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4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
So when my roommate, who says he doesn’t know everyone, saw I was reading this book, said, “I love her. She is such a wonderful person.” See, he does know everyone. I don’t know if she is a lovely person, but you should read this book.
Look, at least since Howard Zinn’s work and more recently with the 1619 project, people have taken issue with the presentation of the facts of American history. In other words, you change the narrative of a melting pot where everyone gets along and everyone is great, you get called all types of names, Marxist being the politest. Or even when the Supreme Court in a recent decision upholds a treaty, people like Ted “will not defend my wife or father” Cruz make it sound like it is the end of the world instead of the upholding of a legal and blinding documents.
Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz’s book explains why.
My one complaint about this book it that I finished it and wanted more. Luckily there is a source listing at the end. I should also note that the complaint is perhaps unfair considering what the scope of the series and book is supposed to be.
The important thing about this book, the reason why you should read, is that Dunbar-Ortiz makes an excellent case for why the violence in the United States is the why it is, or at least one of the reasons why.
Part of the reason why some people get upset like Ted Cruz about rulings such as the Supreme Court decision regarding the Muscogee (Crow) Nation and the state of Oklahoma is that they were most likely taught, whether directly or by omission, that the United States kept all the treaties it made with the various Indigenous nations and tribes.
It didn’t.
I can’t think of one.
Additionally, some textbooks, less so today one hopes, make it sound like the Indigenous population basically gave the land to the white people and voluntarily moved to reservations. Maybe the Trail of Tears gets mentioned but then everything is fine until Little Bighorn.
Again, not the case.
Now, I knew that before reading this book. What Dunbar-Ortiz does in part is link the colonization of the United States and the myths about Colonization to international policy. After all, she points out, the treatment of the Indigenous population was international policy. Those were Nations. She is not the first one to link the US to violence as being in its bones, but the case she lays out in the book is compelling. You can also see the links between colonial policy and the rise of Trump.
The book’s title is accurate but in a less direct way. This is not a blow by blow account of the wars or what society was like before the arrival of settlers/colonizers/murderers, which, in part, I was hoping to read some of. It is an account of a colonization of Nations, where the colonizer has never truly acknowledged what happened. (Look, don’t mention Canada or Australia as places of other such actions, this book and this review are solely concerned with the US). We need to come to terms -and more importantly – acknowledge what happened in the past if we are going to be a country that we want to be, instead of a shadow of a myth whose reality discounted and abused over half our population.
Look, at least since Howard Zinn’s work and more recently with the 1619 project, people have taken issue with the presentation of the facts of American history. In other words, you change the narrative of a melting pot where everyone gets along and everyone is great, you get called all types of names, Marxist being the politest. Or even when the Supreme Court in a recent decision upholds a treaty, people like Ted “will not defend my wife or father” Cruz make it sound like it is the end of the world instead of the upholding of a legal and blinding documents.
Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz’s book explains why.
My one complaint about this book it that I finished it and wanted more. Luckily there is a source listing at the end. I should also note that the complaint is perhaps unfair considering what the scope of the series and book is supposed to be.
The important thing about this book, the reason why you should read, is that Dunbar-Ortiz makes an excellent case for why the violence in the United States is the why it is, or at least one of the reasons why.
Part of the reason why some people get upset like Ted Cruz about rulings such as the Supreme Court decision regarding the Muscogee (Crow) Nation and the state of Oklahoma is that they were most likely taught, whether directly or by omission, that the United States kept all the treaties it made with the various Indigenous nations and tribes.
It didn’t.
I can’t think of one.
Additionally, some textbooks, less so today one hopes, make it sound like the Indigenous population basically gave the land to the white people and voluntarily moved to reservations. Maybe the Trail of Tears gets mentioned but then everything is fine until Little Bighorn.
Again, not the case.
Now, I knew that before reading this book. What Dunbar-Ortiz does in part is link the colonization of the United States and the myths about Colonization to international policy. After all, she points out, the treatment of the Indigenous population was international policy. Those were Nations. She is not the first one to link the US to violence as being in its bones, but the case she lays out in the book is compelling. You can also see the links between colonial policy and the rise of Trump.
The book’s title is accurate but in a less direct way. This is not a blow by blow account of the wars or what society was like before the arrival of settlers/colonizers/murderers, which, in part, I was hoping to read some of. It is an account of a colonization of Nations, where the colonizer has never truly acknowledged what happened. (Look, don’t mention Canada or Australia as places of other such actions, this book and this review are solely concerned with the US). We need to come to terms -and more importantly – acknowledge what happened in the past if we are going to be a country that we want to be, instead of a shadow of a myth whose reality discounted and abused over half our population.
This book offers a much needed narrative to the story of the United States, one that in far too many ways is neglected and overlooked even today. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to shift their perspective about US History.
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This was a very disturbing book to read. I have always felt that I had a good understanding of American history, but the extent of the genocide and how it has tainted every aspect of US society is overwhelming. This book shows how attitudes continue today, which have existed since the first colonists arrived with the belief that they had a god-given right to land that was already inhabited. These attitudes have been used to justify the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo. It has driven Western expansion and worldwide imperialism with the United States having bases in every part of the world, a military budget as great as the rest of the world combined, and interventions in governments in many parts of the world, particularly those where indigenous people are the majority. The quest for greater land holdings and material accumulation continues in today's capitalist-driven society. Dunbar-Ortiz refers to the United States as a crime scene created by the intended extermination of the Native population through counterinsurgency-style warfare or forced assimilation. She agrees that the descendants of the perpetrators are not responsible for the sins of the fathers, but contends that they are responsible for the society they live in. She says changes should include extensive Native American history in all levels of education, restoral of lands including the sacred Paha Sapa, (the Black Hills), and repatriation of Indigenous remains and sacred objects held by museums, learning institutions, and private collections. This book clearly delineates one aspect of the systemic racism in American society.
An important book but I’m giving one star because I am not good at reading history. I think a documentary would be better for me to understand this topic better!
informative
Not an easy read but an essential one for understanding our nation’s past and what it will take to move forward. I read this slowly, over nine months, as part of an equity book study group. Gratitude for fellow travelers on this path.
informative
medium-paced
Wow, this book was a lot to process. It was extremely well done. Informative without being overwhelming and adds a lot of crucial context to historical events Americans think they are familiar with. I'm certainly not the first person to say that I wish this was required reading.
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, War
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced