America Authenticus

In the Indian world, reservations, and their residents, are invariably viewed as being more authentically Indian than urban areas and their indigenous residents. Republicans often use a similar type of language to valorize small towns as being the most authentically American. But a supermajority of Americans are actually urban. Take a look at this: fhwa.dot.gov. In 2000, fifty-eight percent of Americans lived in urban areas over 200,000 population. And if you include urban areas of more than 50,000 people then seventy-eight percent of Americans can be defined as urban. According to that same census, sixty-six percent of Native Americans live in urban areas. Because of various social, political, and economic factors, the United States is becoming even more urban. I would guess that the next census will reveal that over eighty percent of Americans and seventy percent of Natives live in urban areas. What does this mean? Well, first of all, it means that many Americans are terminally nostalgic, but it also means that many Indians are terminally nostalgic.

Sherman Alexie

Posted over on Falls Apart