I mean, yes we have Native Americans but candidly there isn't much Native American culture in American culture" pic. Soon, Santorum's rancid claim went viral. And while there was a wave of disgust from many people, Natives weren't surprised in the least.
American history textbooks routinely — and, for men like Santorum, conveniently — leave out the deep and textured history of this continent's Indigenous peoples, as well as the details of the shocking brutality of the white men who invaded our land and claimed it for themselves.
Nationalists like Santorum would like you to believe there was "nothing here," because if there was "nothing here," then none of their ancestors did anything wrong. If you, however, found Santorum's comments ugly and shocking, do us Indigenous folks all a favor: Stop calling that white invasion a "settlement," because it was a violent, vicious invasion.
They weren't just pilgrims or homesteaders; they were invaders who fought and killed us for our lands and our homes and did so often while waving the Bible as both a reason and a justification.
But the reason people still use identifiers like "pilgrim," "settler" and "homesteader" is that racists like Santorum whitewash this country's history and consistently push deliberately ignorant nationalistic narratives.
Nationalists like Santorum would like you to believe there was "nothing here," because if there was "nothing here," then none of their ancestors did anything wrong; if there was "nothing here," then none of the people they venerate — and want you to venerate — stole anything or massacred millions of Indigenous peoples or raped Indigenous women or kidnapped and killed Indigenous children, and so on.
Perhaps it's no surprise that someone as anti-gay or as bigoted as Santorum would desperately seek to ignore and erase Indigenous peoples and Indigenous cultures. But white men did all those things to the Indigenous people of what you now call America. It's documented; it's all historical fact. And you can't be the greatest nation in the world when you're guilty of a genocide — which the U.
That genocide is why, today, Indigenous peoples are the smallest racial minority in our ancestral land.
It's not only because of the literal shiploads of diseases that early European invaders lugged aboard with them; it was also largely because of the racist hatred white men had and some still have for Natives and because of the violence they sought to carry out against us because of that hatred.
Supreme Court on a recent case said that a man who committed rape could not be killed, could not be subject to the death penalty, yet the child conceived as a result of that rape could be. Rick Santorum is running for president again. Newswire Powered by. Close the menu. Rolling Stone. Log In. To help keep your account secure, please log-in again. You are no longer onsite at your organization. Please log in. For assistance, contact your corporate administrator.
That's when I come to my senses and try to remember the one thing he seems to forget. We're all God's children. More Videos Granderson: I can't hate Santorum Rivals look at Santorum's past spending Santorum predicts race with Romney And like brothers and sisters, we won't always agree.
Sometimes we will fight. But we can't get so caught up in our disagreements that we forget that what bonds us is far more important than what divides us. Being respectful doesn't mean you have to give up your religion.
Opinion: To Rick Santorum: Here's how to support a gay child. Morial: Santourm pandering to racists Still, as much as it pains me to admit, Rick Santorum is my brother. I don't support the way he sows seeds of discord for political gain, but I can't allow him to drag me down so far that I hate him. Just as I didn't hate the drug dealers and gang bangers who were poisoning the Kalamazoo neighborhoods. Instead we all must go to the figurative street corner and find a way to respectfully engage.
After all, Santorum's views are not just his.
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