Native Americans and Indians Revised

Native Americans/Indians
Student’s name
Institution affiliation
Social/Economic/Political status factors
There are about 6.6 million native Americans and Indians. Despite that, they are scattered all across the country and in remote areas. Following that, their power to participate in public activities such as voting was always less compared to other groups until 1965 (Turkewitz, 2018). The Congress enacted the Voting Rights Acts that prohibited elections that discriminated against people based on race. Since the 19th century, the Indians and natives remained unrecognized and of low social position until the reorganization in 1934 (Wunder, 2004). There are various policies targeting the Indians and native Americans such as free health and providing help to families with needy children (Prucha, 1985). In 1984, there was a program that aimed at helping the Indians and natives relocate to urban centers where there are more jobs to help raise their economic status in the society.
Overt and Covert mechanisms of oppression
The native Americans and Indians undergo oppression which targets at privileging the whites over people of the color Churchill, 2004). The discrimination on the above perspective discourages merging of people across the country which inhibits both social and economic activities that might be of importance (Jones, 2017). The social environment Justice as the natives is criminalized at a higher rate than the whites just because of their color (Ross, & Gould, 2015).

Current social/political concerns experienced by the native Americans/Indians.
All the above comes from the mentality that the society has regarding the groups. The use of the word “minority groups” induces the feeling of inferiority in the people surrounding the Indians and the native Americans (Coates, 2011). The native Americans and Indians are marginalized and face severe treatment both from the government and politics (“One-on-One Interview”, 2008). The poverty rates among the groups ranged around 43% in 2014 which is an increase from the 2000 census which indicated rates of 18%. The above comes from unemployment among the men and women among the groups. That adds to another social problem of drug and substance abuse in the community where they do it as a form of console. Natives continue losing their land, and there is overexploitation of resources which risks their existence (Crawford, 1998). By 2010, only about half of the Native Americans/Indians were literate. That results in a social problem developed by the political disparity of the federal government’s failure to fund their education. Other issues that the communities are facing included poor living conditions and compromised access to health care (Thornton, 1998). Illiteracy and limited resources from the government impede economic, social and environmental justice of the group as they do not know how the modern world operates. Since the 19th century, the government has come up with mandates and policies which impacted on the group’s social, economic and environmental welfare. Some of the oppressive policies include portioning of their land and placement of the native children in segregated centers. However, there were revolutions in 1978 which overturned the policies, and there are no mandates that have impacted on the lives of Native Americans/Indians from 2000 to the present.
References;
Coates, R. D. (2011). Covert Racism: Theories, Institutions, and Experiences. Leiden: BRILL.
Crawford, M. H. (1998). The origins of Native Americans: Evidence from anthropological genetics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Churchill, W. (2004). Kill the Indian, save the man: The genocidal impact of American Indian residential schools. San Francisco: City Lights.
Jones, S. (2017). A Call for a Language Shift: From Covert Oppression to Overt Empowerment – UConn Today. Retrieved from https://today.uconn.edu/school-stories/call-language-shift-covert-oppression-overt-empowerment/
Thornton, R. (Ed.). (1998). Studying Native America: Problems and Prospects. Univ of Wisconsin Press.
One-on-One Interview with Russell Means. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/One-on One_Interview_with_Russell_Means_4313.shtmlPrucha, F. P. (1985). The Indians in American society: From the Revolutionary War to the present (Vol. 29). Univ of California Press.
Ross, J. I., & Gould, L. (2015). Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System: Theoretical and Policy Directions. Routledge.
Turkewitz, J. (2018). For Native Americans, a ‘Historic Moment’ on the Path to Power at the Ballot Box. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/native-american-voting-rights.html
Wunder, J. R. (2004). Native American Sovereignty. Routledge.