Originally posted by leslie flenner
Native Americans are still feeling the rath. (uh, poverty, loss of property, alcoholism, diabetes.. ). Please don't even go there. I am part Cherokee and I know that the ills put upon Native Americans over 100 years ago do effect their lives today.
I'm 1/4 Cherokee as well, my maternal grandmother is a full-blooded Cherokee. So, I will go there, thanks.

People are what they make themselves. Period. Yes, some people/groups have a harder start of it, and more to overcome. However, everyone can indeed overcome what hand they are dealt, should they choose to do so.

It is a poor excuse by ANYone of ANY ethnic/racial group in America to say, "I can't be more than I am here in the 21st century, because of something that happened to my ancestors in the 19th and early 20th centuries." Get over it. This IS the land of opportunity - the only thing holding one back is one's self.

The Native American side of my family has done just as well for themselves as the other side - in some cases much better. They did so because they didn't rely on tired excuses and cop-outs.