Native Americans

There are many different explanations of Critical Race Theory (CRT), each one designed to fit a particular agenda. Here is an example of how it works and why it is hard to clearly explain. A social studies class is reading about the way the native American Indians were treated by the early colonist. The religion and the economic systems of the English were used to force the Indians off of their land. The Indians rebelled and many were killed because the colonist had superior weapons. While the Indians excessively killed buffalo the white hunters almost destroyed the whole species. The teacher may say that in North, South and Central America 56 million Indians were killed but not include the fact that in North American 8 million Indians died and this was mostly from diseases like small pox as opposed to guns. This is because the Spanish who invaded Central and South America were more likely to kill Indians. Some teachers will end the lesson at that point and this leaves the white students feeling guilty about something they had nothing to do with and happened many years before they were born. The lesson should not end there. The lesson could have continued by pointing out that long before the colonist arrived the Indians tribes were constantly at war with one another and the men would be killed and the women taken as slaves. It could be pointed out that the life expectancy of Native Americans has doubled from 35 years to 75 years since the colonist arrived. Since the mid 1800's the government has been returning stolen land to the Indians. Today native Americans have access to education and health care that was not available in times past. 25% of Indians have associate or bachelors degrees. There is much more that could be said to help balance the story and leave the students with a different feeling. The question is what kind of picture is the teacher trying to portray?