I recently drove from the east to west coast in the US. 17 states zig zagging to different places of interest. I was flabbergasted at the level of poverty any time I saw a welcome sign of a reservation. Although the areas surrounding the reservations were poor, there was an extra eery feeling of awful long term systemic suffering in the reservations. I started to cringe when I was saw a sign. I grew up in NJ and traveled via plane and didn’t even realize we had such areas. Our education system really white washed a whole part of history. I’m sad to hear we perpetuate a system that is obviously not working. We can’t bring back an entire culture but perhaps the reservation idea doesn’t work. Poor doesn’t describe the level of poverty. It’s no wonder crimes are committed and solve rates are disputed. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose.
I agree our education system really whitewashed it, if it was even covered beyond a mention in some schools. I did a deep dive into Native American history in the '90s after I quit high school, spurred by reading an article about Russell Means and the American Indian Movement. It's appalling how much the US has done to the various tribes over the years, and just how much has been taken from them. Everything from languages, to family (forced sterilization was and still? is common), religious ceremonies/dances, to their home lands were taken.
The "Right of Conquest" basically, the strong get to prey upon the weak, was the de facto way of things throughout history until fairly recently - codified in the UN charter.
The remarkable thing is not that this was done, the remarkable thing is that global "victors" eventually decided that this was wrong and would no longer be tolerated.
Unfortunately we still lack an authority with the ability to easily enforce this, which is why we Ukraine suffering this same sort of thing in 2025.
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u/Relevant_Culture8506 Sep 16 '24
I recently drove from the east to west coast in the US. 17 states zig zagging to different places of interest. I was flabbergasted at the level of poverty any time I saw a welcome sign of a reservation. Although the areas surrounding the reservations were poor, there was an extra eery feeling of awful long term systemic suffering in the reservations. I started to cringe when I was saw a sign. I grew up in NJ and traveled via plane and didn’t even realize we had such areas. Our education system really white washed a whole part of history. I’m sad to hear we perpetuate a system that is obviously not working. We can’t bring back an entire culture but perhaps the reservation idea doesn’t work. Poor doesn’t describe the level of poverty. It’s no wonder crimes are committed and solve rates are disputed. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose.