Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Time To Reconcile
We wrote a while back about how the clarity of argument for moral sanction against aggression is most obscured where the descendants of colonists--through the passage of time and consolidation of control--manage to assuage their collective conscience regarding their inherited privilege. Noting that the evolution of their mythology in rationalizing the acts of their ancestors during the process of invasion and conquest is a continuous, semi-conscious, collective effort at avoiding moral sanction in the present, we observed that the dissonance of conscience provoked by this mechanism of self-delusion is most dangerous when confronted with the reality of resistance by those deprived—particularly when the violated claims of indigenous populations are codified by statute and treaty, as they are in the US, and to some degree in Canada and Mexico.
As we remarked in that earlier essay, indigenous statesmen--during the initial internment to reservations, reserves, and rancherias--faced the formidable task of forbearance while laying the groundwork for future reclamation of their dignity, culture, and heritage.
The time to reconcile with the original inhabitants of the Americas has now arrived.
As we remarked in that earlier essay, indigenous statesmen--during the initial internment to reservations, reserves, and rancherias--faced the formidable task of forbearance while laying the groundwork for future reclamation of their dignity, culture, and heritage.
The time to reconcile with the original inhabitants of the Americas has now arrived.
