Seeing this article in the Pioneer is an embarrassment. Seeing it in the comedy section, it strikes me as being an unwitty, ineffective and racist joke. As a Whitman student and as a friend of the writer I am very disappointed. As a leader in the American Indian Association and Local Nations Partnership, I am frustrated because I’ve been participating over the last four years in an effort to make this place a positive place for American Indian students and all those interested. This article did just the opposite.
Others are now writing about the specifics of the article, but this is not the first time a thing like this has happened. The most recent canary to die in the mine of Whitman was a piece in the Whitman dance production called “Zoolook.” The program claims it “explores the social pecking order of an animalistic society and what happens when freedom is taken away.” Does this remind you of social darwinism? A few characters are “Gire, the spiritual leader,” “Yxor, the gatherer,” “Azil, the fisherwoman” and “Nannerb, the fire starter.” The dancers wear skin-tight black, crouch on the ground like chimpanzees, put on face paint and use vaguely Native American style dances with vaguely African style music. Did I mention that in the background there is a teepee and a basket? Real people live in teepees and use baskets. This show made them look like animals.
Then, two blonde men crawl onto the stage in camo, capture the “animalistic” people in burlap bags and throw them into a cage. There they splash water on them and feed them. The captives, still acting like monkeys, greedily eat up the food or die of broken hearts. End.
Watching this was embarrassing. It is certainly offensive considering the legacy of slavery in this country: slavery that happened to real people, not animals. It was offensive because it helped the perpetuation of the “noble savage” idea into 2008, and it was offensive because people with blonde hair are labeled as slavers. Do white blonde haired Whitman men consider themselves slavers? Importantly, how did a group of students and a professor practice this in front of mirrors for months without realizing how offensive it was? What kind of communication is going on here?
After sitting through that I had to check what year it was. 1957? 1847? Those years would be well known by the local American Indian community as the years of destruction of Celilo Falls in 1957 and the war between the Cayuse and the immigrants following Marcus Whitman’s death in 1847.
Ironically, Marcus Whitman was also very well-meaning. All he did was build a business and offer teaching people to read and write the Nez Perce language. He didn’t even teach English or get one convert. He was executed because he thought he would make a big political splash and save his job by opening up the Oregon Trail: but through his actions he was responsible for the death of many members of the community in which he lived.
There are other dates of course. Obviously, this is not a time-sensitive issue; there are moments of equality and moments of inequality. In 1883, Myron Eells, who lived his entire life among American Indian people, gave a very racially evenhanded speech about treaty rights asking Americans to keep their promises of equality, even if Americans themselves are racist. The basement section of our library is named after him, and he was asked to be Whitman president: not a bad precedent for building Bridges.
The reason I am disappointed by the article is because we live in a diverse community. No matter how many times people call this school White-man college, it is a diverse community. Our nation is diverse, our state, our city and our college. Nor do we lack methods of communication. I have my cell phone with me all the time and the editor of the Pio knows that I would answer her call at any time day or night. The writers could have easily recognized the diversity in their community and communicated with any number of individuals. They didn’t, and I guess they thought they could get away with it. I support free speech, but I also expect that we are well informed and ethically responsible members of our community.
I didn’t know any color-less people before I came to Whitman. By the way, white of any shade, “eggshell” or “taupe,” is a color, too. I suggest you all recognize who you are, what you stand for, and what responsibilities you have in this community. Writers of the Pio, you are not Dave Chappelle. You have your own names, your own races, and your own accountability, just like he does. What you wrote wasn’t funny. I know it is hard, but try to be “Witty.” Please, make me laugh.
