Federal prison inmates receive more funding that an urban Native American

rendering Medicare virtually out-of-reach.

However, due to limited funding,

Negative experiences in schools can increase suicide rates in youth, evident in Native American children having a suicide rate 50% higher than the national average (Clarren, 2017).  

Alaska Native and Native American populations experience much higher disciplinary rates within public schools nationwide which result in much higher dropout rates, double the national average

rren, 2017). 

). 

 on-time graduation rates, higher disciplinary rates, and drop-out rates also continue to disenfranchise Native American youth as they leave the education system and enter the workforce.

eaning that such grants could be used for the entire student body rather than specifically Native American children. Dwindling funding and lack of specified budget allocation deepen Native American discrimination and poverty while withholding a proper education experience.

be used to

Trump’s most recent budget reduced federal funding for the program by a sizeable 30% as well. Per-pupil spending is typically used for classroom materials, opportunities, and teaching methods.  

Small populations make data and scientific research much more difficult to compile in contrast to white and Black populations, the two most populous ethnicities for most states.

n larger studies and reports, Native American populations, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian populations are simply left out due to their small size (Clarren, 2017). Small populations

The current public school system poses risks to Native American populations, who routinely perform substantially lower than their white counterparts and attend underfunded, discriminatory districts

, who routinely perform substantially lower than their white counterparts and attend underfunded, discriminatory districts

damage of poverty was already done and mass migration to urban areas only made it worse (Campbell, 2016). As a group, 27% of Native Americans continue to live below the poverty line, typically on reservations (Campbell, 2016). 

Similarly, these children faced conditions of starvation, sexual assault, and corporal punishment in the name of civilization 

The Civil Rights Movement pushed the federal government to reinstate recognition to the bigger tribes but the damage of poverty was already done and mass migration to urban areas only made it worse

r

(

 It aimed to distinguish individual families from the larger tribal body.

inclusion

lost their roots and practices which made them members of their respective tribes

who weren’t accepted in the white world

This was widely supported and practiced until the 1970s where the program finally started losing funding

.

In the reconstruction era of the United States, the federal government considered itself in conflict with various large Native American tribes across the western states (Bear, 2008). In the late 1870s the United States initiated a new policy which claimed to focus on assimilating Native American children into the growing urban society. This policy’s coined term, “Kill the Indian but save the man” was the mission of the program as it aimed to ‘civilize’ Native American children

affairs

continues

, 

with regards

These women exemplified the idea that “it is all too easy for white women to be ethnocentric or patronizing at the same time as being consciously and purposively antiracist

ussbaum believes that in addition to the clear silencing that women of color deal with in feminism,

Looking beyond the United States, Felicity Nussbaum describes how white feminism has created many disillusionments within the international feminist community. According to Nussbaum, “the emphasis on First World national feminisms such as Anglo-American feminism tends to reinforce the Eurcentric view that the movement for women’s liberation is not indigenous to Asia and Africa, but has been a purely West European and North American phenomenon” (Nussbaum 267). She further contends that other international feminism models have been “merely imitative of Western models” (Nussbaum 267-268). Nussbaum believes that in addition to the clear silencing that women of color deal with in feminism, their contributions to early feminist movements are rarely acknowledged. This may serve as an explanation to why the disenfranchisement of women of color is such a widespread issue in our current feminist movement—if feminism is seen as being completely developed and defined by Anglo-Saxons, it would make sense that women of color are subjugated in a movement that was traditionally viewed as never theirs.

iggest issues with white feminism is how it allows white women to set the agenda on what issues matter.

One of the most well-known 21st century feminist movements is the Women’s March. However, the march, not surprisingly, played completely into white feminism. According to S.T. Holloway, an attendee of the Women’s March, one of the biggest issues with white feminism is how it allows white women to set the agenda on what issues matter. She writes that white feminism “fosters a culture in which millions protest when white women’s access to healthcare is threatened, but when black maternal death rates in the United States are on par with second and third world countries there is no national outrage or call for reform or worldwide protest” (Holloway). These issues are not only met by silent whites, but are also belittled by the seemingly larger and more important problems plaguing the white community. Holloway, like many black women, decided that she would no longer be attending women’s marches because she doesn’t want to lend her voice “to a movement or a brand of feminism that seeks to end the oppression of some of its members” while continuing “to aid in the oppression of others” (Holloway).

played completely into white feminism.

The power structures between black and white suffragists in the 20th century are still influencing how politicians view race and how certain subjects are able to gain leverage and others are disregarded completely.

While not exclusively dealing with feminism, the issues with Sanders’ campaigns shows how racial matters are only discussed or viewed as important when white people decided that they are—

After losing the 2016 democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, who was far more successful in reaching out to marginalized communities, Sanders decided that he would bring issues dealing with race to the forefront of his campaign promises.

Conversely, matters dealing with race were more foreign to him, and therefore were ignored almost completely (Ember).Although he marketed himself as a progressive candidate, he failed to reach out directly to the groups of people who could benefit most from his progressive campaign ideals.

Bernie Sanders, a 2016 presidential candidate, completely neglected black voters while campaigning. According to the New York Times, he “struggled to prioritize and execute a winning plan to build their [black voters’] support” (Ember).

While the problems to which feminism are geared have changed significantly since the early 20th century, the power structures at play are still very much the same.

the disenfranchisement of black women was seen as an exclusively race problem rather than a gender problem and therefore beyond the movement’s writ”

By usurping the stories of women of color and making them her own, Warren erased the real lived experiences of Native American women in an effort to not only benefit her campaign, but also to create a forged connection between herself and her women of color constituents

opposite of helping the fight against white supremacy

However, Osterheldt believes that a test to prove an identity that she doesn’t truly live with or deal with on a day-to-day basis is the opposite of helping the fight against white supremacy.

Warren decided to confront her issues

Jeneé Osterheldt

Elizabeth Warren

inaccurate

object of perception”

from a place of perceived understanding, their power in feminist society actually ends up further suppressing women of color

cares

it”

women of color completely incorrectly.

who oftentimes hold much of the power and voice within the feminist movement,

Mariana Ortega believes that there are several aspects of white feminism that keep women of color silenced. First there is the “arrogant perceiver” who “does not care to know about the object of perception” (Ortega 61). Alternately, and more complexly, she describes the “loving feminist”—the feminist who “knows and wants to know more about women of color,” but much of her knowledge is “inaccurate or may inadequately represent the experience of actual of women of color and therefore leads to ignorance” (Ortega 61).

serves to silence women of color

white feminism

Feminism, defined by Merriam-Webster as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes,” often appears to promote the rights of all women, regardless of their race.

college

If you were really blessed when a relative died