The plight of Afro-Native Americans is a very moving one. It shows that it is not only the white majority who can exclude other races from their culture. The situation with the Cherokee Freedmen is a perfect example of minorities victimizing other minorities.
The Cherokee Freedmen had lived alongside the Cherokee Indians for most of their lives. They voted on tribal affairs and participated in the Native-American stomp dances. However, when the tribal council passed a law requiring all Cherokee members to have a certificate of Degree of Native-American blood these Cherokee Freedmen were, for all intents and purposes, kicked out of the tribe. They were cut off from the benefits that they had enjoyed for many years and were now outcasted from the land they had once called home.
The fact that people who were so intrinsic to Cherokee culture were ousted at the drop of a hat just goes to show how flawed the use of blood quantum is when determining who is and isn't Native-American. Using the discipline of history, we can easily see how closely the Cherokee Freedmen and the Cherokee Indians have lived for most of their lives. The fact that they are now no longer considered part of the tribe is a great injustice to both the current Freedmen and the hardships that they ancestors went through.
