Racism is alive and well in America

On behalf of the Veiled Lightning production team, I would like to respond to Alex La Pierre’s “Looking In” (“Emotion versus fact-based history serves no one,” Aug. 8).

First, Mr. La Pierre states that our film insults every historian in the state — an unfounded assertion. The film’s historical perspective is provided primarily through on-camera interviews with two highly credible sources — Dr. Joe Sando and Dr. Jason Shapiro.

Dr. Sando, for example, is deeply respected not only as a Pueblo historian but also as a key figure in shedding light on the great importance of the Pueblo Revolt in securing Pueblo cultural independence for nearly five centuries and in helping win increased political and economic independence from Spanish rule for the Native people.

Jaima Chevalier, Veiled Lightning’s director, and Native American producers Gomeo Bobelu and Ashley Lynn Browning took great pains to ensure that the historical information conveyed by the film is as accurate as possible.

Second, Mr. La Pierre discounts a clear connection between present-day Native American protests to abolish the Santa Fe Fiesta’s Entrada and present-day turmoil in the South concerning the removal of Confederate statues. What qualifies Mr. La Pierre to speak for Native Americans aggrieved by the deceptive narrative of the Entrada reenactment and by being taken out of classrooms to pay homage to a portrayer of Don Diego de Vargas each year during the ramp up to Fiesta — both events inexplicably supported with taxpayer dollars?

A likeness from the past animated by an historically false premise can be as pernicious as the hardened visage on an immobile, stone likeness of an historical figure. Violent, lethal events in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this summer confirm that racism is alive and well in America and that we must all be vigilant for new infestations of racism wherever and whenever they may occur. Denial will not vanquish this problem, as recent events in the chamber of Santa Fe’s City Council attest. There, someone toted a firearm to intimidate citizens protesting against racism — a truly alarming event that highlights the urgency of this societal issue (“No guns at City Hall,” Our View, Aug. 11).

Lastly, Mr. La Pierre suggests that the film perpetuates a “false Garden of Eden-esque, pre-Hispanic idea of the Puebloan peoples” — a risible suggestion. Through interviews with world-renowned Native American artists and intellectuals, the film conveys an authentic vision of Native America — past and present — expressed by genuine, contemporary Native American voices. The film also conveys the stark, unvarnished truth about centuries-old historical trauma as well as creative ways to address and heal it today.

Frankly, Mr. La Pierre’s comments lead me to believe that he has not actually seen Veiled Lightning, which would seem to be a prerequisite for criticizing it. I would urge him to attend its film festival screenings and then reconsider his estimate.

Brian Fishbine, Ph.D., is the executive producer of Veiled Lightning. He has lived in New Mexico all his life and photographed many events on the Santa Fe Plaza for decades.