To think racist stereotypes shouldn't feature in a school play?

[LadyFuckrington]

Went to see dd in her play last night and was pretty horrified by the 'Indians' dressed in feathered headgear and talking like um how.

I sat there with my mouth open because it had shades of 'blacking up' and just didn't sit well with me.

Am I being ridiculous? Dd was a cowboy in the play, which was set in the Wild West and they all did terrible American accents, but the whole pidgin English representation of the native Americans speech made me wince. That and the fact they were listed in the flyer as Indians.

Aibu? I feel like complaining to the school really but I'm not well at the moment and can't tell if I'm overreacting.

[TravellingToad]

You can't actually breathe anymore without the PC brigade over reacting. The term "professionally offended" comes to mind.

[ilovesooty]

It ought to be perfectly possible to put on a school play without stereotyping like this.

PC brigade
Professionally offended

Here we go. Those terms as far as I can see are usually used by people who simply want the freedom to be offensive.

[BeatieBo]

YABU. Many native Americans refer to themselves as Indians.There is no need to be offended on their behalf!

[LadyFuckrington]

Many black people refer to themselves as the n word, it doesn't make it ok.

I just think the play could have been done without the offensive stereotyping.

[ilovesooty]

The description of the speech sounds like stereotyping to me.

[Dawndonnaagain]

You can't actually breathe anymore without the PC brigade over reacting. The term "professionally offended" comes to mind.
The term fuck off comes to mind.

YABU. Many native Americans refer to themselves as Indians.There is no need to be offended on their behalf!

My daughter refers to her wheelchair as her spaz chariot. Doesn't give you the right to do the same.

OP Of course it was racist and you really should be having words with the school.

[BeatieBo]

Yes but you won't find "spaz chariot" in official documents regarding wheelchairs. You will find the term Indian used officially in America though.

[GoodbyeToAllOfThat]

Yes but you won't find "spaz chariot" in official documents regarding wheelchairs. You will find the term Indian used officially in America though.

I'm American and I'm pretty certain people who know better use the term "Native American". "Indian" is, after all, a mistake of geography made by the colonists who went on to exterminate 20 million "Indians".

[owlborn]

I cringed just reading that.

And "PC gone mad" is the mating cry of the frustrated bigot. I note the majority of the people complaining about all this offence taking don't have bigotry aimed at them.

[ElkTheory]

YANBU. I would definitely raise it with the school.

[Dawndonnaagain]

Yes but you won't find "spaz chariot" in official documents regarding wheelchairs. You will find the term Indian used officially in America though.
Funny that, because despite doing my Phd dissertation on the demise of the native american, it's not a term I ever found, although admittedly, it was over twenty years ago.

[Muskey]

You would think the school should know better.

[ifgrandmahadawilly]

YABU. Seems like a bit of an over the top reaction to me tbh.

[AmberFool]

You will find the term Indian used officially in America though.

Er, no. Officially it's Native American.

[AmberFool]

You will find the term Indian used officially in America though.

Er, no. Just no. Officially it's Native American.

[ghostyslovesheep]

blimey why not just go the whole hog and call them redskins

seriously yabu - there are always people who try to diminish casual racism and sexism - often they are the casual racists - I would complain

that said I complained about the 'native black man in a grass skirt' with a bone through his nose painted on the school nursery wall - nothing happend

[AmberFool]

Stupid PC, thought first post had not posted. Grr.

[ghostyslovesheep]

has you PC gorn mad Amber

[ElkTheory]

BTW Indian is fine, as long as it wasn't Red Indian (horrible). Indian and Native American tend to be used interchangeably in the US. In Canada the term First Nations is often used.

But teaching children that Indians actually speak in that old Hollywood style fake broken English is utterly unacceptable and should be challenged IMO.

[derxa]

I'm not remotely PC. I'm a teacher and I find the description of the play disgusting. I could not imagine putting this play on stage in a million years.

[SkodaLabia]

I'm with you OP, I went to a dance show recently where there was a routine with the kids dressed up in grass skirt type costumes. In both the narration and the programme they were referred to as 'Savages'.

[Lurkedforever1]

I think the difference in being a 'red Indian' is that for lots of the children I know, including my own, being a red Indian is something great, outside the ordinary and beyond any daily experience of different cultures. Whereas being any colour or religion that is reasonably common in the uk, isn't unusual, good or bad, or something viewed through rose tinted glasses as a game, it's just everyday and irrelevant. Like if I told her and her friends the race/religion/colour of my work colleagues they'd think I'd gone mad, whereas if I said I worked with an Eskimo or red Indian they'd be fascinated. And of course as far as comparing it to 'blacking up' to say act uncle toms cabin out goes, no child would ever think the slave trade was something to admire or relevant to how they view 'black' today.
Not saying that makes it ok or in a place where native Americans live today it would be acceptable ( because then they'd be a normal modern part of daily experience) but for most of the UKs kids I suspect that's not the case.