ABSTRACT
The simplistic images of innocence, oppression, and defiance can be used to construct mythologies of purity for academic factions claiming moral authority on the grounds that they identify with the oppressed. The pull of expectations about native people puts both them and scholars in a difficult position. On the one hand, stereotypes distort debates about indigenous issues, therefore should be questioned. If the Central American solidarity movement comes out of any particular sector of North American society, it is the Christian left. Imagery of sacrifice and social redemption is much in evidence. The search for healing leads to a colonialism of images, in which foreign activists firm up our sense of moral worth by identifying with poor people but fail to be pragmatic about the obstacles to be overcome. The resulting mix of hyperrelativism and doctrinaire thinking came to public attention in the North American debate over political correctness.
