knowledge equals black power

1. The warbonnet is a sacred religious item that a male plains native has earned. Each eagle feather represents an act of bravery or kindness. A man would earn an eagle feather when he has done something for his people, his tribe. This is a way to symbolize an honorable man without the use of words. It is a great honor.

2. It is not okay to steal religious items for the sake of cute fashion.

3. Many of the hipsters who wear the warbonnet are females. Women never wore warbonnets, native women today do not wear warbonnets. A female hipster who wears the warbonnet is throwing away the cultural meaning of the warbonnet. There is no respect in throwing away the cultural meaning.

4. Many hipsters tag there racist photos as native american, or indian. There are hundreds of native tribes, very few of which used warbonnets. Hipsters who wear the warbonnets are perpetuating the stereotype that all native peoples wear warbonnets. The misuse of the warbonnet promotes racist stereotypes.

5. Wearing a costume to depict an entire race is racist. There is no “one-look” that fits all native peoples. When people wear a costume to depict a race they are reducing that race into something comical. When a race is seen as something comical oppression towards that race is inevitable. Ex. In Nazi Germany, just before the Holocaust, German newspapers and magazines posted drawings depicting Jewish people as subhuman. When a race is seen as something comical or subhuman oppression towards that group is inevitable.

6. The misuse of the warbonnet does not honor us, or show respect. In fact, by wearing “Native American costumes” you are showing disrespect for our people and mocking our history of genocide, rape, assimilation, removal, displacement, and oppression.

7. Many hipsters who wear the warbonnet are white (Caucasian). White people, whether they want to or not, are the oppressors of people of color. They are the ones who benefit from our oppression. And who are the people who committed genocide, rape, assimilation, removal, and displacement against us? White European Americans. When you wear one, whether your ancestors committed these crimes or not, it appears to be a greater slap in the face. “Look we killed the majority of your people and stole your home… btw I stole your headdress too! LOL”

8. Many of the hipsters who wear warbonnets are female. When women dress up in “Native American costumes” they are perpetuating the fetishization of Native women. 1 in 3 Native women will be raped, 85% of those rapes will be performed by non-natives. These costumes depict native women as primitive sex objects.

here is a website that goes into greater detail:

http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/04/but-why-cant-i-wear-hipster-headdress.html

r

they were screaming “gonna kill you n-word girl!”

From the safety of my home, i have witnessed/heard this happening to other people every single night for the past couple of weeks. The cops were contacted but nothing has changed this.

They are soooo brave, four men in a truck threatening a woman who is walking home.

Probably because any good Native American wouldn’t be caught dead disgracing our people by portraying what the American majority fictionalizes us to be. Yeah, I’m talking to you, Tonto.

livinginmiasma:

Okay so I get the whole “indian, asian, muslim, mexican, native american, black, and other minority culture halloween costumes are racist and not cool” thing, but in my opinion I feel like we’re taking this a bit seriously. I mean it’s not cool to disrespect someone’s culture and think that it’s JUST for your entertainment, but if you can’t laugh at yourself, or your culture a little bit then you might be taking yourself too seriously. I mean, this will probably get me tons of hate, but even though America is a melting pot of a country and has been built off of other people’s suffering, hard work, etc. people still laugh at us, hell we fucking laugh at ourselves. I mean come on “#firstworldproblems”? “This is ‘MURRICA”? People and Americans make jokes about themselves all the time, and when other people dress “american” we don’t get all wild about it. 

Now, I realize American isn’t really as historic of a culture as Native Americans, Indians, or any other sort of non-american culture is, but I mean the British don’t get all upset when you put their flag on the back of jackets or rings, and yet if I little kid is wearing a Native American headdress as a fucking halloween costume then they can get harassed for it? 

The Irish and Germans get stereotyped all the time as drinkers and have tons of fucking costumes that make fun of them and joke about them that people around the world wear on St. Patrick’s Day. 

I realize that Americans think they have control over cultural barriers and some people do take cultures for granted and abuse them and use them for entertainment… but it’s fucking halloween…

On Halloween you can be anything you want to be, it’s not supposed to be a time for judgment, it’s supposed to be a time of parties, scary things, candy, galore!

I just don’t understand why it’s such a serious thing, racism is serious, but if you can’t laugh a little about issues in the world then you’re probably going to be bitter and not have much fun in life. 

I mean yeah, racism is serious and when people are getting seriously hurt, then that’s not cool at all. But at the same time whenever I see a post on Tumblr about how “I hate when white people do this” or “What white people have to do for me to take them seriously” it’s like it’s constantly my fault for something I didn’t do. It pisses me off when I see things that generalize white people because I’m not racist, so I feel like the actual generalization is a personal attack on me. But I laugh at myself sometimes and just think “you need to get over it”. 

I just dunno guys, laugh a little, please. 

Because it’s not like people of color and their respective cultures have been the butt of the joke in America’s history. Yes, we should laugh along with the white people who have been doing this for a little bit more than a century right?