Failing to Learn from History
A recent post at Sadly No! about the National Museum of the American Indian and its' alleged downplaying of genocide reveals more through the accompanying comments than the post itself, as the tired old memes of "that was a long time ago," "the Indians were violent, too!" and "why should we feel guilty?" are trucked out yet again. As I have mentioned before, many whites have such a violent aversion to acknowledging or even mentioning what Indians have suffered because the mere fact of our stubborn, continued existence is an uncomfortable reminder that the Western Hemisphere was "settled" through invasion, genocide, brutality and lawlessness. This is especially true in America, where many perhaps most whites are deeply, personally, emotionally invested in the cherished founding myths of our nation's history.
Labels: Blogosphere, Native American, Racism
posted by The Local Crank | 8:38 PM
2 Comments:
I'm usually inclined to remind people who would prefer not to hear about this aspect of our country's history, that they can stop hearing about it once they give back the land and pay the Natives the billions they owe them under old treaty obligations. I suspect that were that to happen, most Native Americans would be willing to call it even.
In a similar vein, when a sheriff's deputy here recently made a comment to me about how all the illegal aliens should be forcibly deported, I heartily agreed and asked him when he would be taking ship back to England...all I got in response was a blank stare.
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