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Barbara Perry. Silent Victims: Hate Crimes against Native Americans. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2008. 176 pp. Paper, $29.95.
Michelle D. Johnson-Jennings, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Though reading about hate crimes in Indian Country can prove depressing, I held a feeling of hope after reading this book. Barbara Perry has uncovered themes that arise from the Native American victims and also left the reader armed with possible concrete steps for change. Perry's research interviews of nearly three hundred Native Americans from the Southwest Four Corners region, the Great Lakes, and the Northern Plains regions provide unique qualitative insights into the cycle of oppression and the cumulative effects of hate crimes. This book's purpose is to provide individual accounts while arguing that many hate crimes go unreported. Further, it contends that hate crimes are but one of many systemic practices that justify and maintain subordination of Native peoples, especially during times of activism. This book effectively reaches its objectives by succinctly contextualizing hate crimes within a historical and contemporary model of oppression, which could enlighten anyone interested in violence in Indian Country. The writing is straightforward and concise, which enables the reader to clearly follow the line of logic and remain engaged throughout.
This book is divided into three major sections. The first establishes the historical and sociopolitical context for hate crimes in the United States against Native Americans. The second section focuses on the findings from Perry's qualitative research and the cumulative impact of violence on the community. The last section demonstrates how activism and promotion of cultural education could strengthen the sovereignty of Native nations.
Within the first section of the book Perry summarizes how marginalization and oppression of Native peoples have...