Racist Early Childhood Texts
There are so many kids' alphabet products that contain the text "I is for igloo". So what's wrong with that? Damn these do-gooders! Is everything offensive to some pathetic oppressed group these days?
In this case, yes. Especially when indigenous culture is given animal status, as in the following alphabetical list, in which "igloo" is the only non-animal entry:
"alligator, bee, cat, dog, elephant, fish, gorilla, hippo, igloo, kangaroo, lamb, mouse, pig, quail, rabbit, swan, turtle, unicorn, vulture, worm, yak, zebra"
Does this list of animals with an indigenous dwelling thrown in teach children from an early age to regard indigenous peoples and cultures as animalistic and therefore sub-human? Or am I reading too much into this?
Racist Advertisements
And how about this excerpt from an advertisement for "Grape Nuts" (a digestion aid) in Munsey's Magazine:
"Don't Be An Esquimaux. Dullness is a racial characteristic of the only people who don't cook their food, viz - the Equimaux. Cooking is simply a stage in pre-digestion. The more pre-digested food is before it is eaten, the less energy will it take from Brain Power, during the process of digestion."
Clearly, this text frames indigenous culture as backward, primitive, unhealthy and ignorant or "dull". It also specifically defines these negative traits as "racial characteristic(s)".
Racist TV Shows
A more recent example of demeaning Inuit portrayals in popular culture can be found in the TV show Gilmore Girls, specifically the 2/10 episode, in which the character of Lorelai uses ethnic stereotypes of Inuit people to joke about the cold weather. She complains,
"Cold, cold, cold cold cold. Icy feet, stupid frozen-tundra house.
[Sees someone sleeping on couch.]
Oh.
Honey, why are you sleeping in here? Your room is way warmer.
Okay, here is the question for today, kids: What the hell are the Eskimos thinking? I mean, yes, the hoods are cute, but it's always cold-always. Plus you have to eat fish for breakfast, and you have to eat whales, and polar bears, and penguins, and Santa Claus."
The Cumulative Effect
It can hardly be denied that the cumulative effect of all these negative stereotypes is not merely a few offended natives, but rather an overwhelming public perception of Inuit peoples as genetically and culturally inferior beings, perpetuating horrific social inequity.
