The National Congress Of American Indians React To Jessica Simpson Use Of "Indian Giver"
![The National Congress Of American Indians React To Jessica Simpson Use Of "Indian Giver"](http://www.imnotobsessed.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/main_pic/files/images/FP_3336579_Simpson_Jessica_DUO_072909.jpg "The National Congress Of American Indians React To Jessica Simpson Use Of "Indian Giver"")
While talking to TMZ about the expensive speedboat she purchased for ex-boyfriend, Tony Romo, Jessica Simpson reportedly told them: "I'm
not an Indian giver.”
Naturally, this made a few people uncomfortable and Jacqueline L. Pata, executive director of the National Congress of
American Indians issued a statement.
"Most people flippantly use the comment 'Indian giver' without
realizing its true meaning. Jessica's comment provides us with a good chance
to educate people not to stereotype Native Americans by using a comment that
is both incorrect in the way most people use it, and culturally insensitive
to Native people."
Obviously, Jessica meant no harm, but what do you think about the National Congress of
American Indians using her statement as a means to teach people to not use the term? It's true that term is loosely used in our society even though it does promote stereotype.
PS - the thumbnail pictures are of Jessica surprising MAC users on the CBS show 'I Get That A Lot'.
Photos by WENN and FAME
GETOUTAHERE!!
....................she wanna look smart?
1140 points
Obvi she didn't mean any harm by it! The National Congress is totally over reacting...look at who they are reacting about! The girl who thought tuna was chicken! I would let it go...
I think they're handling it civilly and with sensitivity. They're not full on blasting her like I've seen some groups do. Their statement sounds like they're giving her the benefit of the doubt that she isn't a racist idiot, while taking the time to try to educate others why this expression isn't cool to use.
129675 points
Right on, hex.
1205 points
I think they handled it well. I like how they worded it that they could use the opportunity to teach, rather than just sending out a harshly worded press release accusing her of being a racist.
My thoughts exactly. I think that they handled it extremely well.
1690695 points
completely agree
14395 points
I agree, it's good that they chose to word it that way.
Well said.
3250 points
"While talking to TMZ..." I mean, seriously people. It's not like she was giving a National Press Conference!?
everyone knows it was the white man(speak with forked tongue) who lied to the indian
15080 points
This.
8655 points
I don't think she meant to offend anyone. Jessica probably doesn't know the meaning of the term "politically correct". As the joke goes 'this is probably going right over Jessica's hairspray'. I also agree with Cat.
7090 points
Oh come on! Jessica obviously didn't mean anything by it. Leave the poor girl alone!
A lot of people don't mean anything by it, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be gently reminded that it's not OK.
3730 points
Poor Jessica, every step she makes seems to be a mistep. She's a trooper just for getting out of bed in the morning IMO.
i am from the South, and "indian giver" is a term we use ... it may be inappropriate but i really dont think she meant any real harm.
Really?
Wasn't that also the sort of reasoning given for Michael Vick's participation in dog fighting? He's he's from the south and that's what you do there?
Could we also look to that line of reasoning for a few other instances of violence and/or directed and specific instances of racism that have happened in your part of the world?
Being ignorant, uneducated and cruel may be a 'Southern' thing to you, but I really hope that you're wrong.
7255 points
Oh calm down for crying out loud. Perhaps you should seek out a job working for the National Congress.
Calm down? From what? Free speech?
7255 points
You're joking, right? The tenets of free speech allow someone to use the term "Indian Giver" without being jumped all over as you did in your comment. So, calm down clearly refers to your over-zealousness at trying to hamstring free speech.
The person to whom you're commenting doesn't seem to be condoning it. Why are you getting so bent out of shape?
I get the impression that Jessica is a genuinely (sp? lol) nice person. The poor girl can't win for losing. I like her.
i think a lot of people are mis-interpreting the congress' remarks...nobody is accusing Jessica Simpson of being offensive, they are simply using this as an oppurtunity to remind us to choose our words more wisely and be more sensitive to the etiology of certain phrases. Personally, if I was native american I would be offended to hear the term Indian giver - it is racist at its core.. just like it's not acceptable to use the N word anymore, or use the term "jew" instead of swindling someone out of money, it's time to let the phrase indian giver disappear from our vocabulary.
aho! that means amen!
7255 points
there is nothing racist about using the term Jew.
There is in the way the previous commenter referenced it. It's not acceptable to say, "That cabbie Jewed me out of $20."
7255 points
I totally agree with you. I have never heard it used that way. I thought they were referring to the noun "Jew".
well said.
And it's particularly disheartening to see how people want to give a pass on ignorance because a person who just used a racist statement in public is perceived as being a 'nice' person most of the time.
7935 points
Disheartening indeed.
I totally agree with tbtrfli ! Seriously people have to put things in context ! She was harrassed and rushed into a car it's not a UN speech. The National Congress is using this for publicity and it's shameful !
Oh come on now! Aren't we getting a bit too touchy these days? I grew up using the phrase "Indian Giver" and in no way did i think it to be derogatory to the American Indians, West Indians, India Indians, etc. So, for one group only to take it upon themselves to be offended it rediculous to me. Get worked up over the wars ongoing, the many young men dying in them, the homeless, the poverty, H1N1 flu coming this fall.....pleanty of valid reasons to be worked up.....geesh!
so, who then is the term negative towards?
when I was a little girl I used the term 'cotton picking hands' without knowing what it meant and was corrected.
Jessica isn't a little girl, and she didn't make that statement in private.
Being ignorant of a subject doesn't give you the right to make racist statements without correction.
2475 points
jessica is nothing but a blonde bimbo with big boobs...her brain is a size of a walnut - I know she doesn't mean any harm and she probably doesn't even know what that term mean!! but attacking the congress' statement - how low can you guys go??? it's not like they're suing her for ridiculous amount of money - they're trying to educate us not to stereotype people and be more sensitive to native people.....stop getting all work up over nothing.
5355 points
cat & amy are definitely spot on...
6860 points
Oh my gosh! Leave the poor girl alone
3170 points
all this PC crapola is getting way out of hand. maybe they should have a beer with Obama?
22875 points
Seriously.....there are more important things to worry about. They need to get over it! ---em's
14395 points
You mean being uneducated and insensitive about racism isn't important?
Well said.
Jessica's ignorance about indigenous peoples is mirrored on this site, and throughout the world.
While it is obvious that she is an uneducated person, her ignorance does not mean that she cannot be held accountable for the racist statements that she makes.
33711 points
You can't say ANYTHING in the U.S. without it offending SOME group. Gah, it's so frustrating. She didn't mean any harm by it.
Give her a ghetto pass -- she's a retarded hillbilly.
Hillbillies and ghetto passes don't go together.You don't know what a ghetto pass is.A ghetto pass is a white person such as Bill Marher,Ememim, or a Justin Timberlake,being really welcomed and accepted in the black community.The black community will come out and support them.That's a ghetto pass.Seems to me that you don't have many if any black friends .You've heard the words but didn't know the meaning.And NO Jessica Simpson does not have a ghetto pass.PINK and Fergie have ghetto passes Jessica and Brittney do not sorry.
7255 points
Wow, the irony and sarcasm of the "ghetto pass/hillbilly" comment went right over your head.
If we agree to a deal and you don't stand up to your end of the deal,then quite naturally I'm suppose to take back what I was giving.But in a relationship there really is no deal.If you care about a person and you buy them a gift then the gift is theres.Reguardless to what happen in the relationship,now Jessica just showed how inmature she really is and it goes to show that most of these celebrities are as phucked up as anyone of us.I say us but I don't take shyt back,because it's only gonna remind me of that person.And once I give it to you it's yours, now if you decide to give it back I'll gladly accept it and go and sale it to get some of my money back.But I'm not gonna ask you to give something back.THAT'S BULLSHYT,Jessica,Brittney and anybody else who has done that.P.S. From now on when your partner give you something you tell them up front that they are not getting the gift back under any circumstances. And when they say "I'M NOT GONNA WANT IT BACK". Get a witness or make them sign something stating just that.And if they say "ah boy you are so crazy I'm not gonna sign that then don't accept it.Because he or she is gonna want the ring ,watch,car,money or what ever back.Even if they didn't give it to you and someone in there family gave it to you.She or he will want what ever it is back.TRUST ME I KNOW I WENT THROUGH THE SAME SHYT.
7255 points
You have completely missed the point while at the same prbably caused yourself a hernia.
I agree.
Reading that was like watching a reality show.
Relationship issues are one thing, ignorance of your own history is another. Perhaps she keeps losing her men because she has the education of a 3rd grade child?
The term Indian Giver is inappropriate, not only because of the atrocities committed against indigenous populations, but because representative of the British Government, (your founding fathers) acutally had laws in place meant to help to govern their actions and chose to ignore both the spirit and the letter of those laws when dealing with the people who already lived in North America. And Canada. And Austrailia.
The people who broke their own laws and went back on their word were your founding fathers, not the Indians.
Exactly,the people of North America was on the same bullshyt as they are on to this day and our Indian brothers and sisters was'nt going for it.So if we make a deal and you don't hold up your end of the deal ,then I am naturally gonna take my deal off of the table.Then this government created laws which would prevent me from taken my merchantdise back even after you did something foul.But let us not forget this GREAT OLE NORTH AMERICA was over all built by thieves who were let out of the prisons of Europe.So what should we expect?
Well unfortunately the version of the USA that supports the 'ignore the idiot, she doesn't mean anything by it' has been built on hundreds of years of suffering and lies that includes Indigenous Peoples, those bought and stolen and brought in to work for the colonizers and those sent here as a new form of prison sentence, usually for being poor and uneducated.
The past can not be changed, but the future is ours to shape.
With that in mind, ignorance in this day and age, when all one needs to do to learn a little about a subject is to Google it, is embarassing.
7935 points
Someone can "be nice" and "sweet" and "not mean it", but that doesn't mean they shouldn't get called out when they mess up, intentionally or unintentionally. Being First Nations I know personally how annoying and upsetting the term "Indian Giver" is.
3145 points
I am part Native American, and my nieces and nephews are 3/4 Native American, and honestly I'm more annoyed that someone felt the need to issue a press release about the term then I am about the acutal use of the term itself. When are we all going to lighten up?
4055 points
haha "lighten up" oh boy.
4680 points
at least they didn't put out some scathing remarks about her being racist or something..
Poor Ms. Simpson... she just can't get it right sometimes :) File this with tuna & buffalo wings :)
93685 points
poor jessica. if it's not one thing, it's another.
4055 points
Vera, ever thought about banning some commentors or at least not allowing anonymous ones?
129675 points
I'm all for that, Siren.
132760 points
I'm seriously sure that she didn't mean any harm by it and that she doesn't have anything against their culture.
I always thought the term "Indian Giver" referred to the treatment of the Indians by the United States government. Every time the Indians would give up a little bit of land to the white people and make a treaty, they would come back and want more until the poor Indians were left with nothing except the dry, desolate reservation land. The government officials were the "Indian givers" because they would give them land and then go against the treaty and take it back when they needed more for the white man.
Much ado about nothing in our overly politically correct society. I hope Jessica doesn't apologize for her comment. I don't think there was anything malicious behind her remarks.
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