnit! My culture is supposed to embrace all cultures. I don't ask others to conform to me, I am inspired by them. I take pride in that. There is beauty all over the world, and I am blessed to live in an country where I can find much of that beauty has come to me! I will embrace what I find that attracts me.

LOL...
I have Osage Indian decent. I can't really tell you much about them though. I am proud to say that I have Native American in me, but it isn't who I am today.

I also have African decent, as one of my ancestors became indentured for gambling debts, and then married an African slave from the plantation he was indentured at. I am pretty proud of the African thing too. No one would know it by looking at me. Still doesn't make me who I am.

If you like something, then wear it. I am a believer that the highest for of compliment is imitation. I think most people who value their culture understand that.  

[Qyp]

Lord Alucard Ere Casanova

Being Native Tlingit myself, no, I do not see that as racist. You may wear our cultural garb, live in a longhouse if you so desire, whatever. Go for it and have fun. It is possible Tlingits are more laid back then other tribes, but I can point out a few facts that might make a difference there too...

1: How many of your critics have cards? A non-card carrying native, especially if they claim Cherokee, is often not a native at all. Some people just like to pretend then they go out of their way to call others racist without really knowing anything about their own supposed culture. A dead giveaway is if they claim to be a "Cherokee Princess." Yeah... European royalty terms in a Native tribe... sounds legit.

2: Not claiming to be Native? Ignore. Chances are they don't know anything about the tribes either. I can't even begin to list the number of people I've met who are quick to point a finger at racism without even realizing not all Natives live in tee-pees and not all Natives would hunt buffalo. The Tlingits live in longhouses, hunt small deer (the deer there are only a little bigger than a dog), harvest berries, but their primary food source is seafood. Crabs, clams, salmon, etc.

3: Most Native Americans won't really care about what you wear so long as you are not insulting. Tips to avoid that; don't wear eagle feathers, don't claim "how" is a Native American word, don't do that thing where you go aaaa while slapping your mouth to make it sound weird, be open to facts about the various Native tribes, remember location. What is ok in one place may not be in another. If you go to an official Native gathering in which headbands are worn to mark status and you wear a headband yourself that would be rude, not racist, but very disrespectful.

Personally, I don't see it as supporting a Hollywood stereotype. Headbands of various kinds were common among Natives, that is a fact, and now many people buy them from various places. Toy stores have them for kids, pow-wows (often hosted by federally recognized Native tribes) sell headbands both with and without feathers, you can find them in many places online, and if you're lucky you can buy traditionally made headbands from Natives living on reservations. Considering all this I can not see how simply wearing one would be considered racist. Somebody is being overly sensitive, and that's coming from a Native.

Now, about the words, in many cases there was a communication error. "How" for example is European as in "How are you," "How is your family" "How is life" etc. The Europeans kept saying "How" at the beginning of a greeting so the Natives assumed "how" means hello and in their attempt to communicate began using "how" as a greeting. "How" was the only constant since various greetings request knowledge of various things (family, health, personal life, etc). The various other sounds were often misinterpreted and misquoted, including the aaaaa-mouth-slap thing.

Most Natives do have a sense of humor and will misdirect you in how to speak their language. "Squaw" is one example, I won't give the exact translation, but suffice to say it is a foul derogatory word referring to female parts. "Kimosabi," as used in "The Lone Ranger" if I remember correctly, was believed to mean teacher. It does not. The Native that called him that was giving another type of insult which I won't bother to translate. The Lone Ranger example is perhaps the finest example of why Natives do this. Considering how much disrespect we get and the obvious lack of desire to really understand us, we find it hilarious when people insult each other in our languages and think they're being polite and witty.

That's all I can think of to say here for now, but I'll post again if more is needed or comes to mind.

I want to learn! O: