The cycle continues…..

Have you ever wondered how colonization has shaped the world we call home?

In 1606, many wealthy Englishmen set sail to what is now known as the United States. When they landed, they settled. How can a piece of land, in this case, a whole continent, be considered empty and unoccupied? The idea was that God had gifted the settlers this new land, and it was their duty to civilize the savages that occupied the new world. The settlers were baffled by the natives, mainly because they were half-naked and did not share the same complexion or beliefs that the English colonists had. Through various treaties that usurped land from many native American tribes and confined them to reservations and boarding schools. (The boarding schools were used to indoctrinate the young through force.) Events like the massacre of Wounded Knee were common throughout the indian wars in the United States, yet these historical accounts are deemed un-American. This couldn’t be further from the truth. At the present moment, we have a foreign state in the Middle East that is engaging in genocide, with many Christians backing the idea that this state is defending itself. Much like the Native Americans who were treated as sub-human during the 1600s and until now, the Palestinians are experiencing the same thing. In 1948, the U.N. partition plan gave Israel 50 – 56% of the land, while 42 – 45% went to the Arab state. As time went on and conflicts continued between the states, Israel would gain 77% of Palestine. The United States gained 97% of native American land between 1776 and 1887 through treaties, forced removal, and legislation like the Dawes Act which broke up communal tribal lands into small parcels of individually owned land. Then the reservation system placed the native Americans into those plots of land designated by the U.S. government. Our history becomes even more complex when we look at how Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Mexico have contributed to our nation’s history. We are all immigrants. We all deserve to live a life of quality and safety. What we could look into is the amount of money in the military. We can look at how money buys the people who are supposed to represent this nation. We could look at our own history to understand the plight of the Palestinians. We can truly connect to our religions and reflect on how God would not tolerate genocides and wars, especially when these atrocities are committed in the name of God. We are the taxpayers, we are the fundraisers of war, and the base on which these politicians stand. We are the system. Without you or me, there is nothing to govern, there is no money to collect, and no voter to cast a ballot. You and I have the power to boycott and refuse. These politicians on both sides have constructed legislation to take away that right. WAKE UP. The next thing we will lose if we choose to do nothing is the freedom of expression and the prosecution of thought crimes. WE CAN CHANGE THIS. WE ARE THE ONES.