Post by Souriquois on Sept 2, 2017 22:09:08 GMT -4
History is full of pretty fucked up atrocities, which we look back on and try not to repeat... but have you ever learned something about history, that you didn't expect, that pleasantly surprised you?
If so, share.
I will start:
Here in Canada, we have been having similar discussions about removing statues, removing names of brutal historical figured, and the like. We had the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which recommended this, and things are getting removed with little resistance, for the most part.
Just recently, buildings bearing the name of Canada's first Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald, have been renamed, and he will be removed from the $10 bill in 2019 as well.
John A. MacDonald was not a nice guy, to put it lightly. He believed Canada should be a land established for the Aryan Race. Yes, he really said "Aryan". This was before the Nazis. He was extreme even for his time, and most of his caucus hated him. The British also hated him. Under his Prime Ministership, ethnic cleansing was launched against the indigenous people of the Prairies, which eliminated most of the population, in order to clear the land for whites. Millions died. He also established Indian Residential Schools and made the Indian Act law. The actions of John A. MacDonald are the reasons for the conditions that indigenous people in Canada face still today.
Before Confederation, Indigenous/settler relations were actually not that bad, since they both had one common interest: commerce. As long as they didn't impede on each other's ability to make money, things were alright. Yes, wars and genocides did happen, but they were not on such a large scale and were the exception rather than the rule. Most fighting pre-Confederation was between English and French, or between Upper Canada and the United States, and indigenous people who were allied with either side.
Anyway, the pleasantly surprised part is this: It was an extremely unpopular government policy. The vast majority of white people living in Canada at the time strongly disapproved of what his government was doing. I would have assumed most white people either approved of what he was doing, or didn't care. This was simply not true. MacDonald faced strong grassroots level criticism, as well as criticism from the media. Here is a newspaper cartoon from 1888 that illustrates that point:
While history shows this resistance ultimately failed, and it is true that anti-indigenous racism ended up entering the Canadian mainstream, the people of the country did not start that way. It was ultimately learned, and can be unlearned.
Funny I never learned about this white resistance to indigenous genocide in school. I guess there is a reason for that.
Maybe the resistance was not out of conscience, I don't know. Canada at that time was a strong trading nation, mainly in furs, and most working white people in the country at that time acted as middlemen between the indigenous people and the European nations they traded with. Probably they most likely feared that genocide would destroy their livelihoods.
But, when you work with people too, you do become friends with them... so there could have been a conscience there. The government was going after their co-workers, essentially. How would you feel in that situation? I think I would defend my co-workers. I like most of them.
If so, share.
I will start:
Here in Canada, we have been having similar discussions about removing statues, removing names of brutal historical figured, and the like. We had the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which recommended this, and things are getting removed with little resistance, for the most part.
Just recently, buildings bearing the name of Canada's first Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald, have been renamed, and he will be removed from the $10 bill in 2019 as well.
John A. MacDonald was not a nice guy, to put it lightly. He believed Canada should be a land established for the Aryan Race. Yes, he really said "Aryan". This was before the Nazis. He was extreme even for his time, and most of his caucus hated him. The British also hated him. Under his Prime Ministership, ethnic cleansing was launched against the indigenous people of the Prairies, which eliminated most of the population, in order to clear the land for whites. Millions died. He also established Indian Residential Schools and made the Indian Act law. The actions of John A. MacDonald are the reasons for the conditions that indigenous people in Canada face still today.
Before Confederation, Indigenous/settler relations were actually not that bad, since they both had one common interest: commerce. As long as they didn't impede on each other's ability to make money, things were alright. Yes, wars and genocides did happen, but they were not on such a large scale and were the exception rather than the rule. Most fighting pre-Confederation was between English and French, or between Upper Canada and the United States, and indigenous people who were allied with either side.
Anyway, the pleasantly surprised part is this: It was an extremely unpopular government policy. The vast majority of white people living in Canada at the time strongly disapproved of what his government was doing. I would have assumed most white people either approved of what he was doing, or didn't care. This was simply not true. MacDonald faced strong grassroots level criticism, as well as criticism from the media. Here is a newspaper cartoon from 1888 that illustrates that point:
While history shows this resistance ultimately failed, and it is true that anti-indigenous racism ended up entering the Canadian mainstream, the people of the country did not start that way. It was ultimately learned, and can be unlearned.
Funny I never learned about this white resistance to indigenous genocide in school. I guess there is a reason for that.
Maybe the resistance was not out of conscience, I don't know. Canada at that time was a strong trading nation, mainly in furs, and most working white people in the country at that time acted as middlemen between the indigenous people and the European nations they traded with. Probably they most likely feared that genocide would destroy their livelihoods.
But, when you work with people too, you do become friends with them... so there could have been a conscience there. The government was going after their co-workers, essentially. How would you feel in that situation? I think I would defend my co-workers. I like most of them.