From the Streets to the Stadiums
244 years that is how long it has been since America was founded. 89,060 days ago the Declaration of Independence was finalized. 2,137,440 hours on land that was stolen. 128,246,400 minutes of injustices against Indigenous women. Since the beginning of the United States of America, Native women have been mistreated and used by white colonizers. In the past decade, when official police logs were created, there have been nearly 6000 documented missing and murdered Native American women. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is one of the least publicized racial justice movements of the 21st century. I am not the only one frustrated about the lack of attention MMIW is getting, senior track star Rosalie Fish was too and she took action. Her actions have been photographed and used to bring awareness to MMIW similarly to Colin Kaepernick and his actions in September of 2016 to bring awareness to police brutality. These photographs are civic artifacts that inspire, educate, and motivate the desires for a better America. We will examine the efforts of Rosalie Fish in bringing awareness to MMIW as well as compare her efforts to the bigger picture of racial inequality in America with the famous kneeling of Colin Kaepernick; in order to show how the fight for a safer America is STILL not over.
In the spring of 2019, Rosalie Fish, a senior in high school, ran her last track race ever. She, like many other Indigenous women, was fed up with the lack of media attention on the MMIW movement and decided to take action into her own hands. She painted the infamous red handprint over her mouth, “a symbolic representation of violence that affects Indigenous women across Canada, the United States and beyond” according to CBC CA in March of 2020. She knew with the strict rules of track and field that she would be disqualified but she painted the hand anyway. This act, that not many high school seniors would be willing to do, creates pathos and ethos between Rosalie and her audience. It shows how serious she is about this issue and the change she wants to create giving this young girl credibility; she was willing to give up her last track race to bring awareness to this issue. It hits the emotions of her audience as well. The only thing she should have to worry about at this point in her life is having a prom date and picking out dorm decor, not whether or not she will be the next one to go missing or found dead. The photo of her running for all the Native women who can no longer has become a symbol of hope in the Native community as well as a match for a fire of media attention. This image is the definition of a civic artifact; a young girl calling out for change in her country. However, the MMIW movement goes much farther than Rosalie Fish.
According to the National Institute of Justice, 56% of Native American women have experienced sexual violence–and 97% of perpetrators are non-Native. However the way our current justice system works, these perpetrators can get away easily. The biggest reason why the justice system fails us Native women is the police force. They refuse to even put perpetrators on trial because most of the time they commit these actions on reservation land. But it is not just the police, these women’s lives are at the hands of society. Over 6,ooo missing and murdered women and yet it is likely that you cannot name one. One like Savannah X. It’s like we lost her twice. First at the hands of her perpetrators, and second to a society that has left her behind, forgotten. Restoring justice begins by restoring the identities, the personhood and the humanity of native women like. Adele Rose, like Abigail Ootoova. like Alloura Wells. Because the easiest way to gloss over an injustice– whether it is racial, domestic or gun violence, whether it is unnecessary victims of COVID or those we have swept up in mass incarceration– is to as a society let them go without a fight. Rosalie Fish is not the only one who realized how little the police force and society cared about these human beings. In September of 2016 NFL player Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem. ‘”I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”’ The photo of Kaepernick, just like the one of Fish, is a civic artifact. Protesting for what you believe is right is perhaps the most principal definition of civic duty. Kaepernick and Fish realized that society does not care nearly as much about the issues America’s minorities are facing everyday than they do about sports and took advantage.
Kaepernick brought his protest to the playing field in 2016, Fish brought media attention to the 800 meter dash in 2019, and yet it is 2020 and change has yet to be made. This fight for racial equality and justice specifically within the justice system is still going on over fours years since Kaepernick took a knee. Today, America is on fire, both figuratively and literally, for racial justice and control of the police. These civic artifacts are more prevalent than ever as they act for a call for action. The pathos and ethos cling onto the audience members as they are inspired to join the fight. The statistics that prove the justice system fails the black and Native community creates logos for these civic artifacts. Statistics like, “A study by a University of California, Davis professor found “evidence of a significant bias in the killing of unarmed black Americans relative to unarmed white Americans, in that the probability of being black, unarmed, and shot by police is about 3.49 times the probability of being white, unarmed, and shot by police on average.”’ and from the MMIW report “Seventy-one city police agencies and one state police agency were surveyed. Forty agencies (56%) provided some level of data.” The logos, ethos, and pathos between these civic artifacts and the audience members exist making these calls for action much more meaningful and successful. The fight for equality is not near the end, Kaepernick and Fish can only do so much, so it is vital that their calls for action speak and stick with their audience members because in order to win these battles, there has to be a united force.
Rosalie Fish and Colin Kaepernick’s usage of their athletic positions truly struck the hearts of many Americans. These famous photos of each athlete have become civic artifacts for the racial justice movement. They have inspired, educated, and motivated many Americans to join the fight. After examination of Rosalie Fish’s action in bringing awareness to MMIW as well as the comparison of her efforts to the bigger picture of racial inequality in America with the famous kneeling of Colin Kaepernick, it proved that the fight for a safer America is STILL not over. MMIW is one of least publicized racial justice movements and that is what makes Fish’s action so successful. Rosalie does not want to be the next to go missing or show up dead. I do not want to be next to go missing or end up dead. We are doing what we can to fight for our lives as well as our fellow Indigenous sisters. When will you join us?
