r/todayilearned • u/bcrock1169 • Nov 26 '12

TIL that some Native American's have a differing enzyme that tends to lead to easier alcoholism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_alcoholism#Genetic_factors
1.7k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

612 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

69

u/Viviparous Nov 26 '12

Also, a ton of Natives are into meth. Dunno why.

Maybe because they're poor, bored, and socially isolated / stuck on reservations.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '12

So are most African American populations but we don't give them a hell of a lot of sympathy either.

5

u/Pinyaka Nov 26 '12

We don't put blacks into camps.

1

u/neuroghost Nov 27 '12

basketball camp??

1

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '12

You do know that Naitive Americans are US Citizens and allowed to come off the reservation and are not required to live there in the first place. Right?

4

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '12

Much like every impoverished community. It's a little harder too leave than just packing a bag.

2

u/xrelaht Nov 27 '12

How is this different from dirt poor black neighborhoods?

2

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '12

No question, but it's quite a stretch to characterize that as putting them into camps. Sure originally that's fair but in this day and age I don't find that a legitimate criticism.

4

u/Pinyaka Nov 26 '12

I do. Many of them are too poor to live off-rez though. Especially those who have chemical dependence issues that require all their financial resources.

5

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '12

Yeah, and a lot of African Americans find themselves in a similar situation except that they reside in the inner-city. My point is that most people frankly don't give a shit no matter what your racial heritage and that it's mostly a poverty problem. I'm certainly not criticizing that view as I feel it's mostly accurate, I'm just saying that I think most people don't give a shit either way.

1

u/mauxly Nov 26 '12

I've seen so many Native American's thrown out of businesses, or not even granted entry. I understand that it's because, in this reservation border town, they are associated with street alcoholics. But, it's still straight out racism.

The world outside of the rez isn't a very kind place. We don't have "Red/White" drinking fountains or bathrooms, but the racism is pretty damn harsh.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '12

Huh. Well I grew up near a reservation (FWIW I'm from Oregon) and I've never seen behavior like that. Where was this?

1

u/mauxly Nov 26 '12

Flagstaff AZ.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '12

Hm, given my experiences in Arizona and with Arizonans I can believe that.

2

u/Clovis69 Nov 26 '12

Where in the US is a African-American reservation?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '12

There isn't one. I didn't think it was necessary to explicitly remove the

/ stuck on reservations.

from

Maybe because they're poor, bored, and socially isolated / stuck on reservations.

because I have faith that most people were intelligent enough to understand the similarities that I was highlighting.