This morning I was watching A&E's series on horses. The piece that really caught my attention was about the Nez Perce Indians and their prized Appaloosa horses. As I listened to the narrator tell of the horrible treatment this tribe suffered at the hands of the US government, I was moved to tears. These beautiful people and their gorgeous animals were driven from their homes, pursued across three states and eventually, all of their precious horses were destroyed. Their culture, which was centered on horse breeding, was destroyed and not until recently were these proud people able to return to the work of their forefathers.
This makes me so ashamed of our country. What arrogance! What downright evil! I never cease to be amazed at the superiority complex of many Americans -- not just then, but even today. There are those who think that their way of life is the only "civilized" way to live and never give a moment's thought to the ways of ancient cultures, whose values and traditions are dismissed out of hand as backward or "undemocratic."
Who decided that Americans are the sole arbiters of good and evil? What, pray tell, gives this country with it's horrible history of human rights violations of its own, any right to decide when others have strayed from the "straight and narrow" or worse, to take on the role of disciplinarian in correcting them? Today, I am very sad and very ashamed of my country. I know this happened long ago, but I see the potential in our country to repeat this history and it frightens me.
Perhaps I'm too much the Universalist, but I think we have lost so much by conquering rather than learning from those whose cultures differ from ours. Each act of dominance destroys an opportunity for growth and understanding. Surely heaven must weep... or perhaps heaven has decided to shake the very foundations of the earth to get our attention. Are we listening? Can we hear? Or have we been deafened by our own rhetoric and cries of supremacy? You know, it was Hitler's goal to spread his doctrine across the world -- if not by acquiescence, then by brute force. I wonder how history will portray us?
3 comments:
What an interesting post Lauren. Brings many things to mind to think about. I dont' know if I am ashamed of us or more dissapointed. IMO we are not a very tolerant country of diversity even though we claim to be the land of the free.
Great post.
What happened to the Nez Perce was truly a tragedy... I've read about it in the past, and when you actually stop and think about the real people that were involved.... just awful. On the other hand, America is NOT the first country/culture/nation to overtake another. If you look back through the history of the world, civilizations have been overtaken/conquered by others throughout history. It's not an American thing, it's a HUMAN thing...
I like this post, Lauren...I can't say I completely disagree with 3 outta 5's post saying this isn't uniquely American, but that it's a human condition...however I would venture to say that this is the dark side of humanity -- and one that Americans in particular should shun -- especially since they claim to be "The Good Guys" so often. Although I am also American -- I say "they" because I do not claim to be the good guys -- neither in this war in Iraq, or running the Nez Pierce into the ground. We have much to think about and change before we become the truly good guys that we represented on the beaches of Normandy, for example. Again, good thoughtful post.
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