The Cherokee Leader Who Paved the Way for MLK

[brer cat]

Very interesting article about John Ross and the removal of the Cherokees from Georgia.

"Even more striking is an early-19th-century civil rights leader. Nobody called him that, of course. But John Ross fought for his rights with tactics that perfectly prefigured America’s 20th-century civil rights battles.

What people actually called Ross was an Indian. Eventually, he was the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, resisting efforts to drive his people out of their historic homeland in north Georgia and the surrounding states. Seeking to influence a democratic society, John Ross of Georgia used tactics similar to those of Martin Luther King Jr. of Georgia. Their parallel experiences say much about what has and hasn’t changed in America."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cherokee-leader-who-paved-the-way-for-mlk/2015/05/28/7325d05c-ffef-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html?hpid=z3

[Hoppy]

1. Great P.B.S. dramitization of John Ross's defense of Cherokee nation

It was about 25 years ago and I believe it starred Johnny Cash.

[MBS]

2. Thanks for this-

I'd known nothing at all about this story, so your post opened a whole new perspective for me.

[brer cat]

4. The removal of the Native Americans

was as vile and deadly as slavery in the South. I live in Hiawassee, GA, which is in the midst of what was the Cherokee Nation. A lot of local history here--and most of our place names--are Cherokee.

I had never considered John Ross as an early version of MLK, but it certainly fits.

[swilton]

3. Another native leader

that established through the USSC in 1879 that Native Americans (then Indians) were US citizens and have legal rights was Standing Bear of the Poncas (northern Poncas = Nebraska; southern Poncas = Oklahoma)...Fabulous story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_Bear

http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_bio_standingbear

[brer cat]

5. Thanks for adding that to this thread, swilton.

Frankly, most Americans are quite ignorant of the real history of Native Americans and their struggles to live among the Europeans. Just as most Americans are clueless about the contributions of AAs and other people of color to our culture. Why this isn't taught in schools is beyond me. Oh yeah, I know why: the only history and culture that matters is lily white.

[Judi Lynn]

6. What a shame the Native Americans couldn't get out of sight fast enough,

and the European descendants had to go to all that trouble trying to kill as many of them as they could.

If they had been more considerate, they would have asked what part of the country the Europeans didn't want, and then go there directly, instead of making the European descendants force them to go there, anyway.

Thank you for the information regarding John Ross and those of the Cherokee Nation. It's a tragic, horrific story to learn.