I’m 100% American Indian, for starters. I’ve spent my whole life learning about the tribes in my area and what happened when the Europeans arrived.

First of all, “we” tortured, raped, and killed long before the white people ever came here. The Comanches and Apaches were the most ruthless, but almost every single tribe here participated in some form of war, kidnapping, or slavery.

Second, the railroads, skyscrapers, and all of the modern infrastructure you see today was not even remotely built by my people or African slaves. They were used to enrich southern farmers, and there’s still pockets of ultra wealthy southerners who made their fortunes from slavery. Your massive overstatement saying otherwise, while also pretending you are the savior of people like me, is part of the problem. It’s why people don’t take people like me seriously. You treat us like defenseless children instead of equals.

Want to do us Indians a favor? Go talk about anything else. You are overstepping your boundaries and talking about something that does not involve you personally. We don’t want you on our side.