June 17, 2008

Our turn to apologize?

Canada Apologizes to its Native People.  Will We?Canada's apology follows a similar one by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the Aboriginal peoples in February of this year. Like in Canada, young Aboriginals were taken from their families, often by force, and sent to schools and homes where they were often abused, exploited, and prevented from speaking their language or practicing their way of life.

The United States has a similar legacy, but has yet to apologize. One state has stepped up and issued a somewhat different sort of apology, though. In a non-binding resolution, the Colorado Legislature apologized in late April for the intentional deaths, "cruelty, and inhumanity" inflicted on Native peoples. According to an article in Indian Country Today, the resolution specifically mentions the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation in 1838 and the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, when as many as 200 Native people--mostly elderly men, women and children--were killed by members of the Colorado militia.

That's one state that's acted, 49 to go, plus the federal government.
Comment:  Being American apparently means never having to say you're sorry. That's because we're exceptional. We don't make the same mistakes as everyone else.

2 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
And that's because American mistakes become both policy and tradition, in perpetuity...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
POSTSCRIPTUM: writerfella forgot to add, "...as well as the law of the land..."
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'