Gyasi Ross: Support Quechan skate park and self-determination

See, some condescending and insulting white man named Dan Snyder was willing to help them with their suicide problem IF they were willing to play ball. Lie. Say that the condescending and insulting white man was NOT, in fact, condescending and insulting. Pretend that he likes Native people—some of his best friends are Indian. Pretend that the Redskins name isn’t insulting and pretend that they’re cool with it.

That’s all that they had to do—play along and that man, Dan Snyder, will give them hush money to prevent suicide within their communities. Just like he did with so many other impoverished Native communities, Dan Snyder came to Kwatsan Media, Inc. (a California incorporated non-profit created by a group of Quechan Tribal Members) and offered them money to build the skate park. (No, not the Quechan Tribe—he came to a group of the Tribal members, because that’s his tactic: divide and conquer. Offer them hush money.) He figured that they were helpless, so of course they would take.

But instead, these Quechan Tribal members were so principled that they said, “We are not going to take this blood money, this hush money. We are going to work to end suicide within our communities AND we are going to do it in a manner consistent with our tribal values: integrity, strength, self-determination. Indian Country will have our back.”

And they did that. These Quechan people refused Dan Snyder’s blood money—that is a matter of fact. Now we need to show that we can do more than simply complain and snipe when Tribes accept that bribe money—we gotta show we will likewise support our people when they show strength.