Opening up the discourse for reparations towards populations harmed by the white American agenda

 

As a white culture, of which I am a part of, we have to accept the fact that we intensely and purposefully pushed Indigenous populations of this nation to the Margins of society. No “discoverers” ever came through here. Instead “discoverers” made contact with indigenous peoples very much already on this continent, who had myriad of languages...stories...family and children...friends...skills...holidays. The “discoverers” said, “Hey, nice place ya got here! What do you call it?” Then tore those names to shreds and kept the pieces they wanted so they could later name streets and baseball teams. 

    Well, instead of seeing an issue with this, White culture thinks, “Hey! We’re pretty good at this!” We should go to ANOTHER country and bring THEIR people over here to this place we’ve called America!” (Some reason this has to be a word of Italian decent.) Nothing fucked up so far, right? Slavery.

   Ok, ok, ok...so, wait. “Set them free?“ “Then what happens?” “Do they just...go back?” Hm...hm...by the time our generation’s grandmothers are becoming old enough to vote, policy passed, “ Keep em the fuck away from my shit.”  (Follow? We decided people of color, a.k.a people of cultures, should not use the same stuff in public; it was called segregation.) I don’t know if that is an exact quote but damn, segregation made very specific assurances that blacks and whites could not co-mingle because of bs that said they we inferior. Segregation is not old. Remember the indigenous nations? Yeah, they’re still here, too. What do you think of the fact that they’ve tried as sovereign nations to gain acceptance into the United Nations. Nations upon nations who are united in standing up for what is right alongside other global entities. The largest body politic. Yes, everyone deserves a share. No that doesn’t mean you don’t get yours. And, no, not everybody wants more. 

   So, there does have to be some grief for that, has to be, only natural. There are a lot of words about it, of course there are, and they aren’t obscure. The words on these actions are very, very easy to see. Hopefully. Many words speak about the injustices, the inaction, the forcefulness. Others attempt to separate us more and more and mask prejudice with justifications and excuses of “Oh, no I could never be racist,” “Must be somebody else, “Who enacted the policy?” “Did I say anything against it?” “Is it easier to just go along with it?” The voices speaking out can lead somewhere...a greater opening to the world around us. A greater understanding of the value in the future...alongside the acknowledgement of past and present.
    Because, the whiteness has in no way slowed. We’ve trained our sights on more cultures: Muslims, Latin Americans, Mexicans...Call the “Detention Centers” built for people “breaking the law” - Asylum seeking is a global responsibility that is not unlawful on any books - concentration camps. Small children handcuffed. No toothbrushes, no sheets, no beds, no clothes. The trump administration told the concentration camps to stop letting the children play soccer, for fuck sake. I learned this week that military bases in Oklahoma like Fort Sill will  now house the small children who are stripped from mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and trashed. And, they are dying. And, they are trying to be erased. And, nobody wants to think about it.