The author posed a question, “Can any decent white American read this speech without feeling great shame?” My answer is, yes. Some people indeed can read this with no shame at all. But I also think that everyone should feel shame regardless of race since we’re all a part of the human race. Shouldn’t this question be asked of any decent human being? The shame comes from knowing what happened next. Knowing historically what happened next over and over again. Is this story an example of how white Americans behave, white people behave or how humans behave? I feel this story demonstrates a travesty against humanity. Not white Americans against Indians, but human against human.
I found it unsettling that the white people had recently fled their land to escape the unfair rule of their king, but now are unfair in their dealings with the Indians. It seems like their experience with the king would have made them more sympathetic towards the Indians and allowed them embraced their differences and live in peace. Instead, they perpetuated the behavior that they encountered in Europe. They made the Indians suffer wrongly as they had suffered by forcing them off of their land and slaughtering them. Unfortunately, this is the path chosen throughout the history of mankind.
Our past shows that the wrongs done onto us, we commit against others. Many ill acts are committed in the name of religion, even though it is incredibly difficult to find support for these acts in religious doctrines. It seems that the persecuted will always eventually become the persecutors. However, I’m keeping hope alive that we’ll come to the conclusion that this cycle of wrong against our fellow man must be broken so that a new cycle of peace and tolerance can emerge. Is this blind faith on my part or naivety?
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2 comments:
I don't want to believe that it's either naivety or blind faith, but rather a hope that is unsupported by history. The persecuted becoming the perpetrator is a common story thoughout history because finally the oppressed is on top. It would take a great change in humanity to stop the cycle, what that is, I don't think anyone knows.
I couldn't help but feel shamed when I read this, just because of the fact that I know the littlest thing that Chief Seattle wanted, the right to visit their ancestors graves, and the right to the land Washington gave them, was undoubtedly taken away from them. While not directly my fault, I felt that it was just, as you said, a crime against humanity.
I dont see why the white americans treated the indians this way either. I like your point about the white americans being treated wrong from your king but then did the same things to the indians. I think they could have lived with the fact that they were there first and they maybe could have shared the land.
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