[b said:
Quote[/b] (rattler_mt @ April 05 2005,10:40)]the natives here(lived on a Rez for all but 6 months of my life) in general are decent enough folk. my family has been in the area for most of a 90 years so i have cousins and "aunts& uncles" who are indian. however on the stealing of the land, i dont think they have a leg to stand on in that respect here as alot of them sold their land they owned here on the rez to us white folk now approx 1/3 the land on the rez isnt owned by the indians as that 1/3 thought beer money was more important(i am not exaggerating on this point anyone who thinks i am i invite to come spend a week with me and i will prove it). i watch ppl on wellfare go to the casinos EVERY week to spend their wellfare check and leave there kids home alone to fend for themselves with minimal to eat. i have heard 12 year old native girls say they cant wait to get pregnant and have a kid so they can get a check every month and not have to work for it. i have seen high school kids given a full ride through college say "to hell with work im going back to the Rez where i dont have to do anything".
What you describe here could easily apply to any "race." There are whites that behave this exact way and there are blacks that behave this exact way and there are hispanics that behave this exact way.
I lived in a trailor park for 3 years while I was a raft guide and I got to see all of this and more from my white neighbors. Ask anyone down here about the back country folk and you get the same description for the "rednecks." He!!, have you watched Jerry Springer?!? Tell me those people don't match that description to a tea!
I guess that is why it bugged me so much. I assumed that you were making your statment based on your observation but it was that you applied the activities of a few to the greater whole. If someone were to pass judgment on me based on what they saw on Springer I'd be just as peeved. I guess lining in the South now I am more aware of this sort of thing given the greater cross section I see here. I had a serious row with my mother when she visited because she remarked one too many times how few whites there were in my neighborhood. And I even invited my grandma to leave when she said she would not go out on the deck while "those people" were out in their yard next door.
Rattler, I know you did not mean to offend me, and I am not holding it against you (in fact, I didn't even know it was you as I only read the post and not who posted.) And I can understand what you are saying, especially about being jaded, but I think you hit the nail on the head with your last sentence:
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]at least in my lil corner of the world.
It is the happenings of your little corner that influence how you feel. It is just an unfortunate side effect of reality that little corners often collect the worst junk (you should see the corners of my sunroom, water trays, car consoul, garage, bathroom, etc.) And I am not saying that you are junk, just that living in your little corner means you have the junk that is there. Believe me, my little corner has a ton of junk too.