Childhood Indians: Television, Film and Sustaining the White (Sub)Conscience

Description

Using race theory| film studies| colonialist and post-colonialist literature| while studying a cross-section of cinematic Indian depictions in westerns aired over the past seven decades| Raul Chavez has sought to explain how the western film genre have influenced viewers| in particular the Baby-Boomer generation of the 1950s| ’60s and ’70s to internalize the misrepresented movie depiction of Indians as representative of the real “Indian.” These Indian depictions| his “childhood Indians|” sustain the subliminally accepted white supremacist imagery that deny Natives their rightful place in American society.
The White (sub)Conscience allows Americans to continue to assault Native sovereignty and self-determination as a result of anachronistic misrepresentations of “Indian|” Americans accept as genuine.
The White (sub)Conscience has institutionalized the “childhood Indian” perception of Natives| ensuring that a subsequent generation of Americans will recognize the white supremacist concept of “Indian.” This work will assist in developing a critical analysis of contemporary America| recognizing related institutionalized race themes| and raising more questions that can contribute to understanding the harmful effects of this behavior and forming concepts to remedy this harmful national canon.