The tweet by the Washington Redskins rings hollow to me. If the team was really interested in standing in solidarity for racial justice, they would change their name from the dictionary-defined racial slur they continue to use. As an indigenous person, I feel their tweet comes off as tone-deaf, not woke. Violence comes in many forms, some more subtle than others. Indigenous Peoples are not your mascots.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

...the bottom line is Columbus Day is just a celebration of genocide.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

Disadvantages faced by indigenous peoples are related to dispossession and exacerbated by powerlessness and poverty.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

Fast-tracked development often means that indigenous people and their territories get run over and their rights are not taken into consideration.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

I have a real problem when those people preferring to affirm an African or even a Spanish side to their history say that I can't affirm who I am as an indigenous person, as though everybody else is entitled to be who they are on our ancestral homeland, except us.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

The traditional homelands of the Taíno extend from the Caribbean islands to southern Florida. My family lineage is from Borikén (Puerto Rico) and I know that the loss of life people on the island suffered from Hurricane Maria was not simply the result of an extreme weather event. The casualties are also the result of the colonial legacy that includes racism and years of neglect.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

The [Columbus] statue is really a tribute to genocide, colonialism, religious intolerance, racism, gender violence, and white supremacy. There are mixed feelings among locals, but Taíno and other Indigenous peoples of Borikén [an Indigenous name for the island] would like to see it gone, as it is looked upon as an embarrassment.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

To remain silent is to be complicit in the face of the increasing injustice, racism, xenophobia, and intolerance we are currently witnessing today.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

We need a seat at the table … If we’re not at the table, we’re probably on the menu.

Roberto Mukaro Borrero

Would others like their grandparents or great-grandparents to be dug up and put on display? How do you explain to your children why their ancestors are on display and not other groups?

Roberto Mukaro Borrero