Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Becoming Informed
One of the things you won't hear from white supremacy apologists in mainstream North American media, is an historical account of how much federal government effort and taxpayer dollars has gone into destroying any and all attempts by Native Americans to preserve their cultural and governance structures. You'll hear plenty about federal expenditures on social problems in Indian country, but chances are you'll hear next to nothing about how those expenditures are siphoned off by federal bureaucracies and corporate criminal networks -- long before tribes see a dime.
Blaming the victim is as old a psywar technique as any, and corporate mouthpieces are adept at this deception. The trick for humanitarians is not to get suckered into letting these lowlifes set the agenda for public discussion.
Now that tribal governments, First Nations, and native peoples are beginning to recover from the 400-year assault on their sovereignty and are asserting themselves successfully through international fora like the UN, we'll see a lot more of the colonial remnant talking heads attacking them for insisting on running their own affairs. For those who want to support the world indigenous movement as a matter of human rights, moral sanctions are most effective when appeals to conscience are based on an awareness of the actual record of laws, treaties, and other agreements consciously ignored and repeatedly subverted by the dominant parties -- the US, Mexican and Canadian governments. Those who are too lazy to become adequately informed should probably refrain from mouthing off.
Blaming the victim is as old a psywar technique as any, and corporate mouthpieces are adept at this deception. The trick for humanitarians is not to get suckered into letting these lowlifes set the agenda for public discussion.
Now that tribal governments, First Nations, and native peoples are beginning to recover from the 400-year assault on their sovereignty and are asserting themselves successfully through international fora like the UN, we'll see a lot more of the colonial remnant talking heads attacking them for insisting on running their own affairs. For those who want to support the world indigenous movement as a matter of human rights, moral sanctions are most effective when appeals to conscience are based on an awareness of the actual record of laws, treaties, and other agreements consciously ignored and repeatedly subverted by the dominant parties -- the US, Mexican and Canadian governments. Those who are too lazy to become adequately informed should probably refrain from mouthing off.
