Tatum Blog Post

(3.) Some examples will highlight the process. Several years ago one of my students conducted a research project investigating preschoolers’ conceptions of[4] Native Americans. Using children at a local day care center as her participants, she asked these three- and four-year-olds to draw a picture of a Native American. Most children were stumped by her request. They didn’t know what a Native American was. But when she rephrased the question and asked them to draw a picture of an Indian, they readily complied. Almost every picture included one central feature: feathers. In fact, many of them also included a weapon—a knife or tomahawk—and depicted the person in violent or aggressive terms.

(4.) Though this group of children, almost all of whom were White, did not live near a large Native American population and probably had had little if any personal interaction with American Indians, they all had internalized an image of what Indians were like. How did they know? Cartoon images, in particular the Disney movie Peter Pan, were cited by the children as their number-one source of information. At the age of three, these children already had a set of stereotypes in place. Though I would not describe three-year-olds as prejudiced, the stereotypes to which they have been exposed become the foundation for the adult prejudices so many of us have.

I believe the children are not prejudice because it is not their fault the Indians in Peter Pan are violent. Disney is the one at fault because they made the Indians that way. The children just watch it. I mean, if there was a new show on, people will get curious and want to watch it. How should they know the Indians in the show were violent. I'll be honest. Peter Pan was one of my favorite Disney movie. I'm not saying all Indians are violent, but the Indians in Peter Pan were kinda violent, but they were trying to find their princess, Tiger Lily. After Peter Pan rescued Tiger Lily, they were nice except for the one big Indian who kept telling Wendy to go get fire wood. They may seem violent at first, but who wouldn't be mad if their child was taken away and they didn't know who took them? I would be mad. My final thought on this is that the Indians in Peter Pan are NOT violent, they were protective.