Kristin Marthaler
“We want it to be a shock value,” said Steven Martin, advisor for American Indian students in the multicultural affairs office.
And that it was.
Upon walking into the Tunnel of Oppression, you could see the normal posters with definitions of racism and stereotypes. But then you turn the corner of reality. Many nooses were hung to symbolize American Indians who were hung for their ways of life. While ducking under these to finish walking the tunnel, it occurred to me: this is what some Americans have done. Ducked.
They duck away from oppression. Martin said it best. “You can’t talk about the present without talking about the past.”
Even though the tunnel had definite shock value, it was the truth. What I don’t get is why it takes something like this, with such shock value, to turn people around? I almost cried walking through.
I had an idea before I went in about the history. I had an idea what everyone went through. I had an idea of the riots and protests. I had an idea.
But there’s something about 20 nooses hung in a row that really hit home. Or seeing the bleach used to burn the scalp of the American Indians, or the signs that showed prices per an American Indian scalp.
As you continue to walk, history follows you, walks beside you, step for step. You’re surrounded by history in the tunnel. It’s everywhere. You are submersed into different cultures and different pasts. But that was OK for me. I wanted to know more. I wanted to see what people’s ancestors had to go through. It’s one thing for a teacher to say “American Indians were hung.” It’s another to see 20 nooses in a row with names on them of the people who were hanged.
I wish more students could have seen this tunnel. For some, it may have no impact at all. For others, it may turn around something inside them. One thing is for certain. You cannot walk out of there without having an impression left upon you. I felt the students did a really great job at portraying the past. The students were there to answer questions and give straight-up answers.
As a Caucasian, I can’t even begin to think what it is like with that life and that history. I like to think I understand it a lot more after walking the tunnel. I like to think I have an idea, an understanding, but I don’t think I ever will. But because of this exhibit, I’m one step closer.
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