>From: "Chris Alders" <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: "Chris Alders" <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Judging Colonial Crimes By Modern Standards >Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 20:09:45 -0400 > > >Greetings and salutations! > >A frequent critique offered by historians of people who may attempt to >invoke some form of moral judgment on those who committed gross misdeeds in >the past has been to refer to the concept of presentism. > >Presentism is usually defined as using modern-day standards as a means of >explaining past acts or events. The theory is that those who were >responsible for heinous acts in days gone by were under cultural influences >unique to their time and place and that we ought not to criticize them on >the basis of our own cultural and modern bias. > >One person who has disavowed this concept as a legitimate criticism is >renowned American historian Howard Zinn who, in a speech at Saint Mary's >University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2003 referred to his academic >brethren as "sheep" for giving way to this practice. > >Award-winning author and human rights activist Dan Paul also has concerns. >Below is a relatively recent newspaper column in which he clearly takes on >the concept of presentism by questioning the way we view crimes committed >by imperial and colonial powers. > >Take care and adios for now, > >Chris > > >Judging Colonial Crimes by Modern Standards > >By Dan Paul > >APOLOGISTS for European colonial brutality have often criticized me for >baring for public examination the genocidal crimes committed against the >indigenous populations of the Americas by colonial leadership after 1492. >Especially irritating is the accusation that I use today's standards when >judging the criminals. Why not? Today's standards, although more >sophisticated, are just as low as they were five centuries ago. > >For proof of the veracity of this statement, I'll give a short overview of >the crimes of just three colonial officials who are indefensibly honoured >as heroes by the majority of the Euro-descended population of North >America, then offer comparisons of modern brutality. > >A piece in Column of the Americas, by Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto >Rodriguez (April 3, 1998), tells of a statue being erected in honour of >Juan de Onate, a Spanish conquistador, in El Paso, Texas: "In response, >many people are insisting that if it goes up, it shouldn't be done at >taxpayers' expense and that it include the truth about Onate's role in the >killing of hundreds of Acoma Pueblo Indians. Onate ordered that all Acoma >men over 25 years old have their right foot cut off, and had women and >children enslaved. As a reminder, native people recently cut off a foot >from the Onate statue in Alcalde, N.M. Though the statue was repaired, >educator Sofia Martinez said the foot should have stayed off: 'It would >have caused people to ask why it's missing.' " > >Alyssa Fisher writes of Civil War hero John M. Chivington, in a piece >titled "A sight which can never be forgotten" (in Archaeology, Online >Features, Sept. 16, 2003): "Not long after the massacre at Mountain Meadows >came another savage attack, this time against a peaceful village of >Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians living under Chief Black Kettle in >southeastern Colorado Territory. Methodist preacher and Civil War hero >Colonel John M. Chivington led approximately 700 volunteer soldiers almost >40 miles in harsh winter conditions from Fort Lyon to attack the community >along Sand Creek. At dawn on Nov. 29, 1864, Chivington's men approached the >camp and opened fire. The soldiers chased the unarmed families up the dry >stream bed where they frantically dug into the sandy banks of the creek, >seeking shelter. It was in these pits that most of them were slaughtered, >unable to escape the militia's small arms fire and exploding howitzer >shells. > >"Despite Black Kettle's display of a white surrender flag and an American >flag, the soldiers killed more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly women, >children and elders. The attackers then dismembered many of the bodies and >paraded limbs and scalps around Colorado. . . ." > >The third colonial era example comes from closer to home. Halifax has a >park named in honour of the much-admired Edward Cornwallis, British >colonial governor from 1749 to 1752, with a large statue of him as a >centrepiece. At an Oct. 1, 1749, meeting, he and his council undertook an >attempt to exterminate the Mi'kmaq, indigenous to what are now Canada's >Maritime provinces. To try to realize the genocidal goal, they issued a >proclamation offering a bounty of 10 pounds (British money) for the scalps >of the people, including women and children. On June 21, 1750, perhaps >because the scalps were not coming in fast enough, they issued another >proclamation, raising the bounty to 50 pounds. > >Now, regarding today's standards, following are some of the horrendous >crimes committed against humanity since I was born in 1938 - some are >ongoing. Most of the world's leadership was, or is, directly or indirectly >involved. > >During the Second World War, upwards of 40 million people were killed, six >million or so of whom were dispatched in a barbarous manner in gas chambers >in concentration camps. Another several hundred thousand were vapourized by >atomic bombs in Japan. > >While the world sat on its hands, half of Cambodia's population was >butchered. > >The UN stood by and watched as close to a million people were savagely >butchered in Rwanda. >One cannot leave out the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia in the >1990s. In one instance, 7,500 men and boys were slaughtered while the >leaders of NATO, the most awesomely powerful military force ever, permitted >it to happen. > >Now let's examine the horrendous poverty-related health conditions rampant >in most countries of Africa. The horrific conditions could be quickly cured >if the rich countries, which have enough food and medicine to accomplish >it, had the compassion and generosity to do so. But because they've >callously decided not to, millions are in various stages of starvation, and >millions more are dying of AIDS. > >In a particularly repulsive offshoot of this neglect, some orphanages in >many African countries are designated only for children with AIDS. These >orphanages are death houses because the operators can't afford the medicine >to save the innocents. Lovely, modern standards, aren't they? > >If the likes of barbarous colonial figures such as Onate and Cornwallis >deserve statues to honour them, shouldn't modern barbarians such as Hitler >have the same? Definitely NOT! If, in fact, we are going to build a better >world, we must have standards that recognize that civilized society cannot >honour barbarians of any stripe, historic or modern. Nova Scotia and Canada >could make a good start in this direction by expunging Edward Cornwallis >and Charles Lawrence from their honour rolls, and by becoming far more >generous with aid to poorer countries. I offer no apologies! > >Chris Alders >24 Fairview Street >Kentville, Nova Scotia >B4N 1G2 > >902-678-0326 >[log in to unmask] > >"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is >invisible to the eye." > >The Fox in "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupery. > _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~