It would be good to have as much vehemence for any of the many situations that is the legacy of colonial mentality. It may be easy to declare distance from history, but when that history has clear impact on present day actions, it is very much a part of the present. Do we sit and allow prejudicial and racist activities (i.e., Indigenous continuing to lose their lands, is but one example) because 'I'm not that government, corporation, neighbor' doing it? We'll just let the attitudes that have systematically made themselves part of our societies, our laws, our economies, etc., exist since those things have nothing to do with us who are somehow not part of history, not part of the legacy.
RE: Your ancestors guilt is not yours too... You don't own a thing because your ancestors once did...
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
Your ancestors guilt is not yours too... You don't own a thing because your ancestors once did...
Continuing to lose is PRESENT DAY. That it is not at all what my article is about.
You know this I am certain.
I am referring to claims against land lost before the person making the claim was alive. I am referring to referencing slavery when you yourself, or your parents were never enslaved.
So yeah, you can nit pick, but I believe it was clear what this article was about.
If you are a present day victim that's a completely different issue.
And the funny thing let's say you DID go into the past on these issues that happened before you were even alive. White man came to America... They took land. Guess what the native/indigenous people did before that? They fought among each other and took/claimed land. History is full of that.
We could go back to Europe and make these claims.
Do I think using force against another person other than in self defense is ever warranted? Absolutely not. So I do not endorse the actions of the past, but people claiming it is their land, or latching onto slavery which never had anything to do with them is bullshit.
Every race and skin color on the planet has also been enslaved at some time in history. Do we all get to make claims against it due to some distant ancestor?
If something is done to you in the PRESENT DAY then yes you certainly have the right to do something about it and SHOULD.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
However you would like to express it, I will disagree. It is not nit picking when my point is that the legacy of colonialism, which includes racism and/or belief in eminent domain, for example, are alive and well today. The systems set up then, affect all of us now. To disassociate from it as if it is not part of our fabric today (whether we speak about North, Central, South America, Africa), is not realistic to any of these swaths of areas affected by colonialism. That history is very much a part of how we all view each other today.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
That is a very telling statement. In fact, does that not pretty much indicate you've made up your mind? That's one of those "No matter what facts, or evidence you may present, I will never change my mind" type of statements.
I'm not trying to attack you but I seriously would like you to think about that. It is not only dangerous, it is foolish to deal in absolutes of the mind.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
If I were blindly standing behind something I did not know first hand and/or study, then, yes, you would be correct--that would be dangerous.
Since I come from a point of study and personal experience, then, no, it's not close minded. I've considered what you posted many years ago when it was presented to me by others. To me, history is not, revisionist as it may be for most, something one can wholly divorce oneself from. Especially history that is still impacting our societies, today.
Your statement is telling to me in that I sense you need to win an argument after I've noted we won't agree that history of slavery or stolen land is not your responsibility and in my opinion, it is everyone's. We simply don't agree and life will still go on.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit