Minority Students

“Kill the Indian and save the man.” I remember first reading those words in a high school class during a discussion of the terrible Americanization policies. The cultural violence of the phrase still shakes me, especially as a native of Washington with its rich indigenous history and no stranger to the tragic “before and after” photographs of “civilized” Native American children. Unfortunately, as the Seattle Times reported yesterday, that phrase still echoes its painful cadence in education and the legacy of Indian boarding schools.