U.S. History Must Be Revised To Stop Glorifying Indian Killers
I know this argument won't be accepted around here, but give this some thought. Please.
This includes our public spaces and the US military, particularly the Army.
Most people here remember our majority consensus on the removal of Confederate military statues in the South. Well, that has raised a related issue for my friends there.
And that issue of public concern is, just as importantly, that we US civilians have to stop thinking war statues in public spaces are a good thing. An occasional statue, you say? But have you traveled, seen how they are everywhere? How Mount Rushmore sits on Indian tribal land against the repeated protests of Indigenous America?
When we glorify the memories of men known for their Indian killing on behalf of the US's white settler government, we are no better than Confederate battle flag wavers and statue defenders of slavers.
Yes, Southern and Northern generals look powerful, even protective. They meant well for their own people. And so, while we support the removal of much Confederate statuary, we still allow statues that romanticize leaders in this country's monstrous, land stealing project. Our forebears were so into the vision of "Manifest Destiny" and other doctrines, that they didn't know any better about the larger scope of the grand project that others designed.
We do now.
This is the commemorative statue of Andrew Jackson in Jackson Square, New Orleans. There are many more around the country, including across the street from the White House in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC.
Jackson killed off thousands, drove off several Indian nations in his day, aided and abetted by US presidents as the tools of business, stealing their land to farm and establish plantation ownership for cotton agriculture.
New Orleans is also the site of one of the two legal slave shipping ports of the United States.
My friend, Chuck Perkins -- marine veteran, business owner, radio talk show host, father of college educated, activist women -- and other residents of NOLA have decided that, along with Confederate monuments, this monument to Jackson must, too, be taken down.
Apparently the local rulers think such protests are, at best, "too soon," and so recently he was hauled off to jail.
In defense of Chuck and all those who want to restructure our history to better match our increased knowledge of US history:
Memorializing Indian killers because "it was their job" is like memorializing Nazis because killing Jews was their "just following orders" job.
Indian killing, scalping them, enslaving their women and sending their children off to be brainwashed as 'wrong' was wrong. Stealing their land was the wrong way to settle land.
White Euro settler forebears here did what the Israelis are doing right now -- settler imperialism -- counterinsurgency stalking, raiding, setting fire to housing, food supply and water of old land occupants -- aided and abetted by counterinsurgency white horse riding militiamen called "rangers," bankers, and their tools in government, commanders-in-"chief."
Statues ain't okay cuz it's in the past. Because that past, memorialized, validates a continued hateful, racist present -- toward black people, Indians, women. With our military abandoning the continental landbase and moving its war control centers onto the oceans on naval carriers, with our country being officially, legally designated a "battleground," we have even more evidence that the military agenda and the military industrial complex's agenda was never to really serve US citizens, anyway. We have to re-see public space so that it no longer supports a racist, wrong present culture.
We're not denying our past with statuary removals. They can well go into great Military Museums. But we have to think about a public self, and public space that inspires The People's future children every bit as much as glorify past "heroes." We will need better statues.
There are so many other great accomplishments of this country to memorialize beyond war in a new Works Progress and Infrastructure Project. We must build our public imaginary away from war and mass murder. We said these things to our Southern neighbors. It's time to say it to the rest of us.
No, there is no "draw the line" argument. As history is researched, and new, relevant actions, events and racial politics come to light, so must our public spaces reflect our better, changed selves today.
That national self says: Wrong is wrong. We must admit it. It is never too soon to do what we know is right.
= new reply since forum marked as read
these brave and honest peoples lives
The settlers had so much to learn but rather they killed instead
I'm 1/8 Cherokee and that 1/8th is what I'm most proud of.
Peace
sure...
