alright here’s the deal: obviously getting rid of Patrick Kane would be net good for the hockey community as a whole but that in no way would redeem the blackhawks even little bit. I get how if you’re white or non-native in general you could personally see how that would make you feel less bad but I got some news for you!!! They’re still a racist organization and it wouldn’t be totally chill to like them even if they dropped their rapist!!!
Did you know that there are NO federally recognized reservations in illinois despite the fact that one of the largest groups of indigenous people lived there pre european contact? Did you know that Illinois is an algonquin word? Did you know that most of the state’s highway system was built from native trade routes and trails? Did you know that the state’s agriculture system was built up from land already cultivated from native farmers?
Did you know that the illinois natives were forced off of their land? Did you know chicago probably would not exist as we know it if it hadn’t been for the hard work and progress the natives there made? The work that was stolen from them? The trail of tears passed through illinois. The blackhawk war to reclaim land that had been stolen took part in northern illinois. The entire state of illinois is soaked with native blood.
And how do we memorialize this?
The funny thing is that war bonnets belonged to the plains indians and Black Hawk was a woodland indian. The team can pretend that it’s “honoring” Black Hawk all the want, but it’s an empty lie as long as that racist caricature is worn on those jerseys. The team isn’t even named after Black Hawk himself, it’s named after a US infantry division that was named after Black Hawk.
lets also compare what the actual Black Hawk looked like versus the logo:
This wasn’t made to honor an individual, it’s a generic caricature. Don’t even get me started on how the US decides “good” indians from”bad” indians in history. Which individuals were ~noble worthy adversaries and which ones were villains that needed to be exterminated.
“But Dana! the Black Hawks aren’t as bad as say the Redskins or the Inidians!” like you’re theoretically correct that the blackhawks are doing the bare minimum of not using slurs as their team names but let me lay something on you:
This shit actively and continually hurts us. It hurts native children who already start off disadvantaged in this world. It hurts all of us when no one takes us fucking seriously because our cultures and our sacred traditions are reduced to spot rituals for profit. It doesn’t matter if the blackhawks are “less racist” than other teams. Racism is racism, especially on this scale especially when the franchise makes an astronomical amount of profit on the sale of their merchandise.
So yes, I’m sure if you aren’t native it’s easy to say “well if they fired this one player, it wouldn’t be so bad!” I’m sure most of hockey tumblr agrees with that statement! But you’re wrong and this is why. The blackhawks org is a product of a culture of murder and rape a theft and it’s a reminder to all of us native people of the abuse of our people.
This isn’t about being ~woke~ since I know so many of you are chomping at the bit to be hawks fans now that strome is over there. This is about native folks literally begging you to have some empathy for us and our centuries worth of trauma. Don’t just performatively hate the blackhawks because you’re supposed to, listen to us and really consider the implications. Consider that the org won’t even so much as change their logo, which is like the absolute bare minimum they could do. Think about WHY they won’t do that. Think about how this franchise profits off our our dehumination and stop minimizing that.
my opinions on racism will always be limited as I’m from a position of white privilege, so whilst it’s so important to call out racial inequality and oppression when I see it, it’s also important for me to recognise that my voice should not shout over those who have actually experienced racism and have a far better understanding of how it operates then I ever will
So my dad used to teach human evolution at the University of Minnesota, right? And his favorite thing was discussing Native American cultures and bashing misogyny.
So he’d start off class by going “Raise your hand if you think you know why men hunted and women stayed back in the settlements” and most kids would raise their hands. He’d list off a few various reasons and kids would slowly start participating. Then he’d go “How many of you think it’s because men are stronger” and of course most of the males would raise their hands with a few girls. He’d then proceed to rip apart the patriarchal views they had all been taught. “No,” he’d say, “It’s because if five men went out and three or two came back no one would bat an eye. They’d grieve sure, but society would go on. Now if five women went out and three or two came back you know what would happen? Society would collapse.”
And it was true. For many Native American cultures the only reason women did what they did was because the men couldn’t do it. We are (usually) taught a twisted, self-aggrandizing form of history despite evidence suggesting the complete opposite of it.
This was present in a lot of cultures in the past before white colonization (see: imperialism and genocide)
In Australia the Aborigines believed that women were more powerful than men and closer to gods because of their ability to give birth, and men would make themselves bleed just to be like women when they came of age
In the Philippines many people held practices which celebrated a woman’s first menstruation, encouraged free sexual exploration before marriage for young men and women, and believed women to be spiritual leaders, so that the only way a “man” could be one was to become a woman (transwomen were able and even encouraged to marry, and were identified as women within the community)
Also in the Philippines economic structures defined power, so a man who was poorer than his wife would take her name, and daughters would inherit and become heads of the family if they were the eldest
Westerners love to flout how great they are at women empowerment when it comes to other cultures that treat women badly, but actively try to hide the fact that there are thousands of other cultures who treated women better centuries ago than they do even today
“One must respect the game”, but when is French Open going to respect Serena?!
All respect to Serena and Venus Williams. They put up with WAAAAY too much nonsense. I… words are failing me here. This makes me angry down to my toes.
Philando Castile was gunned down when he was legally carrying a firearm…
How is that story real?! Bringing guns to school?!
If you can afford to be silent about this, you have white privilege too. If you don’t call this racist bs out, you’re condoning it. PUBLICALLY condemn this girl and the inherent racism of this act.
ACTUALLY I’M GONNA REBLOG THIS A SECOND TIME because this is Kent State, guys. Kent State. The school where four students were shot to death in the 70′s for protesting war.
A gentle reminder that the “last lynchings” were between 1981-1991, so
it’s less than 40. The CRA act was passed 54 years ago. Not enough
people want to hear or remember that.
Steel Phoenix Studios 