WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s comparisons of Islamic terrorism to the cowboys
and Indians stereotype drew fire from the National Congress of
American Indians on May 7.
In his presidential run announcement on
May 5, Huckabee said, “When I hear our current president say he
wants Christians to get off their high horse so we can make nice with
radical jihadists, I wonder if he can watch a western from the ‘50s
and be able to figure out who the good guys and the bad guys really
are.”
NCAI President Brian Cladoosby released
the following response in reaction to Governor Mike Huckabee’s
quote: “This week I learned about Governor Huckabee’s speech
announcing his candidacy for U.S. President and was dismayed to hear
him compare Native Americans to jihadists.”
“There are many things we have left
behind from the 1950’s, including overt racism and sexism. We hope
that the old trope of the Indians as the bad guys in Western movies
is also left behind. It is hurtful when public officials use
stereotypes of Indians as the ‘bad guys.’ Even if it is a
metaphorical expression, racial stereotypes should be avoided. It is
particularly hurtful to suggest that Americans should reflexively
identify images of Native people defending our homelands as the ‘bad
guys.’”
Eric Walker, Democratic National
Committee spokesperson, said in a statement to Indian Country Today
Media Network, which initially reported on the comparison, “Mike
Huckabee has spent his entire career offending Americans of all
stripes – African Americans, Jews, Mormons, LGBT Americans to name
a few – and now with these recent comments, he can add Native
Americans to this growing list,”
He continued, “Native Americans have
a proud heritage, and deserve better than to be compared to jihadists
as part of a GOP candidate’s cheap joke.”
Cladoosby echoed the sentiments in his
statement, saying, “Native Americans are the most committed to our
shared homeland. Nearly 24,000 American Indians are currently serving
in the U.S. Military, and there are an estimated 383,000 American
Indian and Alaska Native military veterans. According to the Oxford
Companion to American Military History, American Indians have the
highest record of military service per capita compared to any other
group in the United States.
What began the exchange was Obama’s
previous comments at the National Prayer Breakfast in February, “And
lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other
place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people
committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country,
slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of
Christ.”
