Read the following advertisement reprinted in Newspaper Rock blog. The pool party organizers were doing their best to coax people to attend “Indian summer camp. ” It wasn’t a joke. The ad recently riled up a lot of Washington, D.C. folks who succeeded in getting the pool party organizers to change the theme of the get-together.
Check out an excerpt of the ad:
We want to see people breaking out the feather headdresses and moccasins. Or go the cowboy route and bring some water pistols to take down the savages.
btw, this guy was Italian, Native Americans don’t give a shit about the environment
If you roll up in a van with some sweet art on it, you get in free.
You can read all the comments and the rationalization of the organizers for being out of touch with reality. But, they argue, it makes sense to them.
I’ve said it once, but it’s worth repeating: We need more Native voices on the Internet and in the media to create a much stronger Native presence and awareness in American society. Only then will Indian-themed pool parties become a relic of the past. Unfortunately, discrimination continues to thrive in the workplace, in our communities and in the nation’s capital.
Jodi Rave