How could it be dangerous to be smart? Sherman Alexie's "Superman and Me"

I must first of all begin by saying that "Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie felt like a punch in the face to me for some reason. I enjoy reading about history, mostly early european history, and I usually stay away from early American history because there is a part of me that feels shame for what happened to the Native Americans during the Manifest Destiny era. I can't imagine the horrors involved with being fully uprooted from your culture and environment and placed in some of the least savory places to live. I doubt if my ancestors were involved with any of this personally but its not really about my ancestry from a specific country, but it is about my ancestry as a human. Throughout history there are examples of where Americans have stepped in and defended humanity where there have been injustices against humans. It was during America's Infancy that some of the greatest injustices were wrought. It is this legacy that Sherman Alexie is very aware and not so subtly punches you with in his writing.

       For a Native American to be smart, especially at a young age was a dangerous thing for Sherman. When you are aware and knowledgeable of many things around you you become dangerous because you may uncover truths as well as raise the bar for everyone around you. This could be very dangerous for you because there may be many others around you that don't want to have higher expectations from parents, teachers, or friends. You may uncover something, like the past, that nobody wants to talk about. Maybe our teacher is not expecting you to be intelligent and may even put you down as opposed to help bringing out your talents. Maybe your parents will resent you being smarter than them instead of being proud of you.
       When I was in school "Nerdy" was not cool and those kids were picked on the most. I think it was dangerous for them in different ways though. I think Sherman's danger was apparent within his entire community. There weren't any expectations of anyone becoming a somebody mostly due to the racism within our society. Sherman says that his family was poor by most peoples standards, but the fact that one of his parents could find a minimum wage job once in awhile meaned that they were middle class to reservation standards. If your smart then you would be expected to find your way out and bring yourself up to the normal standards of society. It woul also be dangerous to be smart if when in the process of becoming smart you realize how cruel our society can be as well as how easy it would be to just hang up your cletes and go home to join the others who couldn't make it. Its like being smart can also be your enemy. I am really happy to see that Sherman could pull through all this and build his own road.