It might be like the ‘Hood, where most anyone with drive and ability can succeed here in America and leave the ‘Hood and all its problems behind to raise their kids. Mostly it’s the dysfunctional that stay behind.
‘Nother burden on the Rez; raised to believe you’re a victim. We had a young couple from Cheyenne River come stay with us for a few months, fleeing an episode of violence they were subject to up there.
The guy adjusted well, found steady work with a home improvement contractor who was working on our house at the time. His girlfriend couldn’t adjust.
Now it’s gotta be understood where I live ain’t upscale ‘burbs with everyone locked away in their houses, and people here often look more Indian than a lot of Indians. But she was so used to living on a handout economy she couldn’t take it.
Her America was not the America we know, her America was a network of reservation islands surrounded by a foreign country.
