Valentine's Day: A Celebration of Love?
Children all over the United States enjoy a party on Valentine's Day where they decorate boxes with white butcher paper and red heart-shaped doilies into which little cards are distributed by the teachers. I remember those parties with a great deal of pleasure even though I shamefully admit to giving the kids I didn't like so much the cards with skunks or Barney Rubble on them.
I am a person who has a passion for all things vintage and so naturally some of the things I love to collect are old paper Valentines, the type that we would give to our classmates at school parties. This interest has led me to look for them on sites such as ebay and etsy and I would like to share some that I have found that are very disturbing.
What is Native Appropriation?
If you are not a Native American, it is easy to look at the following valentines and think they are cute. Adorable round faced children with wide eyes are dressed in traditional Indian garments with a Valentine message of love. Those of us who are native, don’t find them so cute. You may not be familiar with the idea of native appropriation but according to the Native Appropriations blogspot, it is “the use of indigenous cultures, traditions, languages, and images in popular culture, advertising, and everyday life.”
This sounds flattering, but it is not. It is a continuation of the dominant European culture robbing us. Margo Thunderbird, an activist of the Shinnecock Nation who holds a language camp for native children in New York, explains why the white man’s hijacking of a culture for advertising is wrong: “They came for our land, for what grew or could be grown on it, for the resources in it, and for our clean air and pure water. They stole these things from us, and in the taking they also stole our free ways and the best of our leaders, killed in battle or assassinated. And now, after all that, they’ve come for the very last of our possessions; now they want our pride, our history, our spiritual traditions. They want to rewrite and remake these things, to claim them for themselves. The lies and thefts just never end.”
The following cards are NOT a part of my collection because I only collect objects of beauty. They were found during my research for this post.
Other Cultures
Children are not born hating other races or ethnic groups. They are taught how to hate and it is so disgusting to think that such evil greeting cards were a part of Valentine's Day celebrations in the past. I am heartened to know that manufacturers no longer mass produce the likes of the despicable cards that I found during my research.
Indians were not the only non-white culture who were hurt and mocked by valentines. Asian people were insulted in the card below.
Some of the most egregious examples reinforced negative stereotypes of black people such as this adorable little girl depicted in the following Valentine:
I almost didn't include the card below because its message is unspeakably hateful and borders on the criminal.
I even found a Valentine card/calendar of a man in a kilt illustrating the negative stereotype of the extreme thrift associated with people from Scotland.
The hatred in some cards was not confined to racism, I also found some that suggested rape and disease!
I like to think that we live in a more enlightened time where people who are racist are considered to have low IQs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/intelligence-study-links-prejudice_n_1237796.html
Love to all,
Miguela
Sources:
http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/a-week-in-the-life-of-the-stereotypical-indian
http://mycultureisnotatrend.tumblr.com/
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Mission
John Andrew
L in the Southeast
iamsurly
icyhighs
podunkmarte
Salon.com
Comments
rated with love
But it makes me think of going to Sambo's restaurant as a child, and seeing the cartoons of little black Sambo along the bottom of the menu, and thinking nothing at all of it. I lived in rural Oregon where there wasn't a black person (or a Hispanic person, or an Asian person) for 300 miles. I'd read about racial prejudice in books, and of course I thought "we aren't prejudiced!" because there weren't any. I grew up in a startlingly white place, and didn't understand the messages.
These cards are truly horrible.
It can be soooo enlightening!!
Nice work. Really.
r
Lezlie
alsoknownas--Like you, I suspect that the people who collect such cards harbor the hatred that they express. That is why I wanted to make it perfectly clear that these are not a part of my collection. Thank you for mentioning that.
Dandylion--Yikes, indeed.
Designanator--I try to avoid politics like the plague but I have to agree that I have seen some very disrepectful printed pieces that disrespect our president. Margo Thunderbird is a very interesting lady who not only runs the language camps for youngsters to learn and use their native language, she also has a successful farm where she raises medicinal herbs. I should write a post about her. Thank you.
Scarlett--Thank you for the compliment and I still feel bad about including the card you mentioned in this post. I don't like being associated with it at all except to condemn the hatred that inspired it.
BluestockingBabe--They were indeed interesting cards but only like examining some alien lifeform. Thanks for reading and for commenting.
froggy--I had forgotten about that restaurant called Sambo's and wonder what it morphed into once its name was no longer acceptable. I mentioned in an earlier acknowledgement to a comment that there was one black child at our school. She portrayed the role of my mother in a play and we thought nothing of it. She was just another one of our classmates. Thanks for commenting.
Gerald--How right you are about our shameful racist past in this country. I can imagine children writing the names on of their classmates on these Valentines and not comprehending the potential hurt the might have caused. I am so glad that we will not see the likes of these cards again. Although, with the native depictions, I am not so sure. People are attracted to the Southwest Indian and think they are cool to emulate. It's not cool.
Toritto--There are more than four dark corners in this country and some of them are very sinister, indeed. Thanks for reading and for your comment.
ccdarling--We must call out the ignorance of racial hatred wherever we see it. Thanks for adding to the discussion. It will take constant vigilance because we humans can be such ugly animals.
L in the Southeast--The native cards are kind of insidious because they look so benign but in the end they are as hateful as the referenced card showing a lynching. As a person of mixed heritage you know this and I thank you for reminding us that hate is still everywhere and we should watch for it and call it out by name.
Scanner--Bingo! You hit the nail on the head. These cards were no longer profitable but I bet there are still some that depict native culture printed today. You can see fake Indian jewelry etc. all over etsy for example.
dwhite--It's true that the cards are only representative of the time that they were printed yet modern day people's revulsion to them demonstrates to me that we have changed--some.
If racism was over I would be thrilled but its not.
HUGGGGGGGGGG
There was the anti-semitic propaganda of the Nazis, which made Jewish people look like criminals, thugs and clowns, and the images propagated by ignorant U.S. marketers and Hollywood screenwriters of "lazy Mexicans" in serapes snoozing under saguaros. (Especially ironic given that generations of Mexicans have built this nation's roads, houses and buildings, and have cleaned, picked and cooked its food, and cared for its children).
And what about all the "vintage" (Madmen-era) advertising depicting women as weak-minded, infantile and shallow creatures who dance around fridges and ovens? I even saw an old ad encouraging women to douche with Lysol! ... Maybe it's good to remember that people--all people--go through periods of rank ignorance before becoming truly enlightened. As a nation, we've got a long way to go ...
At least we've come a ways since this overt racism. Very interesting to see it again.
Of course, the culture that allowed these to be made was ignorant and backward. (Maybe we've progressed beyond that - one can hope.) But as a kid, I'm sure I thought these were kind of cool. As a second-grader, I didn't know much about U.S. history and policy with regard to Native Americans, but I did know that being picked to play Pocahontas in a school production felt like an honor. My perception of Native Americans was based in ignorance, but my feelings were of respect.
Some lived on outside the U.S. I was in Taiwan in the 80s where you could buy a brand of toothpaste called Darkie. It features a minstrel figure in blackface with a huge gleaming smile that would have made Louis Armstrong look like he was afflicted with lockjaw. In googling this I see they've since muted the figure and changed the name to Darlie.
"I see nothing wrong with insulting large numbers of people in the way I ask you to be my valentine."
"Just in case you were wondering, no I am not a brain trust."
Great post, Michaela. Thank you for doing this research so we don't have to!
But I think I'll stick to hearts and flowers, all the same!
rated
He looked quite surprised and hurt. All I could think of was he was too dumb to think about what his words felt like to me. I bet if people saw cards depicting insulting stereotypes about them they would start to understand, even if they have low IQ's.
Thanks for the post and research. It keeps us all growing and learning.
I only had to take a look at the first card to see that my skepticism wasn't going to remain. By the time I got to that last card, I can only say that my shock at seeing it was profound. I vaguely recall seeing some cards like the Native American ones as a kid. Not those others.
Thanks, Miguela for showing this little trip down "memory lane" of a past that I think it would be best to bury. Until we face this sort of bigotry, though, it will keep showing up in things like this. Today, it is usually a bit more subtle, but not always.
Thanks once again for highlighting this. While disturbing and upsetting, it definitely is something we should be aware of;
Then and Now.
--r--
I cannot imagine anyone being proud to send that to anyone else. At any time.
Most of these valentines were clearly offensive, some obviously more so than others. On the cutsie cards, I'm offended more by the stereotypical speech than by the age-appropriate images.
But the short explanation you gave (“the use of indigenous cultures, traditions, languages, and images in popular culture, advertising, and everyday life.”) is so all-inclusive that it could begin to rival the Islamic prohibition on images of Mohammed. It leaves me wondering if a native could ever be depicted on a child's valentine card. If so, how? If not, doesn't that raise other issues of inclusiveness and respect?
That said, what happens if a government or corporation can use these subtle, entertaining mediums to spread messages in a way that flies under our radar?
For example, if a white racist southerner got up on stage and gave a speech and argued about the "badness" of the groups depicted in the signs below, chances are a good many people in some areas would oppose them.
On the other hand, a large % of those good many people would probably stand around and be silent, if the message of racism was more subtle and was confined to Valentines Day cards, thus showing the potency of this medium as a means of spreading a nefarious message that is harder to refute.
Interesting.
r
The post is great though :)
Insofar as collectors and collections go, these remnants are significant reminders of history and how easily hatred is spread from generation to generation.
A clevelander by origin. . . I'm still amazed that Cleveland baseball has managed to hang on to Chief Whahoo... Lot's of hot discussion there but everyone seems to have agreed to disagree. Go Tribe!
Congrats on the E.P!
A clevelander by origin. . . I'm still amazed that Cleveland baseball has managed to hang on to Chief Whahoo... Lot's of hot discussion there but everyone seems to have agreed to disagree. Go Tribe!
Congrats on the E.P!
These cards and the advertising msgs on my blog are merely a tiny fractional reflection of 4 centuries of H8TE!
The whole country was built on a racism based "burden"- How is that for a BS justification!!!
Film (Birth of a Nation), Words (Black Like Me), Paintings (Grandma Moses)- the list just goes on and on and on and on ... A country where movies are made with titles like, "The Great White Hope" - (hope for getting that darkie our of the Championship Belt back then, and the White House right now!)
All this said, it gets better all the time- Haters, YOU are an endangered species and the 2012 election is our SAFARI ON YOUR ASS!!!!!!!
Auwe (Alas)
I think there must be a way to share our cultures and flags and costumes and folk-tales without worrying that someone will be offended.
That man about to hang himself is just wrong.
I too remember going to Sambo's as a child and thinking nothing of the imagery. It never occurred to me that it could be hurtful to someone else, but then I was a little girl. We have to be taught those things.
Informative post, thank you.
Consider the man, I believe his name is Charles Murray, or something Murray, one of the authors of the notorious book, The Bell Curve, who is not only prodigiously intelligent by any measure, but also deeply racist, and he uses his intelligence to support and promote his racism.
Racism is is a function of emotion and psychology, not intellect. Which is not to say it isn't stupid!
While I'm at it, an admission: as a child, though I was sensitive to issues of race at an early age, I loved the book Little Black Sambo. What I got from it was Sambo's pride in himself, the love and care his parents showed for him, and mostly his utter brilliance at outsmarting the tigers and once they stupidly turned themselves into butter, harvesting it and taking it home to his mother. I looked it up before writing this and learned that as it was originally written & illustrated, Sambo was an East Indian child and the butter he gathered from the tigers was ghee. In the 20th century, apparently, it was rewritten and American Southern Black pseudo-dialect introduced.
That all introduces subjects I shouldn't extend this already too lengthy comment with but go ahead and read the story. Granted, the illustrations are a good part of the racist perception but the story alone I still like.
http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Story-of-Little-Black-Sambo.html
Me no likie.
.
You've looked at these cards without taking into consideration their context in the times, another thing historians and especially archaeologists warn against. Ironically, if those Indian cards were the only artifacts to survive from the 1950's into the far distant future, archaeologists of the future would conclude that Indians were much beloved by people of the '50s. The cards are "nice", and betray no fear or loathing of Indians. Twenty years ago Massachusetts removed the Indian arrow from the Pilgrim hat on the Mass Pike logo. It was a strictly PC move. But the tribal elders of the Wompanoags objected, arguing correctly that the erasure of the arrow would erase the actual involvement of Indians from Mass. history. Again, if the new Mass Pike logo were the only cultural artifact to survive into the far distant future, archaeologists then could not even know Indians had once lived in Massachusetts.
Finally, Is a valentine's card depicting a Muslim woman in a burqa, with the caption, 'Be my ji-heart', racist? Or is it a political statement? Or both? Just thinking.
You answered your own question:
"Finally, Is a valentine's card depicting a Muslim woman in a burqa, with the caption, 'Be my ji-heart', racist? Or is it a political statement? Or both? Just thinking."
Of course would both! Times change, but racism remains the ugly side of America, and the elephant in the living room no one wants to talk about.
This post was written for folks who are confused.
We're not the only Great Power with a myth about how we became a Great Power either on a "improvement mission," viz Russia in the Caucasus or China in Tibet and Xinjiang, if its easier to say that as part of the group that was militarily more powerful in that process too. I'm a little bit Indian, Creek, if not that much, enough for one son to have the "Mongolian spot" birthmark indicative of Asian descent that the nurses found odd when he was born until I said I was part Indian.
It seems to me that over time, the Indians in their numerous tribes are making a quiet but very effective comeback, probably more of a future political issue than some would think, especially in Hawaii, if not just there, as there are more Indians-Native Peoples than many assume, even just as enrolled members of tribes, which of course I am not, and might not could be. They have Constitutions, and a whole legal universe that is an interesting subset of contemporary legal practice, if that system rests a little uneasily with some people's wish to always centralize and homogenize too, for reasons that vary as to intent friendly or hostile, although leaving well-enough alone to me seems wise, although its not as easy to win a civil case on a reservation doing business with an enrolled member compared to its non-tribal court counterpart. They also earned that it seems to me as to having semi to full sovereign status, as was envisioned under the Constitution.
I was with my sweetie on Valencia Street in the Mission in SF just yesterday and almost got her a Valentine card. The problem was they were all too snarky.
But snark is a big step up from the ugliness you revealed above.