The Lumbee Problem Essays -- essays research papers

The first reading was the preface and the fourth chapter from the book, The Lumbee Problem The make of an American Indian People, entitled, What are they trying to do forthwith? In this reading, the author, Karen I. Blu, examines the political history of the Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina and goes into detail about her findings during her chew there between 1967 and 1968. Blu argues that the political history of the Lumbee Indians was greatly affected by the relationships between them and non-Indians as well as each others perceptions of one another. The fourth chapter focuses on the Black-Indian coalition that was formed during this time and the exposit surrounding its emergence, objectives, and achievements. Blu noted that the three specific aims of the coalition were (1) the registration of non-White voters, (2) the option of non-Whites to county offices, and (3) the active participation of non-Whites in the county Democratic Party organization. The coalition was thriving in their first two goals as the registration of non-White voters increased noticeably in 1968 and one man back up by the coalition was elected. However, these successes were eclipsed by the facts that the registration of White voters also increased and the elected candidate that was support by the coalition was a man who was also solidly supported by Whites. Despite these slight failures, the coalition succeeded in getting non-Whites to actively part...