This is a dark blog, not my usual tone. The current book of non-fiction on my Kindle and my obsession with world news led me to create this entry. One of the constants in this world is conflict. Nothing new, but the latest news is always there feeding our obsession with the need to know . Hatred, war, pillage, desecration, dominance, genocide and extermination are among the plagues practiced since the beginnings of mankind. The book alluded to above has brought this together for me in a poignant way: entitled, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, (Revisioning American History) by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.
The author vividly documents the history or our country from the Indigenous Peoples’ point of view, It is not glossed over, cleaned up or glorified as in the history books we have read or historical sites we have visited. It is not to say that battles, scourges and attacks have been overlooked, but from the point of view of the Indigenous storytellers, it clarifies the horrid and constant treatment of those occupants of our land before Chris Columbus led the way to the New World. It is clear that the final solution is not a discovery of the 20th century, but ages old.
From the first settlers in the 1500’s and sadly to the present day, the natives of our land have been tragically slaughtered and tortured beyond the realm of my understanding, remembering the many famous battles, Indigenous children’s re-education and removal from their families, the Trail of Tears, displacement from their traditional lands and more. Reading this history is eye opening. I am just half way through the book, but cringe at the treatment of this tribal people.
I now try to accept that the world was born in Genocide, not with the love of tolerance and peace. From early man, the tragic stories continue world wide, yet again in waves of migrants, killing on our streets, killings in our schools, in the market, parks and parking lots, neighborhoods, in our homes.
The words of Martin Luther King, JR, presented well after these events, provide the words underlying my ire centuries after the days of our nation’s birth. The quote, as an introduction to chapter five entitled Birth Of A Nation on page 78 in Dunbar-Ortiz’ book reads;
That these behaviors do not cease or modify is horrific and depressing. I still believe it is in the individual and their stories that hope springs eternal. Sorry to be so serious, but my heart is aching at the suffering endured around the globe. I know I am not at all alone in these thoughts.
Next week, back to something sweet, humorous or hopeful.
Ann Carol
The history of the indigenous people is indeed tragic but given the way nations at that time treated each other and treated their minorities (eg, the Hundred Years War (Catholics against Protestants), Inquisition (Catholics torturing Jews), Turkish-Christian warfare (Turks against Christians), it is just part of a larger pattern. The news today makes it seem as if the world has not changed since then but that is largely because we're exposed to so many more incidents in many areas of the world that were largely hidden from us until now. Actually, research appears to show that the incidence of violence around the world has lessened considerably over the last 70 years since the end of World War II, so there is room for hope that "Man will not raise up sword against man, neither will man make war any more" as Isaiah wrote.
Yes the poster is right we are exposed so much more than we were before the Internet. What I find worrisome is that we have a group of really evil people that want to take over the world. They don't want peace. They don't want to get along. They want to kill us. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They have no reverence for life. And they want us to live like they do in the dark ages of the world. And then we have these churches in this country including the Presbyterian Church for example that want to boycott Israel for reasons that are so wrong. And I don't understand it and am worried about this world and I'm worried for our country and our future generations, and I'm afraid that our own Government will not stand up to the threat of our enemies coming in get us. It's not only sad but it's definitely a possibility. If I haven't recommended it before, I know the author of this book who lives in Rochester, and it's a book that is a true accounting about the author who lived through the horror of being trapped with her family as visitors to Germany when World War II started. She shares a story that I believe could happen again if we are not careful and on the offensive in this country. The difference between the war in Germany at al and future wars is the difference between phosphorus bombs and the atom bomb and a nuclear bomb which could destroy the world as we know it. The author is Marlies Adams DiFante and the name of the book is called "Queen of the Bremen." I highly recommend it. Looking at men and history I think human beings, especially those who love to be powerful, have always been rather war-like and aggressive in nature. We'd like to think we are peaceful and loving but that never seems to really be the case. You see it in the behavior of small toddlers and children some of whom seem to be bullies and some of whom are not, and the stronger ones will try to take the toys of the weaker one. So it starts by nature right from the earliest days of one's life. And we adults try to teach them to share and get along and so forth and so on, but sometimes it just doesn't work. So yeah we probably were not very nice to the Indians. I don't know if it is true that The early immigrants to this land wanted to totally eliminate them, but I can only say I'm glad I'm here today and not yesteryear and I'm disappointed that we still have these evil elements that we can try to ignore but will be very dangerous to all of us if we do,and I can only hope somehow we will find a way to live in a democratic way with everyone. It's going to take however some very strong warlike actions to keep the evil ones out. ( Be careful for whom you vote. )