From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Sep 11 2002 - 17:45:38 MDT
--- Samantha Atkins <samantha@objectent.com> wrote:
>
> Unfairly? Try breaking almost every treated the US government made
> with
> Native Americans. Try death marches of hundreds of miles for forced
> relocation. It is a bit different. These people were here first.
> We
> pushed them off the land onto reservations, usually the worse land
> around, then robbed them of even that and of almost all their culture
> quite sytematically. Even that did not satisfy us.
They were given a rather clear choice: assimilate go to the reservation
or perish. A very borgish choice, granted, and perhaps one that those
who think the borg is something to emulate should consider the view of
the native americans. However, it was a choice that all were free to
make. Choosing not to choose wasn't, unfortunately, an option. The
reservation was not, however, the only option. From white man's
earliest appearance here, there were many efforts made toward cultural
splicing/assimilation. Schools like Dartmouth College exist
specifically for this purpose. That so few native americans to this day
take advantage of these opportunities is rather indicative of the
refusal to assimilate is the primary problem.
Vinge's short story "Conquest by Default" is an interesting version of
the archetypal development.
__________________________________________________
Yahoo! - We Remember
9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost
http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:16:58 MST