Native Americans in a Pickle

Throughout America's history, Native Americans have been treated unfairly and marginalized. They haven't had the same educational opportunities, they're extremely stereotyped and thus, are in a pickle. 

One example of a Native American that has been through a lot of stereotyping and has faced a lot of unequal treatment is Sherman Alexie. In "Indian Education," he tells the reader how he was stereotyped during his school years. For example, Alexie says in second grade his teacher "gave me a test designed for junior high students. When I spelled all the words right, she crumpled up the paper and made me eat it." Even in second grade Alexie was being treated unfairly, even by teachers. Another example is another story by Alexie, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." In this story, Alexie tells the reader about one of the many times he was the victim of stereotyping. One night Alexie walks to a 7-11 and when he walks in, he can see the cashier as he eyes him suspiciously, watching him, afraid he'll shoot or rob him. Alexie recognizes this look and realizes that because of his dark skin and long hair, he fits the stereotype and decides to have a little fun. He walks through the store, looking down the aisles, and doesn't answer the clerk's questions right away just to make him nervous. When he gets to the counter, the clerk turns his back and asks him to clarify which size Slurpee he wanted and Alexie plays with his mind but the cashier notices. Alexie then jokes with him and reveals that he was just playing off of the stereotype. Just because he had dark skin and long hair didn't mean that he was "bad news" or going to shoot the cashier.

Another example of unequal treatment and marginalization of people from history is how African Americans were treated and regarded as lower than white people. To explain, African Americans definitely did not have all of the same opportunities that white people had, such as colleges or careers. They were also marginalized in that they were discriminated against just because of their skin color and weren't getting paid the same amount as white people were for the same jobs, and they could only use bathrooms and schools that were "black only."