We actually thought about going out to the Standing Rock camp to show our support a few weeks ago, but ultimately decided against it — I didn’t want us to be that pair of white tourists showing up to nod appreciatively at the spectacle, and getting in the way of the protest. I also last had training in peaceful protesting a couple of decades ago, which was recently enough to know that it is a very serious business with its own rules and discipline, and long enough ago that I wouldn’t take it for granted that I knew what I was doing. So we stayed home, and I made a donation instead.
Caine describes how some people are Not Helping at the protest. Now I’m even more relieved that I didn’t go and be another meddler in the way. Guess I’d better make another donation.
(By the way, Caine also mentions how she doesn’t have the stereotypical Indian look, and is easily mistaken for European. I know about this as well, and it’s important not to go the other way: UMM has a significant percentage of Indian students, and you learn fast that “Gee, you don’t look Indian” is not a compliment, and that you shouldn’t assume that someone with a German last name, for instance, isn’t Indian. It turns out that Indians look…human.)