A Glimmer of Hope, a Higher Vision

I heard something over the weekend that gave me hope. Well… a glimmer of hope. Let me explain:

As you know I (and a lot of non-BSA America[1]) have been critical of the appropriation of Native American culture/history/tradition[2] into BSA things.

What gives me a glimmer of hope?

1. I understand that BSA and its honor camper program Order of the Arrow (OA)’s adult leadership is in the process of assessing how deep the cultural appropriation rot goes – and to that end they commissioned a survey regarding the _membership’s_ awareness of the cultural appropriation (we’ve commented previously in this forum on this survey). THIS IS HELPFUL but insufficient.
2. I have heard that the _youth_ leadership of the Order of the Arrow (OA)[3] have given themselves this December the mission to VOTE on the status of the whether-or-not to continue with the cultural appropriation practiced by OA – and the _youth_ leadership has decided that it is a morally-dodgy practice that warrants a review probably leading to abandonment. This gives me some hope.
3. I understand that a replacement program for the traditional OA practice of Indian cultural appropriation was proposed: Replace OA cringe redface mimicry with Corps of Discovery romanticism. But this was/is also a dodgy proposition: The only woman referenced in the Corps of Discovery history and myth is Sacagawea – herself a captive enslaved Native woman force-married into white polygamy. Likewise, the only other non-white person on the expedition was an enslaved Black man (York) who won his freedom only afterwards. In truth the “Corps of Discovery” was the acme of the era of what came to be known as “Manifest Destiny” which was the white European conqueror-settler fever dream of empire building and conquest. The Corp of Discovery is therefore the vanguard of the next century of westward-bound white expansion and genocide against the Native inhabitants of the American interior. Relying on the imagery of the “Corps of Discovery” as a savior to the embedded racism of the current OA practice of NA cultural appropriation is therefore the obvious extension of all the current OA appropriative practices – but culminating in extinguishing the memory of the Natives altogether with an elevation of what amounts to the vanguard shock troops of United States white-American genociders. What’s the good news? This idea was soundly rejected for what it is: misogynist, racist, exclusionist, romantic regressive patriarchalism. This gives me a glimmer of hope.
4. Here’s the Best News: OA is (rumored) to be considering instead using something that belongs uniquely ONLY to them: vintage 1920’s-ish BSA uniforms, practices, methods and mythology. Now – don’t get me wrong – this retrospective back on when BSA was Young and Good is mythical. It was also best expressed in the aspiration of Moral Goodness, Friendship and Viral Vigor evoked best by Norman Rockwell paintings of Scouts. But nobody is confused: even though that inclusive and affirmative full-throated “A Scout is Friendly!” past never existed even back then – it certainly was the correct (but never fully realized) aspiration of the era.  And THIS is what gives me hope: A reach-back to vintage Norman Rockwellian BSA in the 21^st Century is an opportunity to correct the problems that absolutely existed back then (girl-exclusionary, gay-exclusionary, religious-exclusionary, ableist, cishet only affirmative, etc.) with something that can today For The First Time actually embrace all of the Scout Law: Especially the part that says: (Fourth Scout Law) “A Scout is a Friend to All, and a Sibling to every other Scout no matter the Country, Class, Creed (or none), Gender, Gender-Expression/Identity or Sexual Orientation the other may belong.”
   
   I do hope that if the OA chooses to reach back to the Best of Whatever Scouting Was that they also reach all the way back to the full-throated and many-worded entire original Scout Law – and simply update it with the lessons learned of the last 110 years to SAY THE WORDS which include EVERYBODY is welcome to come and Scout With Us. This is the Higher Vision.
   
   Amen, and Amen.
   
   David O. McGrath
   I am an Atheist and also an Eagle Scout and former BSA Scoutmaster
   
   

ENDNOTES:

[1] non-BSA America: This is where BSA can potentially grow membership if BSA can stop with the behaviors/practices/policies that are so offensive to civic-minded Americans.

[2] Native American cultural (mis)appropriation: There are several issues with cultural appropriation of Native American “stuff” regarding BSA (this is not an exhaustive list):

1. BSA has nothing to do with Native American culture – nothing. BSA stems from a wet dream of British Empire married to Christianity (and aspirational Judaism) in support of the same. BSA is the inheritor of genocide and oppression in support of white internationalism. When BSA reaches for Native American culture, it reaches with the hand of a thief and holds it and misuses it incorrectly with these stained hands. It is the profane equivalent of any non-Jew putting on a yarmulke and prayer-shawl and parading like Borat in his horrible movie – there is zero way those stained hands can make it right – even if the dance and language and clothing were exactly correct because advised and corrected by a local Native authoritative advisor.
2. BSA (and its worst actor in this regard OA (Order of the Arrow))’s cultural appropriation is _always_ wrong at the national scale because it pre-supposes a common Native identity/mode/culture that never existed and therefore mixes identity/mode/culture/clothing/regalia/language in a mishmash that is inauthentic and historically impossible (e.g., Lene Lenape language coupled to Comanche war bonnets). Even if OA could overcome the problems with item 1 above (e.g., BSA has _nothing_ to do with Native Americans except white-man’s-theft) on a national scale with a single program it cannot get BOTH local approval AND a common program that is authentic rather than a grotesque reenactment of the false premises of the Noble Savage myth and the presumptive grotesqueness of the White Savior – who with its cavalry jack-boot (or cowboy boot) stands on the necks of the grandparent ancestors of all Native survivors of their genocide.
3. Native Tribes have no obligation to correct BSA’s (OA’s) misuse: They neither need to comment on it or lean against it. The theft of BSA stands all on its own – and must be corrected BY _BSA_ and not by Native Americans. Let’s face it: there is no central structure (except America’s disgust at BSA for the cultural appropriation which feeds into America’s refusal to join BSA as newly minted Scouts while this outrage of cultural appropriation (with the BSA membership’s cheek to say they “honor” Native Americans with their enthusiastic theft) stands. BSA must repent of its sin first – and like the good Christians (well – and a few Jews) they are they already know this entails the Steps of Repentance: Acknowledge, Abandon, Apologize and Restore. But this BSA finds impossible to do – the sin is too deep. Therefore, I believe that the best we can see is that BSA will perform a Half Good Turn and do this: Acknowledge their error and Abandon their practice of wanton misappropriation of Native culture.

[3] BSA constantly refers to “youth leadership” leadership as if it is an actual thing. It is not – at best it is adult conceived and led guiding the opportunity for youth to pretend to be in charge – when it is nothing at all like “youth being actually in charge.” Because – let’s face it – that leads to scenarios more akin to “Lord of the Flies” and we all know it. Instead, this is always an illusion. To be clear: the adults are _always_ in charge. And this means that the dodgy missteps of cultural appropriation were conceived, designed and executed by adults – adults who may have not known better at the time, but with whatever veneration decades of tradition imbue the adults seem to be unable to abandon it. What is new and revolutionary here is the youth seem to have initiated this vote. The youth seem to know there is something seriously wrong with the past OA practices. The youth would like to not stain their hands with the sins of the past. This cannot be overstated – this appears to be a youth initiative in the face of overwhelming institutionalized BSA-internal adult interference and push-back.