Status Updates From The American Indian

Repetitious at places, but the statements of alcoholism gold.

The Negro, compelled to work out his own salvation, adapted himself to the rigors of competitive life by establishing himself first as a good unskilled laborer and then increasingly as a skilled or professional man able to meet any challenge and defend his own rights. The Indian, compelled in the beginning to enter the reservation, meanwhile has increasingly lost his competitive ability in his isolation.

[When the Indians] see the whole picture—that Christianity isn’t taught in the schools and, in fact, is disbelieved; that the fundamentals of the faith are denied from many pulpits; and that those who profess to believe are lacking in common humanity—they conclude, “It’s a hand-me-down; it’s a dead thing; why bother with it?” The church’s failure with the Indians is a standing indictment of our Christian faith.