Content notice: Appropriation, Racism, Anti-Native
I grew up in the Boy Scouts. In my troop, I held the rank of Senior Patrol Leader for a year, I took numerous leadership positions. I was a member of the Order of the Arrow and of its cermonies teams. I became, at least according to some, an excellent public speaker and I got my first tastes of community activism through the BSA(hosting a donation drive to support Iraqi civilians and American troops hurt in the Iraq war).
So in many ways it hurts to have to tell it as it is, but the Boy Scouts still have -major- problems.
I want to praise the BSA's decision to allow gay adults and children to be full members of the scouts. While there is an ugly asterisk allowing religious affiliated troops(like the many Mormon troops in Idaho and Utah) to continue discriminating, there is no doubt this is major progress.
But the Boy Scouts still forfeit public monies by disallowing atheists and agnostics into the organization at all (http://www.theatlantic.com/...). As an atheist, this is one of the major reasons I left the scouts. The organization claims to hold religion at its core, and despite the fact that it does offer religious awards for scouts of most religious faiths(http://www.scouting.org/...), there is also no question that its primarily influence is Christian. Scouts must swear to do their duty to "God and my Country", not to "Goddess" or "Gods" or "the Dharma" or another source. Ultimately this is a decision the scouts make, but the notion that good works, brotherhood, and public service requires religion is simply false, and should be rejected.
However, the scouts exclusion of minorities goes far beyond its "official" policies. Most troublingly, the Boy Scouts of America continues an incredibly racist tradition that erases and appropriates from Native Americans. This is called the Order of the Arrow. The Order of the Arrow is an "honor society", something close to a secret society. It is meant to be an honor for scouts who go above and beyond the normal call of scouting, and supports community work. It is also meant to provide a sense of brotherhood and kinship for members. (http://www.oa-bsa.org/)
All in all this would not be so bad, except that the way in which this is done is through the mass appropriation of Native American cultures. For example, when Order of the Arrow ceremonies are performed, scouts- mostly white- dress up as Native Americans(or a caricature thereof) and tell stories of Lenni Lenape origin(as filtered through the likes of James Fenimore Cooper). These often involve invocations of the phrase "Wimachtendienk, Wingolauchsik, Witahemui", which is of Lenni Lenape origin and means "brotherhood, cheerful, and service." In most "lodges", this is done with minimal Native American involvement and no awareness of the cultural appropriation involved.
More below
The Order of the Arrow incorporates these "Indian" cermonies as part of the legacy of Ernest Seton, who began a separate organization called the "Woodcraft Indians" based on a philosophy that the American Indians were effectively "noble savages" whose physical form was superior and who were "in touch with nature". This plays directly into the Manifest Destiny mythology which declares that the Native American people were destined to die out, but would give their caretaking of the Americas to the superior white men. Native Americans were an "honorable" people but ultimately were destined to be replaced, and gave their blessing to this. See, for example, "The Last of the Mohicans" and "The Song of Hiawatha" which exemplify this tradition, with Longfellow describing Hiawatha as exhorting his people to give up their land to the white men who are superior and will be better caretakers.
This appropriation and wearing of faux regalia causes harm to Native American communities, continuing the erasure of American Indians from the general consciousness and continuing the myth that Native Americans were eradicated. By wearing headdresses, sacred regalia, scouts are disrespecting Native American religions. Furthermore, as with so much of white people "playing Indian", the Order of the Arrow is continuing as a minstrel show, furthering stereotypes.
This week the Order of the Arrow finished its National Conference at Michigan State University. Some of the worst examples of appropriation can be seen in its own program, where the Order Advertises its "Native American" activities, where the mostly white scouts can participate in "Native American dancing" drawn haphazardly from the dancing traditions of numerous nations. (http://event.oa-bsa.org/...). The information, for example, for "Old Time Sioux Dancing" makes it clear these workshops are run out of a white perspective, with the major source being "The American Indian Hobbyist."
Despite the claims of the Order of the Arrow to work with Native American tribes, and especially the Lenni Lenape, it is clear that this is at most a cover for their feelings of entitlement to American Indian cultures. At this year's convention, for example, a Tipi was used, despite the fact that the Lenni Lenape- being from the Northeastern part of the United States, never used them. (http://statenews.com:8088/...). Worse, when confronted with the racism inherent to these traditions, leaders and rank and file scouts refused to recognize the pain felt by protesting Native American students, instead consistently deflecting to their lodges supposed connections to local Native Americans or Nations while claiming to be "honoring" Native American culture.
But it is clear that Native Americans wish to be honored not by having white people dress up in faux regalia, misusing sacred artifacts, imitating their language as part of a secret society. Rather, as white people, we can honor Native Americans by working to respect tribal sovereignty, eradicating poverty on reservations, demanding full support of Indian Tuition Waivers, the expansion of medicaid, and most of all by listening. There are numerous Nations in nearly every state from whom we can learn much. We are often invited to resource centers or events to learn, so long as we are respectful and -listen- instead of trying to take their culture from them.
And so long as the Order of the Arrow does not change its ways, cease attempting to "honor" Native Americans through redface, but instead modifies its traditions and puts itself towards "cheerful service" by working with Native Americans on their terms, the Boy Scouts will remain exclusionary, racist, and unworthy of any progressive support.