02-11-2008, 10:50 PM
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#21 (permalink) | ||||||||
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New Member
Posts: 4
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Arlington, TX
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We apparently live in a time when one cannot criticize an idea or opinion without being thought to have attacked the person who expressed it. To those who wrote criticizing my posts, I certainly don't think you're attacking me, merely disagreeing with me, or at least suggesting other ways of looking at the issues I raised. I am certainly not attacking Robbie, nor am I suggesting that he was intentionally defaming American Indians of any tribe. I was merely suggesting that there is a great deal more going on out here of which many are unaware -- indeed, of which I was unaware until my wife called it to my attention. Almost all of us say things, almost without thinking, that can hurt the feelings of those around us. Case in point: A few years ago, I was a Congressional staffer for a Mormon Congressman. During a meeting in which a few of the male staffers were present, one of the BYU grads began talking of the young women on the staff. "I'm really concerned about them," he said. "Their lifestyle is getting pretty wild. They're acting almost like Gentiles [in the Mormon church, that means non-Mormons]." I laughed and said, "Thanks, Bill, as a non-Mormon, I appreciate that." He immediately grew red in the face and responded. "Oh, no, Rick, I didn't mean you. I don't think of you as a Gentile." That was almost worse, since I'm a devout conservative Presbyterian (PCA). So, within two sentences, he'd managed to stick his foot in his mouth twice, totally unintentionally. Rather than get angry, I filed it as a lesson to help me avoid the same kind of thing when I'm with others. I'm not always successful, of course, and still manage to commit a faux pas from time to time. I certainly hope that no one here thought that my disagreement with what Robbie said meant that I thought badly of him. I disagree politically with Senators McCain and Obama, but that doesn't mean I think badly of them as individuals. When I worked on Capitol Hill, I often had to write hard-hitting pieces in opposition to positions taken by other Members. I always tried to do it respectfully. I usually succeeded. One result is that I'm proud to have an inscribed photo from former Speaker Jim Wright, the leader of the opposition during the time I was working on the Hill. Our office would watch the debate on measures with which we were involved and, as I later told Speaker Wright, if he spoke against it (and he always did so with a kind of Southern charm), we'd look at each other and say, "Well, I guess we can expect the worst on that one." Occasionally, we'd pull out a win, but Speaker Wright was our bellwether. In short, we were able to disagree agreeably, even when we did so spiritedly. The stories of President Reagan and Speaker Tip O'Neil trading Irish jokes when they weren't locking horns politically are legend. The point is, a disagreement with one's ideas should never be an attack on the person, although sadly that is too often what it has become today, with Senator Reid calling President Bush "a loser" and "the worst President in history." Even if he believes those things to be true, they're not the kinds of things you say publicly about someone you hope to work cooperatively with. Similarly, my impression of ChatUSA is that it is a forum for the friendly exchange of ideas, not a place for personal attacks. Thus, I hope no one takes a difference of opinion as an assault on their person or character. I don't and I hope Robbie didn't. Meanwhile, I'll repeat my suggestion that anyone interested in American Indians obtain a copy of Tony Hillerman's "Hunting Badger." Some of you may be familiar with his mysteries from PBS, in which Adam Beach played Navajo Police Officer Jim Chee and Wes Studi played Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. The DVDs are available from Amazon.com (start with "Dark Wind"), but the books are somewhat better with the characters more fully drawn. FYI, "Dark Wind" was written before Hillerman decided to stop using the term Native American, the explanation for which he gives in "Hunting Badger." Hillerman is one of only a handful of White men allowed to attend Navajo religious ceremonies, so his writings are extremely insightful. As an aside, the artist who did the official painting for "Dances With Wolves" is a member of my wife's tribe, the Chickasaws.
The first American Indian in space, Navy Commander John B. Herrington, is also Chickasaw. They were also the first people to establish a settlement where Memphis, TN is today (if only they'd have stayed until Elvis got famous).<G> Best Regards to all and a big "Howdy" from Arlington, TX! Rick Rick Centner EarthLink Revolves Around You. Last edited by Kay; 02-12-2008 at 07:00 AM. Reason: e-mail address removed |
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