In “The trial of Thomas Builds- the-fire” and “This is what it means to say Pheonix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie, he alludes to a particular type of government/ rulership. Two characteristics of this system is discrimination and aggressiveness. Back then, the government agency did not have a good interaction with Native Americans. Because both the judicial system and the BIA were prejudiced against Native Americans, the judicial system and the BIA treat Thomas the same approach. No matter how Thomas attempted to excuse himself, the judge appeared adamant about sending him to prison. “What charges should we bring him up on? Inciting a riot? Kidnapping? Extortion? Maybe murder?” Although we’ve seen many examples of corrupt officers misusing their power, Indians never had to deal with anything similar. Their land was taken from them brutally, and they have been pushed to embrace a livelihood that American government deemed “superior” for them. Even though the court system professes to be unbiased, it is likely that it will judge a person wrongly.
2 thoughts on “Government”
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The court system indeed used to be biased against the Native Americans. Thomas’s case is a good example of how the court used to be biased against the Native Americans. I agree that the Indians had their land taken from them brutally, and they were later mistreated in the courts. I agree that the courts present themselves as a fair place where all people are treated equally. However, they rarely followed that.
I think its very important that there is mutual respect between the government and the people under it. Once a government of any kind is prejudice towards their own people, problems such as the ones in these stories become real.