History

When I read history, specifically this history of European settlers and Native Americans, it angers me. It angers me because of the atrocities that were committed, because of the high and mighty (better than thou) attitude that the Europeans held. Because these strangers barged onto land that was already inhabited and decided it was theirs and they had a right to "claim" it because the inhabitants were not living in the way they deemed fit.

Imagine someone comes to your door. Whether you answer it or not, they barge in. Once they see the way you're living, they decide they don't like it. You don't deserve to live here if you're not going to live the way they think you should. So they take over. If you resist, they kill you. If you don't conform, they designate a certain sub-par space (attic or crawlspace) to be yours and you are not allowed to live the way you used to live because your home has been reduced in size. Then they expect you to be grateful they let you have even that. They teach their children, who grow up in your home, that you were the enemy, that they had no other choice but to imprison you and kill your family. 

It angers me, even knowing that without that history America would not exist as it does today. But perhaps that would be a good thing. What if, like the French, all European settlers had decided to live with, trade with, and coexist, with the natives? Or, if they'd just decided to leave the continent alone because it was already inhabited? We're certainly not the only ones in history to violently take over spaces of land and dominate the existing natives. Far from it. However, we do not deserve to teach history like we did nothing wrong. This land was inhabited, we invaded. Just like any other invader in the history of the world, Europeans invaded this continent and took over government. Don't teach history like we had the right to do it just because we succeeded. Don't pretend that the Natives that inhabited this land didn't have a history before Europeans showed up and started eradicating them and their history. Don't try to erase the evils of our past, because if we don't learn from them, we are doomed to repeat them.