21st Century Indian

It's ok that I'm Native American: If I am attractive and half naked, If I am uneducated, If I speak in broken English, And sing Christian songs. It's ok that I'm Native American: If I am passive and subdued, If I smile all the time, If I fit the stereotype, And am not opinionated. It's ok that I'm Native American: If I suffer memory loss, Don't want to know my peoples' history, Remain idle and submissive, And can forgive genocide. It's ok that I'm Native American: The kind that was in old movies, Who said how and heap big time, Make a mockery of tradition, Sell out to avoid confrontation. It's ok that I'm Native American: If I accept my lot in life, Stay where I'm told to stay, Sit down and shut my mouth, And allow others to think I am inferior. That is what they tell me, Before they turn and walk away. When my existence is their shame, They refuse to listen and then they say: "It's ok that you're an Indian".