Historical guilt.....feeling really bad about having done something terrible in the past?.....I totally believe that it COULD exist. A nation CAN feel bad for a terrible crime it committed.
For hundreds of years, we warred with the Native Americans pushing them farther away from the east coast toward the West. Sometimes, we cheated them paying for their lands with things that were of no value to us. We recruited them in our armies and treated them harshly. We lied through our teeth with our treaties. But the worst sin I think we ever enacted on the Native Americans was the Indian Removal Act in which countless scores of people were driven from the THEIR native land to "settlements." Even then, with the "land they were granted," we cheated them out of that. We try to award them scholarship money Our nation with its "Manifest Destiny" and things like that, but who cares about a little money when there is a MUCH BIGGER problem. Try fixing the ENTIRE wrong enacted on the people.
We should feel absolutely ashamed at what we have put on the Indian peoples. We are not the true Native Americans; they are. This is THEIR country that WE stole. If I were in a position to do so, I would try to help them--I do not know how, but I would. Maybe, granting them back their land and truly allowing to keep it. You know what, I think we really need to pay for EVERYTHING for them! We took their stuff, and now it is time to do the right thing, which is to give it back. Those are HUMAN BEINGS that we, with our "civilized ways" and religion, made give up their humanity and their heart. And that is totally insane how the population is now under 250,000!!! 250,000??????!!!!!! We are killing them!
Our "Manifest Destiny" should NOW be to undo what has been done.....to repay them for our incredible sin.
Sure, we can give them their land back, but look how terribly off they are now. It would honestly be better for them to become part of the American society rather than become owners of a different land. On their reservation, the Lakota people have a set up government for themselves, and seem to be keeping steady.
With all the gang violence, drugs, and crime, it would be disastrous in my mind for them to have the “Black Hills” back. They would probably run off somewhere, come back a million strong, and revolt like those in the Middle East or something. There is just no sense in giving back the land.
There is so much more out there that America offers that they would not have if they went on their own. We have Mexicans running over the boarder to have a better life here. They want it. Why would the Lakota, much less than any Hispanic population, want to be even more in a slum then what they are already in when they have careers, housing, the sinful Social Security, and so much more available to them?
In this day in age, to make up a government is near impossible. Sure, America prospered in a time when there were governments thousands/hundreds years old, but an Indian country, in the middle of America? A prosperous America?
So, I say these things, but I do have sympathy. It was not right that we broke our promise, because that shows weakness in our governmental system. Even the Bible says our no’s are to be no’s and yes’s are to be yes’s. If a country, founded on Christian principle, cannot hold itself against selfish belonging, then what trust should we have?
For the Lakota, the time has passed. It is time to move on. There is so much compensation out there for Indian people, and they can take a hold of that. It has been years since a lot of these terrible instances and America is still giving out money to those in need of a college degree who have Indian blood.
I wish my country would have kept its word, but it did not. At the same time, I did not ask to be born here. I did not ask to be born into a lying government. But I do want to be here today. I too am a friend to people. My anger is toward no one except for the one who creates all evil; the devil!
@ Paul Anthony: Paul, how do you think the Indians will do if we gave them their land back? Look how poor their values of the land have become? Did you see all the trash? Indians would not do that. Indians would be one with the land. I do not even think they believe in "owning" land. So, if it is no one's land, then why do they not want us on it?
Would you not say that it would be wiser for them to become true Americans and become a part of a more well off society? They let themselves become part of gangs and they leave their children OUT TO ROT with their parents.
If the generations keep going on, who is going to be the grandparent for the children of the childrend? You want to know who? The drugies, the gangsters. Paul, why should they not move on? It is killing them to stay the way they are. Moving out onto mountains is not going to cure their tuburculosis. It is not going to give them a house or food. It may be a little bit more work for taggers to leave their mark, but that is so much more minnor compared to the essentials of life.
It just would not make sense for them to take that land back. I can see why they want it, but times have changed, and the bullet will always take down the fist.
There is such a thing as historical guilt. I don't always believe that it's the right tactic to use. Obviously WE haven't done anything against the Native Americans. I haven't taken their land away. I can't feel bad for something I haven't done and have no control over.
I also don't think it's a realistic goal to "give back" land to the Indians. That land has been developed and is being used now. And I doubt that Indians would really want to go live in the Black Hills again. There's not much for them. The buffalo are kind of gone, and I doubt the people would really want to live that way again.
Then again, how do I know? Maybe they do. Breaking treaties was wrong. Killing innocent people was wrong. I'm not at all saying that the white people were right for taking away the land from the Indians. But what's done is done. We can't go back and change things. Native Americans are not the same people and culture they were, no matter how much they've tried to preserve it.
I'm not really sure what I'm trying to get at. hahah
I do have to say that I liked the guy's speaking voice. And he takes nice pictures. And is persuasive. I enjoyed hearing the history and everything, even if it was sad.
Sorry, I was not finished. Yes there is such a thing as historical guilt but I do not think that we should feel guilty for something our ancestors did a long time ago. I believe that we should do everything we can now to "fix", well not really fix but help the others with there issues. Even though we personally did not do anything.
I think that if we feel guilty about things that have been done in the past, then that is a lesson for us to not do things like that agian. I, personally, do not feel guilty. I feel ashamed that I come from the same people who treated people different from them. There was no reason for it.
There is such thing as historical guilt. Knowing it was in the past, I dont think we should feel bad for it. We should always help others but I seriously, do not think that we should feel guilty for anything in the past.
I believe that historical guilt can exist. But why should we have historical guilt, we did nothing. We just know that it happened and our elders were apart of it. I believe that we should care for what these people have been put through, but we should feel gilty about it because we had no part in it.
What I am getting at here it that we shouuld at least have the heart to feel bad for them and try and help them, but the past it the past and we can't help that. It was not our falt that it happen and we didn't have a foot in any of it, so no one should feel historical guilt.
Okay I believe one should feel guilty for stuff they do. Because when someone makes a mistake and they no longer feel bad or guilty then they forget about it. Then a situation arises and then they make the same mistake again because they dont, and didnt feel guilty for their mistake. What makes a right decision different from a wrong one? The guilt that one feels for that decision. If it was a wrong decision then you feel guilty, but if you never feel guilty with that wrong decision then you continue to do it over and over.
That is what has allowed me to come to the conclusion I have and i strongly believe that if one makes a mistake then they should feel guilty for it so that it will help prevent them from making further wrong decisions.
Historical guilt.....feeling really bad about having done something terrible in the past?.....I totally believe that it COULD exist. A nation CAN feel bad for a terrible crime it committed.
ReplyDeleteFor hundreds of years, we warred with the Native Americans pushing them farther away from the east coast toward the West. Sometimes, we cheated them paying for their lands with things that were of no value to us. We recruited them in our armies and treated them harshly. We lied through our teeth with our treaties. But the worst sin I think we ever enacted on the Native Americans was the Indian Removal Act in which countless scores of people were driven from the THEIR native land to "settlements." Even then, with the "land they were granted," we cheated them out of that. We try to award them scholarship money Our nation with its "Manifest Destiny" and things like that, but who cares about a little money when there is a MUCH BIGGER problem. Try fixing the ENTIRE wrong enacted on the people.
We should feel absolutely ashamed at what we have put on the Indian peoples. We are not the true Native Americans; they are. This is THEIR country that WE stole. If I were in a position to do so, I would try to help them--I do not know how, but I would. Maybe, granting them back their land and truly allowing to keep it. You know what, I think we really need to pay for EVERYTHING for them! We took their stuff, and now it is time to do the right thing, which is to give it back. Those are HUMAN BEINGS that we, with our "civilized ways" and religion, made give up their humanity and their heart. And that is totally insane how the population is now under 250,000!!! 250,000??????!!!!!! We are killing them!
Our "Manifest Destiny" should NOW be to undo what has been done.....to repay them for our incredible sin.
Sure, we can give them their land back, but look how terribly off they are now. It would honestly be better for them to become part of the American society rather than become owners of a different land. On their reservation, the Lakota people have a set up government for themselves, and seem to be keeping steady.
ReplyDeleteWith all the gang violence, drugs, and crime, it would be disastrous in my mind for them to have the “Black Hills” back. They would probably run off somewhere, come back a million strong, and revolt like those in the Middle East or something. There is just no sense in giving back the land.
There is so much more out there that America offers that they would not have if they went on their own. We have Mexicans running over the boarder to have a better life here. They want it. Why would the Lakota, much less than any Hispanic population, want to be even more in a slum then what they are already in when they have careers, housing, the sinful Social Security, and so much more available to them?
In this day in age, to make up a government is near impossible. Sure, America prospered in a time when there were governments thousands/hundreds years old, but an Indian country, in the middle of America? A prosperous America?
So, I say these things, but I do have sympathy. It was not right that we broke our promise, because that shows weakness in our governmental system. Even the Bible says our no’s are to be no’s and yes’s are to be yes’s. If a country, founded on Christian principle, cannot hold itself against selfish belonging, then what trust should we have?
For the Lakota, the time has passed. It is time to move on. There is so much compensation out there for Indian people, and they can take a hold of that. It has been years since a lot of these terrible instances and America is still giving out money to those in need of a college degree who have Indian blood.
I wish my country would have kept its word, but it did not. At the same time, I did not ask to be born here. I did not ask to be born into a lying government. But I do want to be here today. I too am a friend to people. My anger is toward no one except for the one who creates all evil; the devil!
@ Paul Anthony: Paul, how do you think the Indians will do if we gave them their land back? Look how poor their values of the land have become? Did you see all the trash? Indians would not do that. Indians would be one with the land. I do not even think they believe in "owning" land. So, if it is no one's land, then why do they not want us on it?
ReplyDeleteWould you not say that it would be wiser for them to become true Americans and become a part of a more well off society? They let themselves become part of gangs and they leave their children OUT TO ROT with their parents.
If the generations keep going on, who is going to be the grandparent for the children of the childrend? You want to know who? The drugies, the gangsters. Paul, why should they not move on? It is killing them to stay the way they are. Moving out onto mountains is not going to cure their tuburculosis. It is not going to give them a house or food. It may be a little bit more work for taggers to leave their mark, but that is so much more minnor compared to the essentials of life.
It just would not make sense for them to take that land back. I can see why they want it, but times have changed, and the bullet will always take down the fist.
There is such a thing as historical guilt. I don't always believe that it's the right tactic to use. Obviously WE haven't done anything against the Native Americans. I haven't taken their land away. I can't feel bad for something I haven't done and have no control over.
ReplyDeleteI also don't think it's a realistic goal to "give back" land to the Indians. That land has been developed and is being used now. And I doubt that Indians would really want to go live in the Black Hills again. There's not much for them. The buffalo are kind of gone, and I doubt the people would really want to live that way again.
Then again, how do I know? Maybe they do.
Breaking treaties was wrong. Killing innocent people was wrong. I'm not at all saying that the white people were right for taking away the land from the Indians. But what's done is done. We can't go back and change things. Native Americans are not the same people and culture they were, no matter how much they've tried to preserve it.
I'm not really sure what I'm trying to get at. hahah
I do have to say that I liked the guy's speaking voice. And he takes nice pictures. And is persuasive. I enjoyed hearing the history and everything, even if it was sad.
Yes there is
ReplyDeleteSorry, I was not finished.
ReplyDeleteYes there is such a thing as historical guilt but I do not think that we should feel guilty for something our ancestors did a long time ago. I believe that we should do everything we can now to "fix", well not really fix but help the others with there issues. Even though we personally did not do anything.
I think that if we feel guilty about things that have been done in the past, then that is a lesson for us to not do things like that agian. I, personally, do not feel guilty. I feel ashamed that I come from the same people who treated people different from them. There was no reason for it.
ReplyDeleteThere is such thing as historical guilt. Knowing it was in the past, I dont think we should feel bad for it. We should always help others but I seriously, do not think that we should feel guilty for anything in the past.
ReplyDeleteI believe that historical guilt can exist. But why should we have historical guilt, we did nothing. We just know that it happened and our elders were apart of it. I believe that we should care for what these people have been put through, but we should feel gilty about it because we had no part in it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am getting at here it that we shouuld at least have the heart to feel bad for them and try and help them, but the past it the past and we can't help that. It was not our falt that it happen and we didn't have a foot in any of it, so no one should feel historical guilt.
Okay I believe one should feel guilty for stuff they do. Because when someone makes a mistake and they no longer feel bad or guilty then they forget about it. Then a situation arises and then they make the same mistake again because they dont, and didnt feel guilty for their mistake. What makes a right decision different from a wrong one? The guilt that one feels for that decision. If it was a wrong decision then you feel guilty, but if you never feel guilty with that wrong decision then you continue to do it over and over.
ReplyDeleteThat is what has allowed me to come to the conclusion I have and i strongly believe that if one makes a mistake then they should feel guilty for it so that it will help prevent them from making further wrong decisions.