King on Indians and genocide

A posting titled The Real Columbus Day offers this quote from Martin Luther King Jr.:Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode.Comment:  This is a fuller version of the quote I referred to in King, Concentration Camps, and Indians.

The posting contains several good quotes on Columbus from James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me. Readers know that I recommend Lies frequently; I'd say it's one of the basic books you should have in your library.

For more on King, see 40th Anniversary of King's Death and Marching for King in Gallup.