Silent Genocide (©Ralph P. Reed, 1998) Genocide is variously defined as the systematic destruction by a government of a racial, religious, or ethnic group. The United Nations International Law Commission Report of 1949 further defines several acts constituting genocide: killing members of a group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. These are all aspects of genocide, which we normally see as overt genocide with the forcible movement, indoctrination, assimilation or killing of an entire people. The goal of genocide is to destroy a people or their culture so they no longer exist as a people. These are the things we see. Silent genocide has the same purpose, to destroy a people or their culture so they no longer exist as a people, but it acts covertly instead of overtly. Its purpose is still the same, however it's done so that few other than the people being destroyed know what is happening. Silent genocide is pervasive and acts in many ways with the ultimate goal being to cause people to become ashamed of their cultures so that they will cease to admit, even to themselves, that they are something other than one of the majority. With the loss of their culture, a people then no longer exists as a people, and the goal of silent genocide has been accomplished. Schools, either knowingly or unknowingly help accomplish the goal of silent genocide. One way is seen in the education and curriculum of most American schools. This is the way in which schools separate the concepts of personal and professional growth in school, and the manner in which children are taught about Native Americans in their classrooms. Personal growth is an individual's growth in and increasing understanding of the community within which he or she lives. This separation personal and educational growth often causes raises tremendous barriers for Native American children as they attempt to define proper goals and principles from two separated parts of the educational system. It would seem that in American society personal growth and value definition are delayed until one reaches some measure of professional standing and is then able to develop personal principles. The problem arises because in traditional Indian society there is no separation between the knowledge of professional experience and personal growth. This often raises an "… insurmountable barrier for many Indian students and raises severe emotional problems as they seek to sort out the proper principles from two isolated parts of human experience" (Deloria, p. 21). As a result, in order to succeed in a modern American school, Native American students must either deny or suppress their cultural heritage and teaching in order to seem like one of the majority. As part of their social studies and history classes children are taught about Native Americans, usually as part of history with little leading up to modern day society. The problems here arise when children are taught that Native Americans were a homogeneous people across the North American continent and specifically across what is now the continental United States. Too often a teacher will provide an example of Native American life incorporating aspects from several different cultures across the continent. Students may see a diorama of Plains Indians incorporating canoes from the Northeast and a totem from the Northwest combined with the teepees from the Central Plains. Either through misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge, teachers are perpetuating the idea that all Native Americans were and are the same. This idea of sameness helps lead to the destruction of Native American culture and the assimilation of a people into the society of the majority, a goal of silent genocide. Another manner in which silent genocide is used in schools today is by using Native Americans as mascots for sports teams. This degrading practice is not just relegated to professional sports teams, but is active at elementary, middle and high schools as well as universities across the country. An example is seen in this recent image depicting the mascot of a Wisconsin public school. The Native American is held up to ridicule as a misshapen person. Such images of mascots are similar in content to those images used during efforts to arouse public ridicule during overt genocide practices in our recent history. Similar images of Jews were seen in Germany prior to and during World War II. A Native American child cannot develop a good level of self-esteem when confronted with their heritage being held up as an object of ridicule. It is also extremely difficult for a Native American child (or any child for that matter) to attain a high level of achievement while having a low level of self worth or self-esteem, as "… it is clear that average grade shares a traditionally reciprocal relationship with self-concept, one feeding off the other, and vice versa" (Wood & Clay, p. 54). In conclusion, silent genocide is the destruction of a people by destroying pride and knowledge in their cultural heritage. Schools, either knowingly or unknowingly contribute to this destruction. They unknowingly contribute to this by causing students to deny their heritage in order to seem like one of the majority and thereby succeed in school. They also unknowingly contribute through a lack of understanding of Native American peoples and cultures; a lack of understanding that is perpetuated through the classroom. Schools knowingly contribute to this destruction by using Native Americans as mascots, in many cases setting them up for ridicule as misshapen objects or people. References Deloria, V. (1991). Indian education in America. Bolder, CO: American Indian Science & Engineering Society. Iron Wing, C. & Richter, M. (1997). American comments: a web magazine. McPherson and Wichita, KS: IronWing's Children. Retrieved July 11, 1998 from the World Wide Web: http://www.iwchildren.org . (NOTE: This reference is published strictly on line.) Wood, P. & Clay, W. (1996). Perceived structural barriers and academic performance among American Indian high school students. Youth and Society, 28(1), 40-61.