Negative Stereotypes Of Native Americans

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Native Americans have been a popular topic in media since the early 1900’s. They are an unknown population and therefore, people find them interesting. However, since the beginning they have been portrayed inaccurately and therefore it becomes detrimental. Negatively portraying Native Americans within the media places an unfavorable connotation toward them in a real-world setting.
Even though, through time, the viewpoints of Native Americans within the media have become increasingly accurate, it did not start out that way. In fact, there were time periods in which the media’s perception of Native Americans could not be any more inaccurate. They’ve portrayed them as warriors, savages, and even uneducated (Diamond, n.d.). A large majority of …show more content…
Because they do not have any comparison point, the information they receive on television and in movies seems to be true. Therefore, false stereotypes are formed about them. This has a large impact on the criminal justice system. When preconceived notions are present, adverse treatment is inevitable, especially within the justice system. For example, officers who possess negative stereotypes towards Native Americans may be more likely to treat them differently than non-Native Americans. Once they are involved in the system, proper sentences may not be given to the defendant’s due to the lack of knowledge about their culture. A correlation is present between the how Native American are depicted in the media and Native American arrest rates. For example, after approximately the 1990’s, Native Americans began to become somewhat accurately depicted. According to Silverman, “Native American arrest rates have significantly dropped since 1984” (Silverman, 2009). Since the stride toward positive change has occurred arrest rates have …show more content…
This may have a connection to the high rates of sexual assault they experience by non- Native American men. These horrific actions place Native American women into the system not as criminals, but rather as a victim. That is only if the crime is reported and they are actually charged, which is unfortunately a rare occasion. According to Nielsen and Robyn, “Indigenous women have come to see sexual abuse as a regular part on life” (Nielsen and Robyn, 2016).
It has taken several years but Native Americans have made strides toward accurately portraying themselves in the media. These strides have shown improvements in many factors of their lives including involvement in the criminal justice system. By making this change now, the future generations will not have the negative connotations toward them like people currently
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