There are, of course, more than a few things to celebrate this 4th of July, but since everyone is already focusing on all that, perhaps I’ll lend my small voice as a tribute to the Native American Nakba.
Of course, many people typically choose to remember the dispossession and mass slaughter of the Native Americans on Columbus Day. However, this fails to capture the full extent of the American government’s complicity in ethnic cleansing campaigns for at least another century after its declared independence–what Helen Hunt Jackson called a Century of Dishonor (her work of course can itself be subjected to legitimate criticism).
There are a few nuggets that I found in Carolyn Merchant’s Reinventing Eden that I’d like to share, in an effort to re-capture that moment before the colonial encounter with the indigenous tribes left no room to resist its explicitly genocidal and hegemonic agenda. One is about apple cider, and the other about education.
Concerning differing origin stories, the story of Adam and Eve versus the Native Americans’ own varying creation stories:
According to Benjamin Franklin, Indians quickly perceived the difference between the two accounts. Franklin writes satirically that the Indians on being appraised of the “historical facts on which our [own] religion is founded; such as the fall of our first parents by eating an apple… an Indian orator stood up” to thank the Europeans. “What you have told us is all very good,” he said. “It is, indeed, bad to eat apples. It is much better to make them all into cider. We are much obliged by your kindness in coming so far to tell us these things which you have heard from your mothers; in return I will tell you some of those which we have heard from ours. (p. 142, Reinventing Eden, Carolyn Merchant)
On education, another Benjamin Franklin anecdote…
After the principal business was settled, the commissioners from Virginia acquainted the Indians by a speech… with a fund for educating Indian youth; and if the chiefs of the Six Nations would send down half a dozen of their sons to that college, the government would take care that they should be well provided for, and instructed in all the learning of the white people…. [The following day, they answered] when their speaker began, by expressing a deep sense of the kindness of the Virginia government, in making them that offer; “for we know,” says he, “that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in these colleges, and that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced therefore that you mean to do us good by your proposal; we thank you heartily. But you who are wise must know that different nations have different conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some experience of it; several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners; ignorant of every means of living in the woods; unable to bear either cold or hunger; knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer; or kill an enemy; spoke our language imperfectly; were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or counsellors: they were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it; and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them.” (p. 224 Works of Benjamin Franklin, p. 151-152 Reinventing Eden)
For me, imagining such a time of imbalance, instability, and dynamism as this in American history was impossible before reading these texts; though it reminds me of colonial attitudes towards African, South American, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries in the past century. It is interesting that the language of resistance here is focused on protecting difference. Nevertheless, the colonial mentality instead sought to exterminate these differences, whether racial and ethnic or cultural, in tandem with the material interests that created financial incentive in this hegemonic framework. And yes, I refer to the United States government post-independence as a colonial figure because of its treatment of the Native American communities and its unending imperial expansion.
Perhaps most explicit as evidence for any deniers of history is Andrew Jackson’s campaign to forcibly expel the Cherokee Indians from the area of Georgia and Florida in order to facilitate white settling of the land and use of its resources (gold).
In one of the saddest episodes of our brief history, men, women, and children were taken from their land, herded into makeshift forts with minimal facilities and food, then forced to march a thousand miles(Some made part of the trip by boat in equally horrible conditions)
There were no pretenses made about the policy, authorized by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Act gave the President authority to engage in what was, to put it euphemistically, a land transfer program. Under this program, land where Indians resided east of the Mississippi would be cleansed of Indians, and exchanged instead for unsettled and unclaimed land west of the Mississippi. This led to the forcible and violent eviction of over 15,000 Cherokee mentioned above, called the Trail of Tears on account of how many innocent people died as a result.
There is something to be appreciated about these stories in our present time, given that the language of domination and false compromise bears a great deal of resemblance to the predominant modes of discourse vis-á-vis the Palestinians in Israel. The separation paradigm opens the door to a repeat of 1948 ethnic cleansing campaigns and may lead to another forcible eviction of Arab citizens from Israel. The American “land transfer” is spoken of in terms of removing the Indians from amongst us (the whites), in the same way that land transfer in Israel is concerned with removing the Arabs from amongst us (the Jews). In both cases, this exceptional class of colonized subject who still dwells within the colonial entity was supposed to be put in his proper place, across the border or river. Just as the United States promised these exchanges to be a guarantee of Cherokee independence and rights, Israel has promised this autonomy to be guaranteed in the long term. But we know all too well how this story ends. One can only hope that the Palestinians’ fate, and that of other indigenous peoples around the world, will be different.
Related posts:
- Native America Passes Tough Immigration Measure
- American Indian Movement on Palestine
- 60 Years Later, Nakba Front Page News
- Dope Arabs: Remembering Michael Ellis DeBakey (September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008)
- The Palestinian Nakba Continues
Well, I'm Canadian so the whole fourth of July thing doesn't apply to me, but my country was the same way in dealing with Native peeps.
Posted by Aisha | July 4, 2009, 6:29 pmplease visit my facebook @ jimmy dietrich …I read youre article, and it speaks the truth..thanks for letting the TRUTH be heard!! jimmy
Posted by jimmy dietrich | July 4, 2009, 7:06 pmHappy 4th of July to you too!
I'd complain it's kind of inappropriate to shit all over a country's "independence day" like that, but hey this is KABOBfest. It's expected.
Posted by programmer craig | July 4, 2009, 10:16 pmIts also "inappropriate" to kill local inhabitants.
Posted by Saleema | July 5, 2009, 2:29 amI guess you don't know the meaning of the word, eh Saleema? Maybe you'd have a better understanding if every Ramadan the western news media talked about the prophet being a pedophile and the fact that he committed genocide at Medina?
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 3:01 amIt would be pretty lame if the Western news media was saying that. Because the main reason I posted this is because the Western news media isn't saying it.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:19 amI'm not shitting over the independence day. I'm just the annoying guy saying, "fine, but don't forget about…". Some people get a little too lost in self-indulgent praise on this particular day (and even year round), and use these opportunities to white wash egregious crimes, rather than re-affirm their commitment to certain principles and values of justice. Sorry, I think recalling these crimes is very much in line with any July 4th that is meant to be liberatory.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:00 amBullshit.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 8:45 amWhich is it? First I "deliberately" decide to trash it, implying I'm brazen and unashamed, and now I'm bullshitting to cover up my intentions, which implies that I am ashamed and definitely not brazen. Your attacks on me are inconsistent. I stand by what I wrote, and I stand by the fact that it is nothing more than a recollection of hard historical facts that the American government is certainly guilty of. I am sorry that American history didn't actually play out the way it does in your fantasies. I really wish it did– many more people might not have died such unfortunate deaths.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:52 amWhich is it? First I "deliberately" decide to trash it, implying I'm brazen and unashamed…
There is no such implication in the word "deliberately".
…and now I'm bullshitting to cover up my intentions, which implies that I am ashamed and definitely not brazen.
Again, there is no such implication with trying to hide intent. If I deliberately burglarize a house and then try to hide the fact that I just robbed somebody, does the fact that I am trying to cover up my crime constitute evidence that I didn't act intentionally? You make no sense. Either you really are dumb as a box of rocks (which is what I'm starting to suspect) or you are grasping at straws now. You resort to reinventing the English language, in order to defend yourself? Bleh.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 9:12 amThe words don't have those implications, your accusations do. Your analogy fails because what I've done, according to you, is simply have an intention. I can't intend to have an intention, I simply have it. You say my intention was to mock. I say it was not. You did not accuse me of burglarizing a store, you accused me of having malicious intent. I say I didn't have malicious intent, I merely wanted to point out the truth to put American history into a little perspective.
Either way, I wrote a post criticizing US crimes against humanity like the Indian Removal Act. Then you say I did so deliberately. Yes, I deliberately wrote this post. You caught me. Damnit, I thought I could get away with 2nd degree blasphemy—dissent by gross negligence. I guess now I'm going to have to do the time for 1st degree blasphemy—conspiracy to dissent. Another one bites the dust, thanks to PC's great detective work.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 9:18 amSana, if you are reading this… would it be OK for me to consider Saleema and Yaman to be (presumably Muslim) enemies of the United States?
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 3:02 amyour assumption based on…..? I was told by my white history teacher since the middle school that the settlers killed the natives. It's a historical FACT. Why get so upset about it? Hmmmm… someone's feeling guilty.
Posted by Saleema | July 5, 2009, 4:27 amMy assumption is based on the fact that you are defaming the United States, on the day where we celebrate our independence from Great Britain and the birth of our nation. Hardly the behavior of either a friend or a neutral, wouldn't you agree?
Wouldn't *you* agree, Sana? You seem like one of the few fair minded people on this blog.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 5:17 amSorry, I am not defaming the United States because I did not lie. Would you like to challenge any factual claims I made, or is truth somehow irrelevant to your perverted sense of "defamation?"
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:05 amYaman, don't play semantics games with me. You deliberately set out to trash the US on the day we celebrate our independence. Pretending you didn't have ill will when you did that is sleazy. At least man up and admit what your intent was. You're no different than somebody who chooses Christmas day to rant about how awful they think Christians are. That was just plain mean-spirited, and you know it. You don't pull shit like that and then try to pretend you don't loathe the US and loathe Americans. Of all the Arab blogs I read (and I read a few!) nobody else had a nasty "fuck you" post directed at Americans for the 4th of July.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 8:40 amWhat "we" are you talking about? I'm an American, and I sure don't feel included. The thing is, PC, I wasn't trashing Americans. I was trashing specific events in American history. There's a difference.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:48 amI'm talking about this "we":
You deliberately set out to trash the US on the day we celebrate our independence.
Americans who celebrate US Independence. Which clearly does not include you, despite your claim of being American.
Posted by programmer craig | July 7, 2009, 8:13 pmWho's "we"? I am an American. And I have every right to remember those that "we" trampled on to get to our independence day. THat's the least "we" can do.
Posted by Saleema | July 5, 2009, 6:51 pmPC, your equivocation here is really low– even for you. Enemy has a very specific meaning. My criticizing the United States government can't on itself mean I am an enemy, otherwise I'm about as much an enemy as Martin Luther King Jr, Ronald Reagan, and William Jennings Bryan (god it hurts to put all those names in the same sentence). It's not convincing when you play around with the meaning of words just to sound more serious– that just makes you a blowhard.
Unless you believe that somewhere I made a formal declaration of war on the United States, or performed an act of violence on the United States, it kind of makes no sense to call me an enemy. I guess you're actually probably looking for treason, since I'm a citizen But protesting the government doesn't constitute treason here, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Except for you and the Glenn Beck shitheads threatening to undermine the institutions protecting those values that you're supposed to remember on July 4th, I think most other people would agree.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:04 amUnless you believe that somewhere I made a formal declaration of war on the United States, or performed an act of violence on the United States, it kind of makes no sense to call me an enemy.
That's just stupid shit right there. That would make you not just an enemy, but an enemy combatant, and you would be subject to being killed on sight by any American, lawfully. Is that really the only definition of the word "enemy" that you understand, or is it you who is equivocating?
I guess you're actually probably looking for treason, since I'm a citizen
You don't think one can be an enemy of the country they live in? The real question is, why do you live in a country you hate? Isn't there some place else you'd rather be?
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 8:58 amOkay, so if I am to understand you right, an enemy of the United States is someone who calls the United States government out on its wrongs. That doesn't sound too bad. So synonyms to "enemy of the United States" in your world are community organizers, freedom fighters, civil rights lawyers, and reformist politicians?
Well, that just about makes your term useless– look how many alternatives there are!
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 9:08 amOkay, so if I am to understand you right, an enemy of the United States is someone who calls the United States government out on its wrongs. That doesn't sound too bad. So synonyms to "enemy of the United States" in your world are community organizers, freedom riders, civil rights lawyers, and reformist politicians?
Well, that just about makes your term useless– look how many alternatives there are!
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 9:08 amYaman, I'm not going to argue about word definitions with you any more. I'm not going to assist you with your abuse of terminology. And no, I don't want to hear your made-up "implications" for the word abuse and how it can only be applied to people who have been detained by the US military and you never have been so clearly it's impossible for the word "abuse" to ever be directed at you and yada yada yada.
So lets get back to something that matters. Are you aware that with a US passport you can move to any place in Europe? You don't even need a visa. You could book a ticket on Expedia tonight and be in Europe tomorrow. If I hated the US as much as you seem to, that's what I would do. I think you should consider it. You'd probably be much happier.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 9:31 amOkay, so if I am to understand you right, an enemy of the United States is someone who calls the United States government out on its wrongs.
And no, you didn't understand me right. You never understand anything right. At all. You're a very obtuse individual and I'm surprised you managed to graduate from high school. If you weren't in Special Education, your teachers must have had the patience of Job to put up with your constant misinterpretation of everything they were trying to teach you.
It's in the *intent*, stupid. When you intend to do somebody harm, you are that person's enemy. When you intend to do a country harm, you are that country's enemy. This is a very simple concept that all human beings except Yaman understand instinctively. And for Yaman, I even provided the Meriam Webster dictionary definition, which Yaman was unable to comprehend. Somehow, Yaman still feels qualified to comment on the use of the word by a US tabloid. I'm glad I'm not Yaman.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 9:37 amI am new here but is this programmer craig advocating the killing of the blogger who wrote this entry because he wrote on some historical facts? Ummmm, what kind of psycho is this programmer craig? Is anyone going to report this? Seriously guys, this guy seems like a whack job as evidenced by his incoherent writing.
Posted by New | July 7, 2009, 3:45 pmSince only "Saleema" and "Yaman" are as deliberately obtuse as you, "New", then I have no choice but to assume you are "Saleema" and "Yaman". And all three of you are probably "Will", who is also "Chaim Sugraman". This shit is getting old, and that's why I'm not replying in this thread anymore.
Except that you just accused me of threatening to kill somebody, which is unacceptable. Not to mention defamation, a criminal offense. That's way beyond the normal anonymous abuse that KABOBfesters seem to think passes for humor.
Posted by programmer craig | July 7, 2009, 8:06 pmOh Craiggy.
We clearly have very different understandings of what an enemy is. I guess my Canadian brainwashing has overtaken my American. In Canada, many citizens lament about the heinous treatment of our Aboriginal populations – from past till the present. Thus I'm used to hearing Canadians be proud of their country (we're not known to be too nationalistic really…save for when it's hockey time during the Winter Olympics) and at the same time be critical to a further extent than Yaman is being in this post. More and more Canadians are beginning to refer to the treatment of the Aboriginals as a genocide – my summer sociology professor called it as such and I was floored.
That's not to say that it's a majority opinion – unfortunately Canada has it's own massive internal issues it needs to deal with and sort out. Anyway, kinda off-topic ..but yeah.
Posted by SanaKF | July 6, 2009, 12:27 amOr is that bigotry?
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 3:02 amMore like idiocy.
Posted by Saleema | July 5, 2009, 4:25 amI wasn't asking you, Saleema. I've already figured out what your deal is. I was asking Sana if she would consider it bigotry for Americans to consider Muslims like you an enemy of the United States. Because, I wouldn't.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 5:27 amEnemy:
1: one that is antagonistic to another ; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent
Sana, wouldn't you agree this applies to both Saleema and Yaman, based on their conduct in this thread?
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 5:28 amYeah, Craig, why don't you call the police or something? Tell them you found an enemy. Then you can be all over Fox network and everyone will be singing your priases.
Posted by Saleema | July 6, 2009, 2:22 amIt was only a matter of time before PC came on to mock the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Native Americans.
Yes this is the founding day of the United States, however, its also a tragic day for another group of people. Learn to accept both realities of this historic day PC.
Posted by Super Sayyin | July 5, 2009, 3:14 amSuperSayyin, you just lied again. It was Yaman who chose to mock the US on our independence day. I didn't mock anything or anyone, I just made an observation that his behavior was inappropriate. And it is. I;m not surprised that you support him on that, and I'm not surprised you lied in doing so. It's really what you are all about, isn't it?
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 5:19 amCan you please explain where I mocked the United States? Because I was being very serious. If I wanted to mock the United States I would have dressed up in an Uncle Sam suit and tried to enslave people of color around me. I wouldn't do that, because that's not my style.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:07 amCan you please explain where I mocked the United States?
The post itself was intended to make a mockery of our Independence Day, Yaman. And you were well aware of that when you made it. If you weren't, then you are dumb as a rock. And I'm sorry but I simply can't believe you didn't have malicious intent with this post. You are, after all, a member of KABOBfest. Malicious intent is what this blog is all about.
Posted by programmer craig | July 5, 2009, 9:04 amSo the fact that I said there are these people we call Native Americans who were here before the British settlers, and who were killed and betrayed by those British settlers, and continued to be killed and betrayed and otherwise abused and mistreated after the United States were independent, constitutes mocking the United States–confirming that all that shit really happened is how you say I mocked the United States. Okay. Well, mocking the US is not a crime, but that certainly is not what I did in this post, and your claim that I did is a mockery of the English language.
PC, I can't believe you mocked the English language.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 9:11 amHow does one explain the "land transfer" like we had in the wake of Hurricane Katrina? This kind of deconstruction discussion is valid as written above by Yaman. Especially the return to Ben Franklin satire… love that stuff.
Sometimes I think about the culture that just exists in a place, juxtaposed to cultures that impose on the same place as "natural forces.." for instance, in New Orleans there is obviously sections called "Wards" that have "gone to seed," as some city planners say. As imposing "whites" with adequate funding, what keeps whites from just taking that land that is very valuable yet just sitting there in shambles? What factor most impedes settlement or colonial development? I believe the clog in the flow is that no one can produce "Clear Title."
In New Orleans, and in many urban settings the simple deed is missing, or there are too many liens on the property. Title searches reveal claims on the title that are very difficult to negotiate, and much more costly to clear. Clear Titles to land is the one aspect that separates indigenous from developers, natives from immigrants, or wrecked disrepair property from clear insurable interest…
In ownership, the owner of the titleDeed is responsible for all liability of the property… not squatters, not renters, not even government… government in USA is not a land owner, or a business… it merely is a regulatory system with checks and balances… hmmmmm.
This all sounds like lawyer speak.. but even if in absence of lawyers — the only other way to acquire land is by force, grab, act of God, war spoils, genocide, sneaky and clandestine forgery or conspiracy.. sounds all too familiar these days. I just want to know what is the land grab in IsraelPalestine really about?
Why is there such emphasis on Zionism, when the Twelve tribes are no where to be found? I have come to a conclusion that modern Zionists are not actual Jews. Zionists are actually land developers. So, unless there is clear title to that property under some tort or civil laws regulated by sovereign governance… Heck, it belongs to indigenous peoples… whoever that is… and the only tactic left for usurpers, who tag themself Zionizers, will be to use force, genocide, etc… no?
Oh heck I just over stated the obvious again. But as a suburbanite American living in Texas under almost ideal conditions …in total peace, I prefer our legal status of land ownership… call me crazy.
pdnf
Posted by Patrick Darnell | July 5, 2009, 6:49 amMany Zionists are Jews, many are not. Many Jews are Zionists, many are not. It goes both ways.
My main point of criticism is that you require clear title to prove ownership of the land. This presupposes an entire legal system that did not exist in Palestine. Furthermore, in the sense that many lands did have owners, my understanding is that many were absentee land owners on whose land peasants lived. Thus the crime in rural areas is not only against the owners of the land, but against the inhabitants. My understanding is that even in those days that if ownership changed, those living on the land would continue to live there.
In any case, those Palestinians living in houses in more urban areas do have deeds to the properties. They still have the keys to their old homes. But Israel pulled a certain few legal maneuvers to invalidate those claims within its own legal system. Check out the Law of Absentee Property if you're interested.
I am not sure how to approach the Hurricane Katrina situation. Unfortunately, many of the injustices that transpired in the wake of that disaster were white washed by the media. Except for vague suffering, the designs of land developers and others seeking to gentrify some neighborhoods have not been discussed as much in media.
Posted by yaman | July 5, 2009, 8:12 amLand ownership is made possible by the governing authority of the land.
Posted by land | July 6, 2009, 4:26 amone point worth making regarding the tragedy of the Indians in this country. At least, america has (for the most part) come to terms with the fact that there was a nakba perpetrated against the indiginous people and that it was unjust, and indeed tragic. Children learn in school about what happened to the Indians and most good Americans regret that deeply, though they did not live at the time. Some states are making amends by erecting casinos on tribal land and affirmative action for those with tribal lineage are encoded in law. Just watch any recent movie or documentary dealing with the Indians – it is invariably sympathetic to them and their narrative has a place of respect everywhere in the country (maybe except for some trashy bottom feeders – like the PC who posts here?).
Now this is what needs to be contrasted with Israel and it's refusal to admit and come to terms with the fact that their country was founded on the backs and the misery of others. Because of the stubborness, short-sightedness and lack of generosity of the zionists, the name of israel is now deeply tainted. At the rate they are going – moving further and further to the right – any respect they have once commanded is evaporating, even among the jewish diaspora. At the same time, israelis view of themselves is tanking as well and more and more young people are leaving to never return (except for the yearly visit).
At this rate, all the palestinians need to do is wait. may take another generation but the writing is on the wall – perhaps in time the zionists will get to reintegrate with the middle east – properly this time.
Posted by dana | July 6, 2009, 2:37 amTrying to identify Native Americans with your Nakba is just silly and pretty desperate – they are unrelated.
Posted by eagle007blogger | July 6, 2009, 4:17 amI'm trying to decide whether to correct your right now or to write a post filled with a fun personal anecdote which involves your above assertion.
I'm leaning towards the latter…thoughts?
Posted by SanaKF | July 6, 2009, 5:09 amI'm trying to decide whether to correct your erroneous assertion right now or to write a post filled with a fun personal anecdote which involves what you said..
I'm leaning towards the latter…thoughts? Preferences? Cigars? Cigarettes?
Posted by SanaKF | July 6, 2009, 5:10 amcont..
Not to mention – when I hear the word enemy I think of someone who wishes nothing but ill and harm upon his/her adversary. Someone who has no ounce of desire to see anything good for his/her target – I don't think Yaman or Saleema are interested in the destruction of the United States – being critical or hostile of policies or historical events does not make one an enemy. Again – how are they different from the way I am with the sub-continent? I'm not an enemy of the sub-continent yet am fiercely critical of mainstream government mumbo-jumbo fairytales. How…am I different from the two you've mentioned?
p.s I use Canada as a topic because I think it's so fascinating how different general mentalities on many issues can be and since I've grown up in both I've been able to see such variations.
Posted by SanaKF | July 6, 2009, 12:30 amWe clearly have very different understandings of what an enemy is.
Not to mention – when I hear the word enemy I think of someone who wishes nothing but ill and harm upon his/her adversary.
Those two statements are contradictory. In fact, you have the same understanding of the word "enemy" that I do. You just choose to believe that Saleema and Yaman are not motivated by ill will towards the US, despite evidence to the contrary. That's your call, but it doesn't make me wrong when I choose not to give them the benefit of the doubt
Posted by programmer craig | July 7, 2009, 8:10 pm…being critical or hostile of policies or historical events does not make one an enemy.
Sana, the purpose of making this post on US Independence Day is clear. They are being "critical" of US Independence. That's an attack on the legitimacy of the very existence of this country. *Tell me* how that is not a manifestation of ill will against the United States? Are you even serious with this argument? I thought you were a fair minded person, but it seems you are quite a bit more "fair" to some people than to others. Which is not really "fair" at all.
Posted by programmer craig | July 7, 2009, 8:19 pmThe post is critical of the means through which the early settlers, and the government, exploited and destroyed a culture and people to assert its own nationhood. Not of the fact that the US was founded. Same thing happened throughout South America. Peoples are completely wiped out. We can't ignore that. I don't despise South Africa nor wish it ill, but I do hold strong critical feelings towards the means through which it was created as a country. Same thing with Canada – love the country, glad it's a country, but despise how the country was created on the back of a genocide.
Your point about this post being inappropriate on Independence Day is legit, it's your opinion as an American and I'll support and respect your right to hold that opinion. I don't disagree with that – I just don't agree that Yaman and Saleema are "enemies". One, I don't even know Saleema nor have I seen many of her comments, so it's completely uncalled for me to make such an assessment. And Yaman is someone I speak to outside this blog, and in our group conversations – always political – he's certainly never come across as hostile towards the US.
I think what becomes most important in such cases is to bring recognition to the genocides and slaughters and the injustice faced by indigenous peoples everywhere in their individual countries. Their existence has been denied for far too long. From this education, we can then continue and move on and away from the sort of rigid national identities and boundaries we've created for ourselves and move towards identities which are more inclusive and broad.
Yay. Sparklezzz.
Posted by SanaKF | July 7, 2009, 11:38 pmI had to quit reading after few lines…..as arabs, we had lots of victims that we built our old glory on in Spain, Asia, and everywhere else…..why are you shitting on a day full of nothing except BBQs and fireworks…..not a good way to build our case as a strong American community if we shit all over symbols like independence day…….ain't cool dude!
Posted by Temreyeh | July 6, 2009, 8:10 pmYea but that Arab Empire no longer exists and has not existed for more than a thousand years after it was conquered only shortly after coming into existence by other tribal peoples and then by Europeans. Also I don't know of any Arabs that celebrate Ummayad Caliphate day.
Finally, no one on this blog has ever tried to downplay the Arab wars of expansion that occurred 1400 years ago. However, we have nutjobs here trying to downplay the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Native Americans.
A lot of people died and many were forcefully enslaved to create our country, we should never forget that.
Posted by Super Sayyin | July 6, 2009, 10:19 pmYeah, but we don't celebrate Arab Empire Independence Day, do we?
Posted by yaman | July 7, 2009, 12:11 amYeah, but we don't celebrate Arab Empire Independence Day, do we?
And I'm not shitting on the day, dude, I'm shitting on the genocides. Thanks.
Posted by yaman | July 7, 2009, 12:12 am