Native Americans, who religious rituals include masks and face paint, are concerned over provisions in anti-terrorism bills that “makes it a criminal offence to refuse a police officer’s request to remove hand and face coverings, such as masks and face paint, in certain situations.”
Possibly legitimate concerns. Of course, the article then goes evolves into a rant:
Eulynda Toledo-Benalli, Dine’ founder of First Nations North and South, said the United States was founded on the terrorism and bioterrorism of Indigenous peoples. Benalli said the most recent limitations on civil liberties are alarming in the context of history, including the genocidial spread of smallpox to Indian people.
“How can a nation state, like the United States, an imperialist state, take such actions when their very principles of ‘democracy’ were founded on terrorism and bioterrorism. As far as I’m concerned, they need to clean up their acts, face the truths, and realize their roots of terrorism committed against the first sufferers and survivors of their terrorist acts before they accuse anyone else — maybe then I will believe their ‘truths.’ It’s really ironic to hear the myth of ‘freedom’ perpetuated in the U.S.”
Benalli said Indigenous peoples have become prisoners of democracy.
The article also makes it clear that the concern over masks and face paint is more directed at those seeking anonymity during demonstrations than for particularly religious reasons.
(Via Boing Boing)