Explain how the experiences of Native Americans have been different from those of other racial and ethnic groups in the United States

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Native Americans have been the victims of genocide and forced migration. Many Native Americans were either massacred or died from European diseases (such as typhoid, smallpox, and measles) and starvation. In battle, Native Americans were often no match for the Europeans, who had modern weaponry. Europeans justified their aggression by stereotyping the Native Americans as "savages." After the Revolutionary War, the federal government offered treaties to the Native Americans so that more of their land could be acquired for the growing white population. The government broke treaty after treaty as it engaged in a policy of wholesale removal of indigenous nations in order to clear the land for settlement by Anglo-Saxon "pioneers." The "Trail of Tears," during the winter of 1832, resulted in over half of the Cherokee Nation dying. Native Americans are the most disadvantaged racial or ethnic group in the United States in terms of income, employment, housing, nutrition, and health. The life chances of Native Americans who live on reservations are especially limited. They have the highest rate of infant mortality and death by exposure and malnutrition. They also have high rates of alcoholism and suicide. Native Americans have had very limited educational opportunities and have a very high rate of unemployment. Moreover, reinterpretation of federal law in the 1990s has made it possible for Native American nations to open lucrative cigarette shops, bingo halls, and casino gambling operations on reservations.