The two stories illustrate how the justice system is very racially biased and discriminatory against people of color. The kind of discrimination that Thomas faced in “the trial of Thomas builds-the-fire” was purely racial discrimination against him in a court of law because he was Native American. The judge in the matter did not want to hear him out just because of his race and skin color to the point where he was just straight-up telling him to shut up so that he could be judged unfairly and without his side of the situation being considered. Through Thomas’s case, we saw both discrimination, and iniquity against him, which even today we see in our justice system. Thomas’s rights were mistreated and neglected by the judge just so that the court could see another person of color having their entire life stripped from them just to satisfy their racist motives.
Alexie
Open Lab Post Topic: Government
After reading the stories by Sherman Alexie, it is clear that the system is characterized by racial discrimination and violence. The court appears to be ruthless when dealing with the Native Americans. When Thomas is charged, the judge does not give him the chance to defend himself, and the judge appears to have already decided to punish him even without listening to his story (Alexie, 1993). Violence is displayed when Thomas explains how the colonel had killed many people (Alexie, 1993). Killing is a form of violence in a system that shows that those around the system could not be secure since the type of the colonel could easily interfere with their peace.
Thomas is treated as an allegorical character in the justice system. Firstly, Thomas is important to his story as he narrates a story about himself (Alexie, 1993). Additionally, Thomas is used as an example to show how the system practices racism and discrimination against the Native Americans. The court does not listen well to the story of Thomas as they believe that his storytelling is irrelevant because he looked Indian. Allegorical figures represent themselves as important in their story and represent the different meanings of ideas. Thomas is a storyteller who uses his storytelling abilities to caution using past events. The court further pushes him to accept things he did not commit to indict violence upon him (Alexie, 1993). The court uses Thomas because they think that since his stories are from the past, they can confuse him to accept charges of things he did not do.
Government
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.
Government
After reading and comprehending Sherman Alexie’s “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” two apparent features emerge in this reading: which were unequal and racial prejudice. While on trial, Thomas was attempting to understand himself and recount experiences that had influenced his life and explained why he was the way he was. “The judge was red-faced with anger; he almost looked Indian. He pounded his gavel until it broke. “Order in the court,” he shouted. “Order in the fucking court” (Alexie 146). This demonstrates Thomas’ bigotry because he was a native African American, as the judge repeatedly stated that he would not listen to his tale. “Your Honor, if I may continue, there is much more I need to say. There are so many more stories to tell” (Alexie 144).Thomas was mistreated and not charged, despite the fact that he was facing additional accusations.
Government
The “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie imply a particular type of government in the stories, which is inequality and prejudice. Inequality is characterized by the existence of unequal opportunities and that is being stated in both stories. In “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” Thomas Builds-the-Fire was charged for crimes that he did not commit and yet he was still sentenced to two straight lifetime sentences. In the second story “This Is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” poor Victor needed help from the government because his father died in Phenix, and the response of the government was right away saying “Now, Victor, we do have some money available for the proper return of tribal members’ bodies. But I don’t think we have enough to bring your father all the way back from Phoenix.” (Page 100) Because Victor was poor, the government did not care at all about his situation. At the same moment, prejudice (an assumption or an opinion about someone simply based on that person’s membership to a particular group) is also shown in both stories. While Thomas Builds-the-Fire was in a court, the judge was talking rudely to him as stated “The judge was red-faced with anger; he almost looked Indian. He pounded his gavel until it broke. “Order in the court,” he shouted. “Order in the f*cking court.”(Page 147) Thomas is only being arrested because he is attempting to inform people about injustices committed against Native Americans. Alexie engages Thomas to bring the tribe the truth and the government is frustrated because Thomas telling the true history of the United States.
Government
After reading and understanding “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie two clear characteristics in this reading are inequality and discrimination due to race. While Thomas was at trial he was trying to experience himself and tell stories that had affected his life and are the reason why he is the way he was. “The judge was red-faced with anger; he almost looked Indian. He pounded his gavel until it broke. “Order in the court,” he shouted. “Order in the fucking court” (Alexie 146). This goes to prove the discrimination towards Thomas because he was a native African American, the judge refused to listen to his story as he repeatedly said “Your Honor, if I may continue, there is much more I need to say. There are so many more stories to tell” (Alexie 144). Thomas was treated with neglect and wasn’t charged ruefully he had extra charges against him.
Alkasti Grullon
Government
“The Trial of Thomas-Builds-the -Fire” and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” gave us insights into how corrupt government really can be. I mean, when the lawmakers are sitting around trying to decide what and how many things to charge you with just to make sure you go to prison, we are looking at a real issue in our law system. While we have seen a good amount of issues with corrupt cops taking advantage of their power, the Indians have never experienced anything differently. Their land was ruthlessly taken from them and were forced into the way of life the American government deemed as “better” for them. I believe that the lawmakers they were surrounded with in this story were using Thomas Builds-the-Fire as an example for the rest of the tribe. If they found a way to put him in prison when he didn’t deserve it, it would scare everyone else into not fighting back as well.
Government
After reading “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie, I noticed that they both mentioned BIA at the beginning. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was a federal agency that did not have a great relationship with the Native Americans back then. I think the two characteristics that would best describe the BIA are hostile and discriminative. The criminal justice system treatment towards Thomas is the same as the BIA’s treatment towards Thomas, because they both have bias against Native Americans. When the BIA officers where talking about Thomas, they already started coming up with ideas of why he was on trail, “What charges should we bring him up on? Inciting a riot? Kidnapping? Extortion? Maybe murder?”(p.140). The BIA officers also said some discriminatory things towards Thomas, “Well,” they all agreed. “It has to be a felony charge. We don’t need his kind around here anymore”(p.140-141). During court I think that Judge already labeled Thomas as guilty even though the judge didn’t know what exactly happened and why Thomas did what he did. The Judge also got defensive when Thomas questioned the court’s administration of justice, “…Is that real justice or the idea of justice?” Thomas asked him, and the judge flew back into anger. “Defense testimony is over, he said. “Mr. Builds-the-Fire, you will now be cross-examined” (p.147).
Government
David WalksAlong and James Wright are two characters in this justice system. In the chapter of The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the Judge talked to Thomas with a harsh tone. He seemed to extremely want to make Thomas go into the prison, no matter how Thomas tried to explain. Also, there is a dramatic conversation in this chapter, ” ‘What charge should we bring him up on?’ ” (Paragraph 6) and ” ‘Inciting a riot? Kidnapping? Extortion? Maybe murder?’ ” (Paragraph 7). It sounds like the officers judge a person are basing on their mood or the weather of that day. It is like an allusion to sarcasm the government judge a person easily by the superficial phenomenon, rather than find more evidence to decided the convicted guilty or nor. Although the justice system clam they are justice, sometimes it sometimes could judge a person in a wrong way or based on the bias.
Government
In the following quote, a similarity is drawn between how the government treats Native Americans and how gymnasts were treated. “Cathy the gymnast complained about the government, how they screwed the 1980 Olympic team by boycotting.
Sounds like you all got a lot in common with Indians.” Thomas said. Nobody laughed.” Page 108, from “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona. Like the gymnasts, Thomas and Victor can relate to the gymnast in that aspect because they as Native Americans were also screwed over by the government. In The Trials of Thomas the Builder, Thomas is treated unjustly. It seems as if the government did not actually have any desire to listen to what Thomas had to say, and instead just wanted a confession of his crimes in order to punish him, despite what he had to say being important.
In the first story, no one seems to want to or even tries to listen to Thomas’s stories. He is ignored and looked down upon. However in the second story, people are actually listening to his stories and it is moving them. He is no longer going unheard.
