{"id":2117323,"date":"2023-12-06T11:47:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T16:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/giving-thanks-for-settler-colonialism\/"},"modified":"2023-12-06T11:49:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T16:49:04","slug":"giving-thanks-for-settler-colonialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/giving-thanks-for-settler-colonialism\/","title":{"rendered":"Expressing Gratitude for Settler Colonialism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgiving-thanks-for-settler-colonialism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2117323&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>This is a\u200d portion of a speech delivered by Michael Knowles \u200bat Vanderbilt University on Tuesday, November 28, 2023.<\/h2>\n<p>The activist Left\u2064 \u2014 from Hollywood to the\u2064 newsrooms and especially on campus \u2014 has spent nearly two months smearing all \u200cof history\u2019s victors as \u201ccolonizers\u201d and \u201csettlers.\u201d The reason for this uptick in \u201canti-colonial\u201d activism is Hamas\u2019 current war with the state of Israel, which the Left has accused of engaging in settler \u2064colonialism. And the most prominent\u2063 defense of \u200bthe modern Israeli state thus far has been to deny its status as a \u2063\u201csettler\u201d or \u201ccolonial\u201d entity.<\/p>\n<p>This, I think, is a bad strategy for a few reasons: first, \u2063because the Israeli state manifestly\u2064 <b>is<\/b> a settler and\u2063 colonial endeavor,\u200d deriving from the Balfour Declaration of the British\u2064 Empire during\u2063 World War I, after which the Brits wrested the territory from the Ottoman Empire; two, more relevant to all of us,\u2063 because\u200d our own nation is similarly a settler and colonial project\u200d deriving from the Treaty of Paris, in\u200d which \u200dthe\u2064 British Empire recognized the\u200c United States\u200d as an independent nation; and three, because all regimes in history\u2063 have been established by \u2063settlers and colonizers of one \u200ckind or \u2064another.<\/p>\n<p>Not since Adam in the Garden of Eden\u200d have any people\u2064 sprouted out of the ground. (And in the case of Adam, you \u2063might recall, he had a little help.) Borders, nations, and regimes have changed for all of history\u2063 as people have multiplied, shrunk, \u2064and moved around. The aim of\u200c the \u201cdecolonization\u201d activists is to \u200dreturn land from the people who\u2063 currently \u200dpossess\u2064 it to the\u200c people who previously possessed it.\u2062 That does not \u2062seem to me to solve \u2064the problem. At best, it \u200donly pushes the problem a little bit further back\u2063 in history.<\/p>\n<h3>Decolonizing the Black Hills<\/h3>\n<p>In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that \u2064the American government had illegally taken the Black Hills of South Dakota \u200c\u2014 \u200cthe site of\u2062 Mount Rushmore \u2014 from the\u2062 Lakota Sioux. The Court ordered \u2064the\u2063 government to pay \u200cthe Lakota\u2063 the initial offering price of the land, plus interest,\u200c coming out to a total of $106 million.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. had pledged in the\u2064 Treaty of Fort Laramie in \u20641868 to set \u200bthe\u2064 Black Hills \u201capart for\u200c the absolute and undisturbed use\u200d and occupation of the Indians,\u201d thus\u2062 ending Red Cloud\u2019s \u2063War. Six years later, however, General George Custer entered the Black Hills amid\u2063 reports of\u200d gold \u200bfound there. And then, attracted by Custer\u2019s descriptions of the land and the resources on it, \u200dsettlers began to enter. Initially, the U.S. military \u2062tried \u200dto honor the treaty and turn the settlers away. But the settlers kept\u2062 coming, which led\u200d President U.S. Grant to tell the military \u2062to stand down and stop opposing \u2064the settlement.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, with so many American settlers on \u2064the land, the \u200cU.S. government decided that the only way to avoid another\u2062 war would \u200dbe to pay\u200d the Lakota\u200d Sioux \u200cfor the land. Negotiations broke down, Custer led a \u2064charge, and the Indians,\u2063 led by Sitting \u2062Bull and Crazy Horse, defeated Custer at \u200bthe famous Battle of\u2062 Little Bighorn.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2063 victory didn\u2019t \u200clast long. The \u2062Americans quickly defeated the rowdy\u200b Sioux. Still,\u200b the Sioux refused to surrender. But they also didn\u2019t \u2062have any means to survive, having been stripped of their \u200dweapons and horses. So in 1876, Congress made aid\u200d to the Sioux \u200bcontingent on \u2064their ceding the land to the United States. Some Sioux leaders agreed to a \u2062settlement \u2014 but not enough to satisfy the requirements of the Fort Laramie Treaty, which led to the Supreme \u200bCourt case more \u200bthan a century later.<\/p>\n<p>The liberal Court ruled in favor \u2062of the Sioux in 1980 over the objections of the conservative Justice \u2063William Rehnquist. Notice, however, that the Court\u200b did not order the\u2063 U.S. to give\u2063 the \u200dland back to the Indians. Not only would such an order\u2064 have \u200cbeen insane; \u200dbut it would also have been impractical. \u200cIt\u2019s American land. A quarter-million Americans live there. Four U.S. presidents have\u2062 their\u2064 faces  <\/p>\n<h2> \u200cWhat are the arguments for returning the \u200cBlack Hills to the Lakota Sioux, considering their original ownership\u2063 and refusal of compensation?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u2064Fering price of $17.5 million as compensation. However, the\u2064 Lakota Sioux refused the \u2064money, stating that their land was\u200d not for sale. To this day, the Black Hills remain \u2064a point of\u2064 contention between the United States government\u200d and the Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n<p>The case of the Black Hills highlights \u200cthe complexity of the issue of decolonization. While \u2063it is true that the \u200cAmerican government acquired the land through \u2063settler colonialism, the\u2063 question arises as to what should be done with the land now.\u200c Should \u2063it be returned to the Lakota Sioux, as they were\u2064 the original inhabitants? Or should it remain under American control, considering the vast infrastructure and cultural significance that\u2062 has\u200d been built \u2063upon it?<\/p>\n<p>The \u2064issue becomes even more complicated\u2062 when we consider that the \u2064United States,\u200d as a nation, is also a product of settler colonialism. While the country was built upon ideals of freedom and \u200bdemocracy, it was also established through the displacement and marginalization of Indigenous peoples. To claim that the Israeli state alone is guilty of settler colonialism while ignoring our own history is\u200d not only hypocritical, but it fails to address the root causes of the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore,\u2063 the \u200cpush for decolonization often overlooks the fact that settlers and colonizers are not a homogeneous group. Different settler and colonial projects have taken place throughout history, each with \u200bits own complexities and nuances. The idea of blanket decolonization \u200ddoes not account \u2063for these differences and fails to provide \u2063meaningful solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of\u200c focusing \u200bsolely on decolonization, \u2063we\u2064 should strive for a more nuanced understanding of history and its\u2064 implications. This includes acknowledging the wrongs of \u2064the past and working towards reconciliation and justice. \u2063It \u2064also means recognizing that\u2063 borders and nations have always been \u2064fluid\u200d and subject to change.<\/p>\n<p>The current wave of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pope-francis-has-no-reason-to-apologize-to-indigenous-canadians\/\" title=\"Pope Francis Has No Reason To Apologize To Indigenous Canadians\">anti-colonial activism<\/a> should not be dismissed, as it is essential for raising awareness of \u200bhistorical injustices. However, it is important to approach the \u2063issue with a critical\u2062 mindset and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ted-cruz-democrats-empower-cartels-to-make-billions-while-ignoring-death-and-suffering-of-americans\/\" title=\"Ted Cruz accuses Democrats of aiding cartels, disregarding American suffering.\">seek\u200d comprehensive solutions<\/a> that address the\u200c complexity \u200bof the problem.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the debate over settler \u2062colonialism and decolonization is a complex one that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abrams-says-biden-has-over-performed-expectation-and-blames-harder-times-on-global-issues\/\" title=\"Abrams praises Biden's exceeding expectations, attributing tougher times to global challenges.\">requires\u2063 careful consideration<\/a> of historical context and practical solutions. By acknowledging\u2063 the complexities of \u2064our own nation&#8217;s history and engaging in meaningful dialogue, we can work towards a more just and inclusive\u200d future. It is through understanding and empathy that we can\u200d truly honor the struggles\u2063 and aspirations of\u2063 all peoples, past and present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Knowles delivered a speech at Vanderbilt University on November 28, 2023, criticizing the activist Left for labeling historical victors as &#8220;colonizers&#8221; and &#8220;settlers.&#8221; This surge in &#8220;anti-colonial&#8221; activism has been observed in Hollywood, newsrooms, and campuses for almost two months<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":2117324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2117323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2117323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2117324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2117323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2117323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2117323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}