This paper provides a short review of the American Indian Community House (AICH), a non-profit community-based organization serving the social service, health and cultural needs of Native Americans residing in the New York City (AICH, n.d.). Volunteers of Native American origin founded this organization in 1969 as a community-based organization. It original official mandate was to ensure that the status of these Native Americans was improved as well as fostering inter-cultural understanding (AICH, n.d.).
This organization was influenced by the racial and ethnic disparities in the United States during the years preceding its formation. The organization intended to ensure that the American community seized minimizing socialization to class, color, race, or ethnicity. The major initial successes of the organization include the abolition of retrogressive colonial policies.
The social initiative adopted by this organization is the fact that the organization has members from 72 different Native American tribes who migrate between urban centers and reservations, thereby demonstrating interrelatedness of all the Native American tribes (AICH, n.d.). This initiative has helped in convincing the public to recognize the organization as that which has universally shared issues and concerns.
There are two contradicting ethical considerations of the organization’s social initiative. Critics argue that the organization is advocating for racial segregation since it only allows membership of Native American origin. These critics argue that through excluding other races from their membership, this sends a message to the Native Americans that the other Americans are always against their agenda, which is not always the case. On the contrary, those who are pro the organization argue that this social initiative only ensures that the Native American tribes are united in their agenda and that they integrate shared concerns and shared solutions.
Reference:
American Indian Community House (AICH). Organization website. Retrieved from http://www.aich.org/about/history
