"Indians" By Jane Tompkins: How Bias Affect Ones Concept of History
Whenever you are in any educational situation, you are subject to perspectives and bias of the instructors. In an essay entitled "Indians," by
Jane Tompkins, it discusses how different biases may reflect upon one's concept of history. It is imperative to realize that when learning, which generally involves someone's concept of history, we are consequently subject to that person's perspectives that may be a result of their upbringing.
In the essay Tompkins regarding history, Tompkins says "it concerns the difference that point of view makes when people are giving accounts of events, whether at first or second hand.
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Tompkins discusses this problem and its relation to the European-Indian conflict of the 17th and 18th centuries. In doing so she quotes a particular source of puritan background who considers the Indians to be brutal savages who raped and tortured their captives. She then quotes someone who is favorable towards the Indians, said that Indians were a highly cultured group of people who helped the European settlers adapt to their new environment.
My point for addressing these two points of view is to illustrate how these two people can have such diverse opinions regarding the same topic. Both of these people are saying the truth, yet when trying to understand the broad point of view you can't accept either of them as the whole truth. Because of these two people's bias' they may have a tendency to neglect certain facts that may be detrimental to the image they where trying to portray. In order to obtain the most accurate "truth" you must take all the different points of view, and while putting aside your personal bias' and the bias' of those who are presenting the story, you must then decide for yourself what is believable and what may be lacking important information.
When trying to decipher the truth, there is a close parallel to the
"banking" theory. The
In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will
Howard Zinn’s, Peoples’ History of the US and Larry Schweikart’s, Patriots’ History of the US are two analytical views on history that most people would consider politically conflicting. Zinn’s Marxist book was widely praised by liberal activist and Schweikart’s book is greatly publicized by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. These two widely known historians turned their focus on writing two historical pieces that would fill in the “historical holes” that weren’t being taught in the educational systems. It created a type of diverse learning that made for a great argument while still allowing the readers to understand all sides of the topics at hand. Zinn really dismissed the common “white mans history” and focused his approach on a multiple minority perspective. Schweikart’s book is very different in the sense he takes aim at Zinn as he targets words like “great discovery” and “war on terror” which Zinn only used as scare quotes. Schweikart’s book really reads like old history textbooks from the moral principals of the American founders that built this nation to the ideological view of American prosperity. No matter who shares the views of the political perspectives or condemns them because of its bias stances both historians felt responsible in writing the history of the United States.
The book “How the Indians Lost their Lands” by Stuart Banner is about how he claims everything really went down for the Native Americans of being kicked out from their birth home from the so called “Americans”. Stuart Banner, “who is a law professor at the University of Los Angeles school of law, seemed to have never denied any knowledge regarding the transfer land trade of the United States from Native American to non-natives in the early 17th century to the end of the 19th century” (“Author Introduction: HTILTL”). Instead in “How the Indians Lost Their Land”, he describes and admits the truth of the way it really happened in the early 17th century. In this book Banner mostly criticized about how the Native Americans lived on their private property, due to their birth right, but were tricked into selling their land because of the beliefs
In "Museum Indians", Susan Powers describes her mother from her childhood perspective.Power uses vivid imagery, similes, and metaphors, to convey details about her mother.These details help readers to understand some of her culture and why she wants to be like her mother, and why she feels like she is only "half" of her
American History X is a great film that portrays prejudice, stereotyping and conformity. Prejudice is negative attitudes toward others based on their gender, religion, race, or membership in a particular group. Prejudice involves beliefs and emotions that can turn into hatred. Having an opinion or idea about a member of a group without really knowing that individual is a part of prejudice. Some people make judgments about a whole group of people without knowing very much about them. Sometimes people are afraid of those who seem different from them and unfortunately, they express that with name-calling and negative treatment. When people grow up with these ideas, sometimes it's hard to get rid of them. Like in the
For example, as the quote, “estimates say smallpox killed 20 to 80 percent of Native Americans. These deaths happened over many decades. Holding Columbus responsible does not make sense. ” demonstrates, the Native American disease epidemic was not fully Columbus’s fault. Although he helped introduced the Old World to the New World, many Europeans, over many years assisted in the disease outbreaks that killed many natives. Columbus should not be blamed for something beyond his control. To further prove that Columbus is not completely to blame, Native Americans were at fault for disease epidemics as well. As it states in the article, “most historians believe the Great Pox that killed 5 million in Renaissance Europe came from the Americas.” Although Europeans brought smallpox to the Americas, Native Americans brought the Great Pox to Europe. This killed many Europeans, so not all the deaths can be pinned on Columbus. Finally, Native Americans were not angels, either. As it states in the text, “war, slavery, and human sacrifice happened before Columbus arrived in 1492.” Native Americans also murdered, enslaved, and stole from each other before Columbus arrived in the New World. They were also cruel and
and their effects are still occurring today and need to be made known to spare the
In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man's ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. "Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition" (back cover) is a great way to show that the author's stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa's American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will discuss
Grab the remote and take a seat. Put your feet up, and get comfortable. Now, turn on the television. What do you see? One day it is a police officer killing an innocent African American, and the next it is a crazy white man shooting and killing a mass of African American's. Notice a pattern? Every single news channel on television today broadcasts half of the truth. Yes, there are murders occurring. However, there is more to it than meets the eye. The media is racially bias, because they only report news stories where African American's are innocent, not where they are the culprits or killers.
Prejudice, a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or personal experience. The amount of prejudice differs from person to person, but no one is free from it. In the film, American History X, Derek is a great example of how prejudice someone can be. Derek agrees with the white power movement because he feels victimized and threatened by everyone who is not white, but in prison he learns his stereotypes are full of holes; from the film I learned there is no reason to hate one another based on race or stereotypes. Life is too short to live a life based on hate.
In this paper, I will be outlining the costs and benefits of social and technological fixes, and then I will be assessing the use of social and technological fixes of air pollution through the use of automobiles.
believied that they were alowed to occupy it by the grace of the "Great Spirit",
Unconscious bias is prejudices influencing individual thoughts and behaviours, influencing decision-making mainly owing to the judgements about other individuals and situations, without enough information. Unconscious bias affects the recruitment and selection in organisations as individuals or human elements have a significant contribution to the success of these processes (Beattie and Johnson 2012). The objective of recruitment and selection in any organisation is to attract the most potential and capable candidates therefore to select the most suitable applicants for appropriate jobs. Unconscious bias from stereotyping stems mainly from race and gender and has been studied in great detail from manufacturing, technology to the financial, and professional service industries (Collins 2007). However less research has been explored on unconscious bias affecting the recruitment and selection process within the retail fashion industry (Guryan and Charles 2013).
die. The Red Chief was also in charge of the lacrosse games which were called
The image of Native Americans primarily consumed by all of America is more often offensive, stereotypical, or downright fictional. And this is all because a non-indigenous person is always the one teaching us about indigenous people, thus their bias is forever unconsciously tied to the “facts”, which could very well be just a “common sense racism” agreed upon by many others. For those who have no contact with a minority group, television is their best source of information on said group, and both the news and entertainment shows us what gets the best reaction; the Dakota Pipeline won’t get news coverage because it’s peaceful and not affecting 60% of America, but soon as black people snapped in during the Watts Riots of ’65 and they white life was in danger, everyone had their cameras pointed. And some went as far as to not know why the civil black man was no so up in arms all of a sudden, despite the recent court ruling of the police responsible for the assault of Rodney King. There is no looking at the cause of the anger, just like the argument to change many sports mascots from racial caricatures of Native Americans seems completely invalid for someone unwilling to see why it might offend someone. The only way to obliterate stereotypes fueling miseducation of the minority is to have everyone correctly educated on each minority group, through schools is good but through media (television mostly) is even better.