Random Thoughts After Watching A Documentary
I was watching an interesting documentary given to me via Netflix. It is a 4 DVD series called "400 Nations", and it chronicles the Native American plight in North America and the Caribbean Islands. Now, I'm a big follower of history. I believe in knowing my history and understanding history as a whole. As a person with a Native American Heritage, and as an inhabitant of this land as well as a citizen of this country, its always very interesting to see how people lived, what they believed, and ultimately, what happened to them.
Without spending too much time on it, I do believe that the plight of Native Americans over the centuries has indeed been extrememly sad. I think the plight presents a strong testament of the human spirit in the midst of the tribulation of losing their sense of self: their beliefs, their home, their culture and language. Unfortunately, it also presents a unbelievably striking testament of how we, as humans can treat each other.
I am multi-cultural. At the end of the day, when you break it down to the human element, that means nothing. In the end, we're all human and capable of the same thoughts, feelings, and actions. However, I do believe that culture is something that is to be shared and something we can benefit from as people. And I point to the mistreatment of Native Americans, and the mistreatment of all peoples as a fundamental issue of control and power that we all, on some scale and degree, suffer from.
We all, from time to time, neglect the fundamentals that make us all, as humans the same. That can easily be forgiven. That, in itself is a part of those basic human fundamentals (isn't that funny). The problem comes when that neglect becomes institutional, sponsored, and supported by an overall ideaology, religion, government, or power of any kind. Histories greatest autrocities occur when these factors fuse and merge.
Unfortunately, many of us will unleash hate if and when we feel like we can. That, unfortunately, history has proven. I hope that in years to come the younger generations learn and hold on to the things that make us common as humans and use the things that make us different as cultural human beings for the purposes of sharing and learning, not for suppression. I do have hope, to a degree. While young people definately seem to be on some new stuff, at the same time that means they are far more accepting so many things that even the generation directly before them were not.
Without spending too much time on it, I do believe that the plight of Native Americans over the centuries has indeed been extrememly sad. I think the plight presents a strong testament of the human spirit in the midst of the tribulation of losing their sense of self: their beliefs, their home, their culture and language. Unfortunately, it also presents a unbelievably striking testament of how we, as humans can treat each other.
I am multi-cultural. At the end of the day, when you break it down to the human element, that means nothing. In the end, we're all human and capable of the same thoughts, feelings, and actions. However, I do believe that culture is something that is to be shared and something we can benefit from as people. And I point to the mistreatment of Native Americans, and the mistreatment of all peoples as a fundamental issue of control and power that we all, on some scale and degree, suffer from.
We all, from time to time, neglect the fundamentals that make us all, as humans the same. That can easily be forgiven. That, in itself is a part of those basic human fundamentals (isn't that funny). The problem comes when that neglect becomes institutional, sponsored, and supported by an overall ideaology, religion, government, or power of any kind. Histories greatest autrocities occur when these factors fuse and merge.
Unfortunately, many of us will unleash hate if and when we feel like we can. That, unfortunately, history has proven. I hope that in years to come the younger generations learn and hold on to the things that make us common as humans and use the things that make us different as cultural human beings for the purposes of sharing and learning, not for suppression. I do have hope, to a degree. While young people definately seem to be on some new stuff, at the same time that means they are far more accepting so many things that even the generation directly before them were not.
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