Who's Who: Exploring the Discrepancy between the Methods of Defining African Americans and Native Americans

Abstract

Our society is one of classifications and separations. When it comes to people, the dominant culture has struggled to make sure everyone fits into a specific category. Historically, non-whites have been defined by white culture according to their function in American society.2 The Native American was categorized as a wild animal that could be tamed; the African American was categorized as a draft animal that could be harnessed and put to use.3 While people are no longer classified by the dominant society as one animal or another, classifications persist in our society and, despite holding ourselves out to the rest ofthe world to be a melting pot of cultures and blind to racial differences, these rigid racial definitions persist. Particularly in the case of African Americans and Native Americans, these racial definitions have far reaching effects. But who gets to decide within which racial category an individual falls? How does that person decide who is a member of each racial category and, therefore, the recipient of both the positive and negative consequences that come with being Native American or African American? Is it even possible to determine who's who as far as racial categories are concerned? This comment will explore these questions. It will explore how Native Americans and African Americans have typically been defined in our country.