Andrea describes how native groups and people of color used to organize themselves around common areas of oppression, but that this became an unhealthy way to connect—a sort of Oppression Olympics. Recognizing that not all groups were oppressed in the same way, Andrea says the question became not who was most oppressed, but how were we distinctly oppressed, and how were we complicit in others oppression?

She describes the three pillars of white supremacy: slavability, genocide, and orientalism. Slavability stems from anti-black racism where everyone is viewed as a commodity but with a color hierarchy. The anchor of this pillar is capitalism. The second pillar of genocide has the underlying thinking that native peoples job is to disappear so that the incoming colonists can claim ownership of the land. The anchor of this pillar is colonialism. The final pillar, orientalism, is the belief that there is a perpetual foreign threat that must be fought. The foreigners are not thought of as slaves; they are not dead; but a threat that must be continually rallied against. The anchor for this pillar is war. With these new understandings, oppressed communities can organize around strategic alliances and understand how they fit in the larger economy in which we live.

If this sounds a little academic, Andrea moves from theory to real life when she describes the church-run boarding schools for Native American children which she believes were one of the most destructive US policies to native people. Often the coverage of problems in native groups shows the bad things happening to the population, but doesnt give the context or the background about why its happening. The suggestion is that native groups are an inherently dysfunctional people, or culture. Andrea links this dysfunction to the generation of Native American children that were sent to Christian boarding schools at the age of 5 or 6, and not allowed to return home—with the ultimate goal of cultural genocide. This generation of children was not parented, and worse, was subjected to starvation and routine physical, sexual and emotional abuse. When they finished school at 18, they went home to teach what they knew—abuse and violation—to the next generation of native children. And from there the cycle of destruction from within began.

Andreas hope is that the story native peoples oppression can be told. If we dont help bring the issue to light, it will continue to be a covered-up history that no one really knows about. We have the chance to drop the barriers of our differences, help make the issue known, and ask for reparation for boarding school survivors.

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