Native Americans and the symbolic annihilation to vote
As we've discussed what symbolic annihilation is and how that pertains to genocide/colonization and Native Americans, Rachel Maddow recently hosted the executive director of Four Directions to talk about how North Dakota Republicans are repressing the voting rights of Native Americans. OJ Semans, the executive director of Four Directions, explains by restricting voting rights to those with a street address, they're excluding reservations that house thousands of Native Americans. Like we've discussed, Native Americans are symbolically annihiliated from the media, and along with their annihilation from media are their issues. By denying the original Americans the right to vote at the polls, it enables the genocide/colonization pillar of white supremacy by further pushing out Native Americans from their homeland and denying their ability to voice their opinions in democracy. It really enforces the idea that in order for the United States to successfully expand, Natives must not exist or they interfere with the expansion of a free America.
Although they have lived on reservations prior to the arrival of Europeans, I think this goes to show how we must adhere to Western ideals in order to be recognized in society by the media and the government. The logic seems to be as follows: Native American living on a reservation do not having a street address and must not exist. Being unable to register to vote without a street address is a form of systematic oppression. Voter registration laws and the lack of media coverage of voter suppression upholds the genocide/colonization pillar of white supremacy.
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