Glorifying imperialism with yellow ribbons

[bloom]

We would do well to consider our symbols. To consider whom and what we glorify in this world. Recently it was reported that the Amish...

...never use anything shiny, such as a zipper or a metal button, specifically because those things are so common on military uniforms. And the men, from the day of their marriage, grow a beard but not a moustache, because having both would too closely mirror generals of the past who they regard as tyrannical.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2385608,00.html

While we may not go to the extremes that the Amish go to - we should at least be cognizant of what some symbols mean to others. People may like to think of the yellow ribbon as a wish for their soldiers to come home safe. To some it is a symbol of death (of genocide, even) - as are most military symbols, essentially. The story....

Democracy Now! interview with Glenn Morris & Glenn Spagnuolo (this is just from the end of the interview).

GLENN MORRIS: To us, that represents this continuing ideology, this hegemony that Chomsky talks about. And it is confirmation that Rumsfeld and Cheney and the Rumsfeld-Cheney doctrine around the world is an expression that began -- an expression of policy that began with Columbus, continued through the entire Indian war period of the United States and continues today. If you look at this picture, you'll see that Rumsfeld is giving a speech, sending off U.S. soldiers from Fort Carson, which is itself, a semiotic -- you know, this symbolism of colonialism. Kit Carson was not a hero to native people. Kit Carson was an Indian killer. He caused the relocation of Diné people to Bosque Redondo. He engaged in the Sacramento River Massacre in the 1840s. So Kit Carson was not a heroic figure either.

AMY GOODMAN: How was Kit Carson connected to Fort Carson?

GLENN MORRIS: It's named after Kit Carson. Fort Carson is named after Kit Carson. So Rumsfeld is giving this speech at Fort Carson, about to send off these soldiers immediately behind him to Iraq, but behind those soldiers is the color guard for Fort Carson. And you'll notice that they're in different uniforms. They're in the uniforms of the Indian wars, of the 1870s, ’80s and ’90s. And those soldiers represent the continuity, the soldiers immediately behind Rumsfeld represent the continuity of the Indian wars. That is expressed by the color guard, still dressed in the uniform of Custer, of Sheridan, of Crook, of the other Indian killers of the 19th century.

And if you look at the picture, you'll see that those soldiers have yellow kerchiefs around their neck. So all of these people that have the support the troops magnets on their car that are yellow ribbons? That's the genesis of that, that they even made -- I believe it was 1949 -- John Wayne made a movie with John Ford called She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and the tradition of those yellow ribbons is that the cavalry that would go out to kill Indians, before they left, they would take that yellow kerchief off, tie it in their wife or their girlfriend's hair, and say, "You wear this until I come back safely from killing Indians." So the Indian wars continue even in these little icons. That's hegemony. It's so impervious -- I mean, it's so pervasive in this society that we don't even recognize it. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258

Glenn Morris, a member of the Leadership Council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. I am ashamed to say I didn't know this.

[paparush]

2. You mean its NOT because of Toni Orlando and Dawn?

[VioletLake]

3. Here in Pittsburgh,

most of the yellow ribbons are for the Steelers. LOL

[Solly Mack]

4. Much appreciated. Thank you for posting this

[VioletLake]

5. Kicking this right on the ribbon. n/t