Indians Decry Outkast’s Grammy Performance As Racist

Outkast is catching heat from Native Americans after their performance of ‘Hey Ya’ at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. Andrew Brother Elk, chair of the Native American Cultural Center in San Francisco, tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “I was stupefied. I had never seen such blatant racist material on live television. At first I thought it was going to be some satire or a joke, but instead it was being played as entertainment.” He explained Andre 3000’s idea of dress-up and dancing inadvertently trampled on both sacred territory and kicked around stereotypes. Perhaps he didn’t realize he was cheaply imitating regalia, clothing laden with symbolism where everything from the feathers and beads to the color of the clothing itself and markings on one’s face has profound meaning to the wearer. Read more.