Essentialism 1NC

The affirmatives references about Native Americans as grouping them creates a cultural essentialism,
which further stereotypes and silences individual voices
Noriko Ishiyama, Ph.D. Candidate, Rutgers University Department of Geography, !"#"#04,
$EN%&R'N(EN)*+ ,U-)&CE *ND *(ER&C*N &ND&*N )R&.*+ -'%ERE&GN)/0 C*-E -)UD/
'1 * +*ND2U-E C'N1+&C) &N -3U++ %*++E/, U)*45 __http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~
enviro/AMERICANINDIAN.DOC__
Some indigenous grassroots activists have adopted the romanticized ethnic identity of American
Indians as stewards of the environment for the purpose of ustifying their right to self!determination
in environmental management" They have utilized 6hat Pulido 71889: ;alls ecological
legitimacy rooted in cultural essentialism to empower and establish solidarity in the movement. )om
Goldtooth asserted0 )here are ideologi;al differen;es 6ith the mentality of our &ndian relatives 6ho have
de;ided to follo6 the *meri;an dream. )he *meri;an dream is a<out money and po6er. &t is a<out o6ning
the land. &ndigenous Peoples dont think this 6ay. =e are only ;aretakers of this great sa;red
land.>?11 #ultural essentialism in the formation of American!Indian identities has played a
significant role in developing the environmental ustice movement. Nevertheless, it has promoted the
problematic generalization of a culturally diverse population according to the stereotype and
dismissed voices of those who do not share the same ecological views" This tension concerning tribal
sovereignty intertwined with the definition of American!Indian ethnic identities establishes the
conte$t of intensified political battles ;on;erning the -kull %alley land2use de<ate
%The &in' is (roved through their evidence about a single tribe in which they tag as all Native
Americans)
*ssentialism is racism
Ronald de Sousa, PhD7Prin;eton:, 1ello6 of the Royal -o;iety of Canada, Philosophy of emotions,
philosophy of mind, philosophy of <iology, @"8"+,, University of )oronto$=E &- ')4ER0 Group
Essentialism and the ParadoA of )oleran;e5 __http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ sousa/toerance.ht!__
-o, out 6ith the first of my sho;king ;laims0 ho6ever mu;h it might <e politi; at parti;ular pla;es and
times to pretend other6ise, there is no such thing as a -lac', no such thing as a .ay, no such thing as a
/ew, no such thing as a 0oman, no such thing as an Aboriginal, in fa;t, no such thing as an 1 for
AN2 1 that has ever been constituted as an oppressed group" No6 <efore you rush me or rush out,
allo6 me to Bualify and to eAplain. )o Bualify0 o<viously & donCt mean to ;laim that no personCs skin is
darker than others. '<viously & donCt mean to deny that some people have a seAual preferen;e for people
6hose anatomy is ;onfigured on one plan rather than another. Nor do & ;laim that no one has re;ent
an;estors 6ho lived on the *meri;an ;ontinent <efore it 6as invaded <y Europeans. *nd so on. Rather, the
point is this0 the e$clusions of which those various groups have been the victims have always been
morally wrong precisely because they were the result of e$tending putative differences in all 'inds of
factually gratuitous directions from the point of departure represented by the original
uncontroversial difference. *nd since most of the e$cluded groups have been identified first by
opposition to some other group in a position to oppress them, their identity as a group is largely
owed, not to themselves, <ut to those who have e$cluded and oppressed them. *dopting the identity first
foisted on one ;an, to <e sure, <e a splendid gesture of defian;e0 thus throughout history groups of people
have adopted as a 6ar ;ry 6hat 6as originally the denigrating slur foisted on them <y others0 22 6itness
D6higC, DBueerC, D;roneC, et;. *s a politi;al strategy this ;an <e fineE it ;an also <e fine, up to a point, as a
psy;hologi;al antidote to the demeaning po6er of eA;lusionary slurs. .ut 6hat & am arguing is that to
accept such identities fully and literally as even partly defining one3s own individual being is to give
in to precisely the racism that was responsible for the original problem" *;tually, & think every F
PR&DE movement is essentially guilty of Gust the 2ism that it it is allegedly reGe;ting. &f you are proud of
<eing 6hite, you are a ra;ist. &f you are proud of <eing <la;k, you are also a ra;ist. 4o6 ;an it <e other6ise,
if ra;ism is the essentialist <elief that your important properties are determined <y your mem<ership in a
ra;eH &f you are proud to <e a man, or of <eing heteroseAual, you are a seAist. &f you are proud of <eing a
6oman, or of <eing gay, you are a seAist. 1or in anessential 22 or rather essentialist 22 sense, groups don3t
e$ist, and so no one can owe their essence to the fact that they belong to one group rather than
another" )o repeat my dis;laimer on;e again 7a6are as & am that in this ;onteAt Ddis;laimerC may sound like
something of a dirty 6ord:0 & am far from denying the psy;hologi;al and politi;al reality of groups.I
Groups are all too real. .y and large, groups are even more stupid, primitive, and murderous than
individuals. )hey are all too real, most importantly, in one anotherCs mem<ersC minds. Politi;al a;tion of all
kinds is <ound to and indeed needs to eAploit this fa;t. .ut my plea is this0 Even if you have a politi;al need
to emphasiJe your DDgroup identityCC, do not ;on yourself into <elieving it. )he premise of my argument is
this0 mem<ership in a group <y itself says nothing a<out ACs nature as an individual. D/our people did this or
that to my people,C says A to y0 ;ru;ified Christ, enslaved my an;estors, 22 6hatCs the real meaning of Dmy
peopleC, Dyour peopleCH )he designation is little more than mystifi;ation. 1or it 6asnCt literally & 6ho did it,
nor 6as it done to me. 'n the other hand, & share 6ith <oth those 6ho did it and those 6ho endured it
6hatever is true of all humansE and history strongly suggests that this is not something anyone should <e
espe;ially eager to <oast of.