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strix_albavia http://ift.tt/2eU3Asz:
“
Elie Wiesel once stated that the children of murderers are children. I say that the descendants of killers do not own the crimes of their ancestors, unless they willingly shield those crimes today. I have noticed that some modern Euro-Americans feel backed into a corner, as though by mere virtue of being Euro-descended they must defend the mythology of conquest over its very brutal reality; as if they would be race traitors should they concede the depths of it. This is recidivist racism, but the backsliding is emotional, and emotion cannot be reasoned away.
I have found out the hard way the visceral nature of this emotional resistance, so to forestall it, I now prepare my Euro-American students to hear difficult information. Here is what I tell them: “You are about to learn some very unsettling facts, mournful things that may even contradict what you heard in the fifth grade. You will want to turn away from these awful facts, but do not turn away from them. Instead, remember: You did not do this.”
Then, I repeat, “YOU did not do this.”
After that sinks in, I continue, “There is no reason for you to assume that you must defend misdeeds, simply because Europeans once committed them. You are not responsible for what happened.”
I conclude with: “All that you are responsible for is what you do, once you walk out the door, knowing that these things did happen.”
The stories that follow reflect no glory on the European invaders of North America. However, I am told that racism is happily passé, so let me say to my Euro-American readers: You do not have to feel like a race traitor should you pause to wipe your eyes or shake your head over what was done. You did not do this. You are not responsible. The only thing that you are responsible for is what you do after you close this book, knowing that these things were done to Native America.
”
-
Barbara A. Mann, in the introduction to The Tainted Gift: The Disease Method of Frontier Expansion
“All that you are responsible for is what you do, once you walk out the door, knowing that these things did happen.”
(Part 1)
“I say that the descendants of killers do not own the crimes of their ancestors, unless they willingly shield those crimes today.“
(via trashquisitor-shirozora)
“
Elie Wiesel once stated that the children of murderers are children. I say that the descendants of killers do not own the crimes of their ancestors, unless they willingly shield those crimes today. I have noticed that some modern Euro-Americans feel backed into a corner, as though by mere virtue of being Euro-descended they must defend the mythology of conquest over its very brutal reality; as if they would be race traitors should they concede the depths of it. This is recidivist racism, but the backsliding is emotional, and emotion cannot be reasoned away.
I have found out the hard way the visceral nature of this emotional resistance, so to forestall it, I now prepare my Euro-American students to hear difficult information. Here is what I tell them: “You are about to learn some very unsettling facts, mournful things that may even contradict what you heard in the fifth grade. You will want to turn away from these awful facts, but do not turn away from them. Instead, remember: You did not do this.”
Then, I repeat, “YOU did not do this.”
After that sinks in, I continue, “There is no reason for you to assume that you must defend misdeeds, simply because Europeans once committed them. You are not responsible for what happened.”
I conclude with: “All that you are responsible for is what you do, once you walk out the door, knowing that these things did happen.”
The stories that follow reflect no glory on the European invaders of North America. However, I am told that racism is happily passé, so let me say to my Euro-American readers: You do not have to feel like a race traitor should you pause to wipe your eyes or shake your head over what was done. You did not do this. You are not responsible. The only thing that you are responsible for is what you do after you close this book, knowing that these things were done to Native America.
”
-
Barbara A. Mann, in the introduction to The Tainted Gift: The Disease Method of Frontier Expansion
“All that you are responsible for is what you do, once you walk out the door, knowing that these things did happen.”
(Part 1)
“I say that the descendants of killers do not own the crimes of their ancestors, unless they willingly shield those crimes today.“
(via trashquisitor-shirozora)
