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Perhaps the very best friend in my elementary school days in Norman, OK was Doug Humphrey. We both liked a variety of board games, and we were competitive in a friendly way. Doug was of Native American descent. As young kids sometimes do, we created a jingle – a kind of a team ‘fight’ song – for cheering on his side of the contest. “Choctaw Cherokee and the Creek, Humphrey’s Team Can’t be Beat.” That came to mind recently as did the song posted below. How this relates to our theme on the second half of the headline will be explored further below.
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Indian Reservation (Lyrics)
They took the whole Cherokee nation
Put us on this reservation
Took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
Took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in Japan
Cherokee people Cherokee tribe
So proud to live So proud to die
They took the whole Indian nation
Locked us on this reservation
Though I wear a shirt and tie
I’m still part redman deep inside
Cherokee people Cherokee tribe
So proud to live So proud to die
But maybe someday when they learn
Cherokee nation will return, will return
Will return, will return, will return
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John D Loudermilk
Indian Reservation (Re-Recording) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc ##
In our nation’s “Pledge of Allegiance” which we recited daily in school in those days are these words.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
According to USHistory.org: “In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words “under God,” creating the 31-word pledge we say today.”
Perhaps some people haven’t been paying close attention. But millions understand that there is a communist threat to the U.S. today. Indeed, there are an array of threats, internal and external to our often troubled small ‘d’ and small ‘r’ democratic republic. We can and do look back to try to understand why injustices occurred with Native Americans (“Indians”), with Blacks, with the Irish, Italians, with Hispanics of various nationalities, Asians, and an array of other ethnic, religious, women, or other minority groups. Like it or not, the march toward ‘equality’ of opportunity has been an uneven one here in the U.S. and around the world. It is important to reflect that throughout human history, there has been oppression of various types literally around the world. Try to find a nation anywhere on planet Earth that hasn’t had some form of slavery, injustice, or radical inequalities between their own and other people.
This graphic from left-leaning Wikipedia sheds some light on the slow march toward ending slavery. Sadly, slavery still exists in numbers of countries and continents. It has not been eliminated.
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Speaking of Wikipedia, the following two paragraphs are a reminder of the background to the song, “Indian Reservation” which carries the subtitle: “The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian.” As this brief reflects, the song itself had an uneven path toward acceptance and several performers.
“Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)” is a song written by John D. Loudermilk.[1] It was first recorded by Marvin Rainwater in 1959 and released on MGM as “The Pale Faced Indian”, but that release went unnoticed. The first hit version was a 1968 recording by Don Fardon – a former member of the Sorrows – that reached number 20 on the Hot 100 in 1968[2] and number 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1970.[3]
In 1971, the Raiders recorded “Indian Reservation” for Columbia Records, and it topped the Hot 100 on July 24.[4] On June 30, 1971, the RIAA gold certified the record for selling over a million copies.[5] The record was later certified platinum for selling an additional million copies.[5] The song was the group’s only Hot 100 Number 1 hit and their final Hot 100 Top 20 song.”
Additional Information with More MHLivingNews Analysis and Commentary in Brief
Numbers of reservations in the U.S. have affordable manufactured homes in them, besides other types of housing. Here on MHLivingNews and on our MHProNews sister-site we have periodically mentioned the disparity identified in research by Dr. Donna Feir, Ph.D.
Another oddity is illustrated by the following graphic and quotation from Wikipedia. Namely, that the percentage of home ownership in the U.S. is lower than that of dozens of nations that often have a lower income per person or household than our country has. “This is a list of countries and territories by home ownership rate, which is the ratio of owner-occupied units to total residential units in a specified area.[1]
Given that the U.S. has a higher per capita income than most other nations, what explains this disparity in the rate of home ownership between our nation and dozens of others that rank higher than the U.S.A. does? The short answer is unsatisfying. There are numbers of factors that when examined and understood cause this vexing scenario. To oversimplify, one could point to the following issues as contributing factors. In no particular order of importance are these.
- A) Widespread misunderstanding of the quality, durability, energy, safety, appeal, and value of manufactured homes.
- B) The distinctions between manufactured homes, and the mobile homes and trailer houses which were built decades ago. Even owners of manufactured homes often mistakenly refer to their homes as ‘trailers’ or ‘mobile homes,’ when they are not properly called either of those names.
- C) Disparities in financing between more costly conventional housing and manufactured homes.
- D) Injustices in zoning and placement for manufactured homes that often limit their numbers at the local level.
Every one of those issues has been previously addressed on MHLivingNews and repeatedly so on MHProNews too. While others may acknowledge the challenge, perhaps no other websites anywhere on earth have examined these issues as carefully as based on the facts, evidence, and expert viewpoints as MHLivingNews and MHProNews have done. Millions of visitors and millions of pageviews occur on our sites every year. Yet more than a decade after this website has been online, and in the 14th year since MHProNews was launched, ignorance on several of points raised in this article remains. Meaning, it is obvious that more efforts are needed to correct the status quo. Even with our array of third-party research that routinely debunks the incorrect beliefs and prejudices – misunderstanding, bias, and ignorance still exists.
There are individuals in America who arguably could change this picture almost single handedly in a reasonably short period of time. There are billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates who have direct financial ties to the manufactured home industry. Why haven’t they launched an information and educational blitz that does for manufactured housing what the GoRVing campaign did for the Recreational Vehicle (RV) industry? The GoRV campaign was launched, per the RVIA, in 1997. In 1998, RVs were outsold by manufactured homes (MHs) by a ratio of about 3 to 2. But approaching 25 years later, RV sales widely outpace that of MHs. One might think that those invested in an industry would want that industry to reach its full potential, right? Keep in mind that there is an affordable housing crisis in the U.S., and that the runaway most proven form of permanent affordable housing in the U.S. are manufactured homes.
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So, it may seem logical to think that corporate leaders and the ultrawealthy might want to educate the public on facts like those mentioned herein. But obviously the ‘logic’ of the ultra-wealthy and certain corporate leaders is different than what millions of Americans might think of as reasonable. To numbers, perhaps not all, of the ultra-rich and corporate giants, scarcity in a product or service has certain advantages for them. Ignorance by millions is thus an advantage for them.
The laws needed to correct what has gone wrong in the U.S. housing market in general, and for affordable manufactured housing more specifically were passed years ago by widely bipartisan margins in Congress. Affordable housing and the benefits of home ownership are widely seen as good things by both major parties, at least, on paper.
But as MHLivingNews pointed out, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published research on September 2021 which demonstrated that despite a clear understand of the causes and cures for the affordable housing crisis, leaders among the two major parties have failed to deliver. There is a difference between “promises, promises” and actual delivery on those pledges.
Why have minorities often been mistreated? Why is affordable home ownership lower in the U.S. than so many other countries? When the laws needed to fix the affordable housing crisis already exist, why are those laws often not enforced? MHLivingNews could dive into obscuring, coded language of those who believe in “the moat.” We could write about philanthro-feudalism and philanthro-capitalism. We could pull back the curtain on “the Iron Triangle” or “sabotage monopoly” tactics and why each of those items are important for people to understand. Search those terms on our websites but also see what others say about them. Because the standard of living for millions of Americans could, per research, jump some 20 percent or more if those issues were resolved. The home ownership rate could steadily and robustly grow every year by understanding these issues.
This article is a starting point for understanding those matters. See the linked and related reports to learn more.
“But maybe someday when they learn
Cherokee nation will return, will return
Will return, will return, will return…”
History tells us that rights are rarely given without a serious effort. The causes and cures that lead to justice must be understood, consistently applied, and ultimately must be ‘won.’ Hey, Doug. ###
That’s a wrap on this installment of “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
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