{"id":97688,"date":"2017-08-28T12:01:18","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T11:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=97688"},"modified":"2017-08-27T19:20:27","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T18:20:27","slug":"this-is-our-land-indigenous-rights-activists-respond-to-white-supremacist-rhetoric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/08\/this-is-our-land-indigenous-rights-activists-respond-to-white-supremacist-rhetoric\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThis Is Our Land\u201d: Indigenous Rights Activists Respond to White Supremacist Rhetoric"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Trump rally Tuesday [22 Aug], indigenous and Latino rights advocates stood together to protest racial inequality in Arizona\u2019s justice system. For these groups, facing militarized police is nothing new. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Shannon Rivers protested Trump at the Phoenix rally on Tuesday[22 Aug]. For Rivers, a tribal citizen of the Akimel O\u2019odham of the Gila River Indian Community, the alliance between indigenous people and Latinos is personal. \u201cMany [Latinos] are our family,\u201d he said. Photo by Jenni Monet.<\/p><\/div>\n

24 Aug 2017 – <\/em>It came with a loud boom followed by a second one\u2014a series of smoke bombs lodged toward a crowd of protesters in downtown Phoenix Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys better get going before the gas starts,\u201d said a local police officer wearing a helmet, his plexiglass face shield flipped upward atop his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait \u2026 What gas?\u201d said a young cyclist standing nearby. Then he asked again with more urgency.\u00a0\u201cWhat gas?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe historical trauma is still happening today.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Half a city block away, a peaceful gathering had erupted in rapid but short-lived chaos after, police say, someone lodged a burning projectile at an officer, and in response, police fired back. The city\u2019s police chief said pepper balls, tear gas, and other nonlethal chemicals were used. The drama disrupted what had otherwise been an hours-long nonviolent demonstration held by many protesting President Donald J. Trump. He chose Phoenix to host a campaign-style rally, his first event since the deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.<\/p>\n

For the indigenous people who attended the rally, this police response was a familiar narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe historical trauma is still happening today. We\u2019re still suffering but in different ways,\u201d said Anthony Thosh Collins, a citizen of the Onk Akimel O\u2019odham with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. His tribe\u2019s land base is surrounded by the nearby sprawling suburbs of Scottsdale, Mesa, and Tempe. But for Collins and dozens of other indigenous rights activists protesting Tuesday night,\u00a0their message in response to recent white supremacist rhetoric was simple: \u201cThis is our land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope in the future the mainstream media [start] recognizing us as the original inhabitants of the land and that we too are still suffering today,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

The voices of indigenous people\u2014and Latinos\u2014have largely been muted in the wake of violence at Charlottesville.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The voices of indigenous people\u2014and Latinos\u2014have largely been muted in the wake of violence at Charlottesville and now in the aftermath of Trump\u2019s Phoenix rally. Tuesday\u2019s spurt of sudden clashes between police and demonstrators\u2014and to a lesser extent, Trump\u2019s bashing of the media in his speech\u2014dominated the news cycle. The reaction to America\u2019s tension combined with Trump\u2019s shock politics has meant an unsteady focus paid to broader-based issues impacting communities of color.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of recent terror in Charlottesville led by white nationalists, people across America have worked to flip the script on its oppressive narrative by dismantling one Confederate monument after another. The act was seen as one way to denounce racist ideals linked to chattel slavery.<\/p>\n

But it took a comedian, Tina Fey, to remind Americans that it\u2019s not only African Americans who have been harmed by white supremacy in this country. Indian Country has been harmed, too.<\/p>\n

Americans need to examine the white supremacist creed\u2014to \u201ctake back our country\u201d\u2014more closely, Fey pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not our country,\u201d said Fey as she \u201csheetcaked\u201d\u00a0<\/a>her way through a taping of Saturday Night Live.<\/em> \u201cWe stole it from the Native Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comedian also recalled the peaceful protests at Standing Rock, where Native Americans and their allies were met with extreme use of militarized force. This recognition underscored one of the more lopsided realities today when it comes to policing communities of color in America\u2014a trend familiar to Arizona\u2019s Latino community, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we saw yesterday is nothing new.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhat we saw yesterday is nothing new,\u201d said Viridiana Hernandez, a Latino rights activist with the Center for Neighborhood Leadership. She was speaking before journalists at a press conference in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, the morning after police had used non-lethal force to disperse the crowd of anti-Trump protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a continuation of the violent culture of the Phoenix Police Department. This isn\u2019t the first time that we see this, and it will not be the last,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

The police response Tuesday night caused Latino activists to amplify their criticism of Trump when he suggested he\u2019d pardon the controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what, I\u2019ll make a prediction: I think he\u2019s going to be just fine, OK?\u201d Trump said to a room of cheering supporters, referring to a potential Arpaio pardon. \u201cBut I won’t do it tonight, because I don\u2019t want to cause any controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 1993, Arpaio served as top cop to Maricopa County, a jurisdiction which also includes patrolling the city limits of Phoenix. Last month he was found convicted of criminal contempt of court\u2014a technicality for his refusal to follow a judge\u2019s order to stop racially profiling and illegally detaining people presumed to have entered the country illegally. Many of the people harassed and even arrested under these policing practices were U.S. citizens or legal residents.<\/p>\n

Police response Tuesday night caused Latino activists to amplify their criticism of Trump.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHis case was totally politicized,\u201d said Alan Olsen. The Trump supporter stood outside for more than an hour in 107-degree heat just to hear the president\u2019s speech. He defended Trump\u2019s back-and-forth reactions to Charlottesville and also backed Arpaio. \u201cHe was doing a job that no one wanted to do,\u201d Olsen said of the sheriff. \u201cAnd he would say, \u2018I don\u2019t make the laws, I just enforce them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, there were concerns that an Arpaio pardon declared Tuesday night by Trump could have led to violence among people both for and against it. Hours before the rally, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton explained to CNN the impact of a potential pardon, saying, \u201cIt would be a very bad thing and potentially a very volatile thing here in Phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Phoenix, Latino rights advocates are not alone in their stand against racial inequality in Arizona\u2019s justice system. On Tuesday night, as some chanted phrases such as \u201cNo hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here,\u201d a circle of indigenous people mostly from area tribal communities stood, rattling gourds and singing songs that had been passed down from their ancestors.<\/p>\n

For organizers like Shannon Rivers, a tribal citizen of the Akimel O\u2019odham of the Gila River Indian Community, the alliance was personal. \u201cThis issue with Arpaio, it affects my family intimately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Latino rights activists are leading the way for broader reform beyond Arpaio\u2019s sentencing.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nine years ago, Rivers’ brother-in-law, Ysidro \u201cChilo\u201d Dozel, was picked up in a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. He was sent back to Mexico even though he was a U.S. citizen. This summer, he died never able to resolve his case that would have reunited him with his wife and children and the community where he lived and worked for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut his case is one of thousands, right,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cThat\u2019s why for us, as indigenous peoples, we try to bring that reality in peace and kindness and to stand in solidarity with all of these folks, including Latinos, who many are our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latino rights activists are leading the way for broader reform beyond Arpaio\u2019s sentencing. The former sheriff faces up to six months in jail for his misdemeanor conviction.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us it\u2019s not about the pardon,\u201d said Carlos Garcia, an organizer with Puente Movement, a nonprofit organization based in Phoenix. \u201cWhat we need is the culture and policies of Arpaio to be removed. What we need is the Phoenix police department not to act worse than Arpaio ever did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next week, a coalition of advocacy groups will be standing in solidarity when activists plan to attend a Phoenix City Council meeting. There, they intend to make formal complaints about the police department\u2019s tear-gassing of demonstrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot and will not tolerate the disparate violence that the city of Phoenix chose to wage on common people who came to speak out against Donald Trump,\u201d said JJ Johnson, an organizer with the Phoenix-based Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about left versus right.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Johnson\u2019s reference to Tuesday\u2019s diverse crowd as \u201ccommon people\u201d is reminiscent of the little-known revival of the Poor People\u2019s Campaign of 1968, a continuation of Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s plan. The movement intended to alleviate poverty across racial lines had faded following King\u2019s assassination. Fifty years later, Rev. William Barber and a joint force of activists are reviving King\u2019s crusade while addressing modern themes of wealth inequality, systemic racism, and a fair shot at a decent life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about left versus right,\u201d Barber told David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker. <\/em>The interview was taped live before an audience in May and was featured in an episode of the magazine\u2019s podcast. <\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s about right versus wrong,\u201d said Barber, referring to an America he described as having lost its moral compass. \u201cIn some ways, if we work together, we\u2019ll change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShow up at the city council. That is how we are going to effect change,\u201d Johnson told a crowd of advocates from various social movements. \u201cGet off your couch, push back from the keyboard, and get out and talk to the people who control this police department.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the greater view, reversing Arpaio\u2019s police tactics represents but one fight in the greater battle. Tuesday night, Trump also energized his base with more talk of building a multi-billion dollar wall along the border of the U.S. and Mexico. He even threatened a government shutdown if Congress did not approve funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like he wants to separate the country,\u201d said Rivers, who encouraged state and local politicians to be next to join the region\u2019s growing coalition of advocates pushing back against Trump. \u201cI hope some of these senators in Arizona and the mayor of Phoenix are standing up and saying no to Trump\u2014saying we will not stand for your bigotry, your racism, and your ideology that\u2019s destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Jenni\u00a0Monet is an award-winning journalist and tribal member of the <\/em>Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico. She\u2019s also executive producer and host of the podcast\u00a0Still Here.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 yesmagazine.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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