Thinking About Issues That Concern Native Americans

 

A Liberal Dose

February 23, 2023

Troy D. Smith

“Thinking about issues that concern Native Americans”

 

My apologies for going AWOL last week. It is an incredibly busy time at work, and I couldn’t find time to write a column. You know I'm busy when I miss a chance to bloviate.

This week I want to respond to a couple of things my friend John has said recently -not in an antagonistic way, but rather with a view to set the record straight. First, briefly, John has commented that most people parrot a party line rather than think for themselves. I tend to agree with that statement, actually. I don’t recall him specifically naming me among that group, but I wanted to point out that I wrote a whole column outlining the ways in which I diverge from the mainstream Democratic party line. I do not base my principles, opinions, or passions on what some group-think tells me to believe. However, the Democratic Party lines up with what I think (rather than the other way around) ten times more than the Republican Party does. That said, I am in fact a Democrat (and adviser to the TTU College Democrats), and I chose to call this column “a liberal dose,” so it should come as no surprise that I present a viewpoint from the left rather than the right.

Here’s the other thing. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about the need to use critical thinking (in other words, to think for yourself) and read between the lines and look for context when viewing news reports. I did not favor or condemn one media outlet over another, equally including Fox, MSNBC, CNN, and everyone in between. I specifically talked about two examples: coverage of missing or murdered women and coverage of oil pipeline protests. My overall point was that the fact TV news is commercially sponsored is going to influence what they cover, and how. John wrote in response, “Of course, he used examples that make groups he opposes look like the ones guilty of doing this. Perhaps that was part of his plan. Showing through example, how omission can be used to influence.”

I want to clarify that. While it is fair to say I oppose big oil companies, I do not oppose TV news media, nor the idea of commercial sponsorship. I was just trying to explain how they interact in ways that necessitate reading between the lines. However, it is not an accident that I chose those two examples -because they directly affect the Native community, which I teach about, write about, think about, and in fact stand strongly in solidarity with, so it should come as no surprise that such examples would be the first to come to my mind.

This brings me to something not directly related to my column (or John’s). Very few Americans think about the indigenous perspective -not just in the issues I mentioned, but just in general. This is largely due to the fact most non-indigenous people don’t encounter, interact with, or sometimes even know any Native Americans, who are only about 2% of the population. On the other hand, that means there are about as many indigenous people in our country as there are Muslims, Jews, Mormons, and several other groups. Sadly, that doesn’t keep many non-Natives from speaking FOR them, saying what does or does not, or should or should not, concern or insult American Indians.

At 6:00 p.m. tonight, Thursday, February 23^rd, at the Backdoor Playhouse on Tech campus, I’ll be hosting a panel about contemporary indigenous issues. I will be doing very little talking, most of it will be done by our panelists- five Native Americans from around the state (one from Cookeville) representing five different tribal nations. The second half of the hour will be them answering questions from the audience. This is a rare and wonderful opportunity to find out what is important to these individuals and their communities. I hope you can join us, it’s free to the public.

 (NOTE: the event went extremely well, with a lot of engaging discussion between the panelists and the audience.)

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

A Brief Overview of Indigenous Culture

 

In several of my classes, it is necessary early on to explain some basics about indigenous culture. This is true in early U.S. history, all my various American Indian Studies classes, Westward Expansion, and Environmental History. I give the same basic introductory cultural lecture in all of them- it is about 2 hour and 45 minutes of me explaining several things that most Native cultures have in common. Every nation and tribe is different, but just as there are some cultural things that make both French and Norwegians European despite their many differences, the same is true for Apaches and Seminoles.

During the first months of Covid, I wound up recording that lecture series (in five sections) on Youtube, to use in all those classes. I thought I'd post the links here so as to more easily direct people to them.

Part 1: The First Americans

Part 2: Native Culture

Part 3: Native Family and Gender

Part 4: Native Spirituality

Part 5: Native Style of Leadership

A Liberal Dose, Feb. 9 2023, "Rubbing Shoulders with Nazis- On a Slippery Slope with Skates"

A Liberal Dose

February 9, 2023

Troy D. Smith

“Rubbing shoulders with Nazis- on a slippery slope with skates”

 

On the first week of February last year, my column was about a Tennessee school banning the graphic novel Maus, a Pulitzer Prize winning work about the horrors of the Holocaust. The school board’s excuse was that there were a couple of illustrations of naked mice in a concentration camp scene, and that it was therefore “dirty.” In the first week of February this year I wrote about literal Nazis in Cookeville protesting an adults-only drag show, chanting antisemitic phrases, and saying they were there to “protect children.” The progression from last year to this is both horrifying and completely predictable. Even more horrifying- where will we be this time next year?

While I am disturbed by the Nazis, I am perhaps more disturbed by the people who willingly protested alongside them. “Why shouldn’t they,” someone said to me, “since they have the same goals? It doesn’t mean they support all the other Nazi goals.” For one thing, I don’t care what you’re protesting- if Nazis, Klansmen, or other white supremacists come and stand beside you I expect you to immediately leave and go protest somewhere else. Alliance with Nazis, for any reason under any circumstances, is not morally acceptable in my opinion, and I hope not in yours.

But it is in some people’s. And that’s where my fear lies. You see, I know very well how fascism, Nazism, and authoritarianism take hold in societies, as do most of my fellow history professors. It is never a majority of the people. It is an active, violent, hateful few… whom the majority accepts, normalizes, and allies with on “little” things, until it has gone too far to turn back. The more you accept Nazis in your midst -on your side -the more solidarity you establish with them, and the more you feel justified in resorting to their tactics. I’m sometimes accused of implying that all Republicans are Nazis. I don’t believe that for a minute. But when Nazis keep showing up at your parties, and you keep allowing them to stay, the more, fairly or not, it tars everyone on your side.

Let’s talk about how the Nazis rose to power. One way they got support from more conservative Germans was by attacking the “hedonistic” and “immoral” attitudes prevalent among young Germans in the 1920s. Cabarets, “weird” art, more openness to LGBTQ lifestyles, adult-themed movies… all things Nazis pointed to as the corruption of innocent youth and thereby weakening of society. Now, one can believe all those things and not be a Nazi… but if you let Nazis speak for you on those topics, you are going down a dark and dangerous road.

What else did Nazis do? Ban books, try to limit thought and expression, and control what was taught in schools. This is why conservative politicians’ efforts to do those very things is so frightening. Banning Black History courses… any discussion of race, or the consequences in modern society of slavery, the Holocaust, and Native American repression, in the classroom until teachers and professors are terrified to broach the subjects… and white supremacists wreaking havoc in the streets… it’s all part of the same phenomenon. Common ground, not just with Nazis, but with Nazi ideas and ideals, and it’s getting worse and worse.

Our own state representative has proposed a bill to rename a Nashville street named after John Lewis to Donald Trump Boulevard. Does Mr. Sherrell know that Lewis was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders of the 1960s, and that he participated in some of the first sit-ins in Nashville? Whether done out of ignorance or contempt, such an action -at the beginning of Black History Month! -is a testament to the need for more education on Black History.

Whether claiming there are “good people on both sides”, or just ignoring the Nazis on your protest line -from Charlottesville to Ralph’s Donuts -it is dangerous.

And I won’t hold back from saying so.

 

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

 

 

A Liberal Dose, February 2, 2023 "Protesting with Nazis Is Alliance with Nazis"

 

A Liberal Dose

February 2, 2023

Troy D. Smith

“Protesting with Nazis is Alliance with Nazis”

 

As I write this, it is Holocaust Remembrance Day. My uncle-by-marriage, who was a huge influence on me as a child and is the source of my love for history books and foreign languages, was a Holocaust refugee. He and two of his brothers were the only members of his entire extended family to escape and survive. I remember, even as a kid, feeling the weight of history on the couple of occasions I met his sister-in-law… a dignified lady who was also a concentration camp survivor, with numbers tattooed on her arm. I remember the feeling I had just a few years ago when one of my uncle’s cousins sent me a link to their ancestry.com page, and I noticed that dozens of their family members all had the same death date. I remember, also, the many other Holocaust survivors I met when I was living in Brooklyn in the 80s.

And just a few days ago, there were literal Nazis protesting on the streets of Cookeville, waving a swastika flag. I’m still hopping mad. These particular Nazis had joined a small crowd of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and (as I understand it) some members of a local church (including a pastor) in front of Ralph’s Donuts to protest an adults-only drag brunch taking place at the bar across the street. The whole crowd was yelling and chanting insulting things about drag performers and the LGBTQ community, but the Nazis were adding to the mix chants of “kill the Jews” and “Jews rape kids.” Some of the out-of-towners left the group and walked away after the Nazis did these things, while many of the local protesters expressed discomfort and even dismay at the activity- but remained on the protest line.

Let me be clear. Even Nazis have the constitutional right to assemble peacefully and to express their ideas. I’m not one of the people who think the police should have dispersed or arrested them, unless and until they did something illegal. But here’s what I do think.

The rest of us have the right to be disgusted by them. And the rest of us should be disgusted by them, and by their ideas (such as white supremacy, homophobia, and antisemitism). And we should express that disgust loudly, clearly, and without any hesitation or equivocation. It was Nazi ideas that led to millions of people -most of them Jews, but by no means all -being murdered in concentration camps. It was Nazi ideas that led to the situation that our fathers, grandfathers, or great-grandfathers risked their lives to stop, and which hundreds of thousands of American servicemen (and women) died opposing.

It took days for Cookeville city leaders to make any public statements at all about the situation, and on the couple of occasions they did they were very delicately phrased so as not to offend the people there WITH the Nazis. A lot of people are outraged by that, and they should be; we should know where our elected officials stand on issues, and if there is one issue that everyone should stand firmly (and without hesitation) against, it is Nazis.

And if there is one thing no one should ever stand BESIDE, it is Nazis. If you tell me not everyone on that line was a Nazi, I tell you that everyone who remained on that line chose to stand with Nazis and that makes them Nazi supporters and allies. Again, I am not saying the power of the city government should have silenced them, it should not have, but the people of the Upper Cumberland have the right, and in my opinion the moral duty, to condemn them. And WE have the freedom of speech to say so, and say so loudly.

And if your moral and political beliefs match those of Nazis so well they travel to protest with you… and you let them… that should tell you something.

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE