Every story has some sort of genre that helps identify what kind of story the reader is reading. Just like literary lenses, in which are inserted into a story that is used to analyze the literary text. Literary lenses focus on one basic principle, It draws focus to certain aspects of text by providing readers with a perspective from which to view the novel. In the short story by Sherman Alexie, “What You Pawn I Shall Redeem”, has similarities that relate to the critical race theory. Reading deeper within the meanings of the context led me to believe the author, Sherman Alexie, inserted more of a meaning when it came to race of the Indian decent.

The Critical race theory (CRT), is based on the view that race, instead of being biologically grounded and natural, is socially constructed and that race, as a socially constructed concept, functions as a means to maintain the interests of the white population that constructed it. According to CRT, racial inequality emerges from the social, economic, and legal differences that white people create between “races” to maintain elite white interest in labour markets and politics and as such create the circumstances that give rise to poverty and criminality in many minority communities. Though the intellectual origins of the movement go back much further, the CRT movement officially organized itself in July 1989.
The story “What You Pawn, I Shall Redeem”, is about an indian man named Jackson Jackson, residing in Seattle has been homeless for six years. He’s comfortable with his situation, actually happy and prideful of being homeless. As bizarre as it sounds, he doesn’t ask for anything else except for booze and food to survive. He was stuck in a situation in which he found his grandmothers regalia. A regalia is the distinctive clothing worn and ornaments carried at formal occasions as an indication of status. This regalia, signified the tribe status of his grandma and they had a hidden yellow bead in theirs. It seemed like he kept reminiscing about his grandma and drank his sorrows. In the end he didn’t gain no money. But the story ended good when the broker still gave him his grandmas regalia.
Alexie states in his story “Indians have to work hard to keep secrets from hungry white folks.” Early in the 19th century, while the rapidly-growing United States expanded into the lower South, white settlers faced what they considered an obstacle. This area was home to the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chicasaw and Seminole nations. These Indian nations, in the view of the settlers and many other white Americans, were standing in the way of progress. Eager for land to raise cotton, the settlers pressured the federal government to acquire Indian territory. Not only have whites stolen territory from the Native Americans, but they’ve also stolen their homes, peace, crops, families, futures, etc. It is a shame that even the whites would even dare to wear the War bonnets (also called warbonnets or headdresses) that are feathered headgear traditionally worn by male leaders of the American Plains Indians Nations who have earned a place of great respect in their tribe. Originally they were sometimes worn into battle, but they are now primarily used for ceremonial occasions. The headdress is a well-known symbol of strength and bravery in Native American culture. Whites would wear these headdresses on occasion, such as days like Halloween. Wearing these headdresses are disrespectful and making a mockery of all those Native Americans who’ve fallen at the time of war. The character Jackson, shows us that being an indian, Native American, in America, is being seen as a outcast, someone who is viewed by whites, as a threat to society. No one really acknowledges the homeless Indian, as they wither through out the streets seeking their own survival. Their race identifies who they are and how they grow in society. It is not fair but the character Jackson makes the best of his situation and accepts it as his fate for the rest of his life as being that homeless Indian man. This has become apart of the norm for Indians to accept their fate in society. Alexie, also inserts all different types of tribe names to help identify the other characters within the story. As Jackson talks about his friends, he states their tribes or what type of Indian they label themselves, such as Spokane, plain, Duwamish, Crow, etc. He also states there are over 99 plus tribes in which many don’t acknowledge, except for the tribes the whites make a mockery towards such as the Cherokee tribe. The word, label, Indian is also white made, since that is what whites called the Native Americans. This word was created by Columbus when he landed in the Antilles, Columbus referred to the resident peoples he encountered there as “Indians” reflecting his purported belief that he had reached the Indian Ocean. The name stuck; for centuries the native people of the Americas were collectively called “Indians” in various European languages.
In the short story “What You Pawn I Shall Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, literary context identifies with the critical race theory in many aspects. The author has many stories that involve his race and the struggles that go with it. Being an Native American, surviving in a land owned by whites reflects of how Indians grow and live in society. Accepting their fate and seeing things that aren’t viewed as normal, normal, can take a toll on how they develop or progress. Alexie creates a character who accepts being a homeless man, in which is bizarre, but them makes it understandable in the predicament the character is in. Reading from the characters and authors point of view can change your perception on what others are trying to say and why they’re going through the things that they are. The racial inequality that Native Americans go through, versus what whites go through can be seen as abnormally absurd. It emerges from the social, economic, and legal differences that white people create between “races”.