In English class, we revisited a movie almost everyone has seen at least once a a child, Pocahontas. In particular, we focused on the song "Savages," that from what I remember didn't raise any red flags, but upon closer investigation, we found that the interpretation of Native Americans was quite offensive. Phrases such as "their skins a hellish red," "they're only good when dead" and "barely even human" give a negative depiction of the natives as "savages" and play into those negative stereotypes, victimizing the white man and villainizing the native. The natives depict the colonizers as "killers at the core" and "cold blooded," showing their take on the white man. I chose to put this class activity under "Recognize Perspectives" because this gives a good interpretation of what each group thought of each other, although the interpretations can be quite biased and racist. This answers my question because it shows the way that the colonizers couldn't stand to have a racially diverse community, and resorted to violence as a means to maintain a racially homogenous community.
MLA Citations:
Goldberg, Eric and Gabriel, Mike. "Pocahontas." 23 June 1995.
MLA Citations:
Goldberg, Eric and Gabriel, Mike. "Pocahontas." 23 June 1995.