Heritage Chief: It's Really The Constitution That Freed The Slaves

[ieoeja]

12. The East/West divide on Indian Nations is much sharper than the North/South divide on Blacks.

There is plenty of bigotry in the North. It is just not as socially acceptable as one finds in large areas of the South.

But when it comes to the bigotry against Indian Nations, the East/West divide is extreme. Living East of the Mississippi River, I can say, with complete and total honesty, that I have never once, ever encountered anti-Indian bigotry over here. Quite the opposite, in fact. Most Easterners with European ancestors who migrated here a couple hundred years or more ago are quite proud of what little Indian blood we have. It is commonplace for Easterners to compare Indian ancestry.

Then one time in Minneapolis (just barely across the Mississippi River!), I was astonished the first time I ran into anti-Indian sentiments. A Cherokee gal I knew in Chicago had the same experience, though with herself as the victim of the bigotry, when she went to visit relatives in Oklahoma. She had never encountered anything like that in her life prior to that visit. Also, heard your statement many times here on DU, always from Westerners.

Of course, most of the Indians did get shipped out West 150 years ago. We've had a long time for any hatred there to die off.