Saturday, February 11, 2006
Conquest
I saw the movie, "The Forgotten Root," with my friend Julie the other day. It is part of the African Film Festival in Portland and was about the African roots of the Mexican people. It was interesting to see how the mixed bloods were divided into different categories in order to fit into the caste system. It was a good film and I learned a lot, but I noticed something strange.
The word "conquest" was tossed about like it was actually OK that it happened. It's tossed about in this movie like it was a natural act. Like it was a piece of evolution. Survival of the fittest. Natural.
To control a people by oppression, rape, mass slaughter, slavery, starvation, and many other various forms of FORCED subjugation is OK at the root if you listen carefully enough.
Talking about "conquest" in such a manner as to make it sound natural is disturbing. Conquest is forcing people to do what you want them to do. Like rape. It is a rape culture. If a man can overpower a woman and rape her, it is a conquest, natural, because, afterall, this nation was founded on the forcing of nations to release all title to their lands via genocide.
But wait, I'm not done. At least in Mexico, they acknowledge it. They acknowledge the conquest. They acknowledge that an extreme brutality took place, even if they do believe it to be natural to be so horribly cruel and take things that belong to others. Here in the states, it's not even mentioned. No one says, "on October 12, 1492, Columbus discovered America. Then came the conquest." Nope. It's more like, "first came Columbus, then American independence, then George Bush, Jr." You won't see the great American slaughter of the Indians even mentioned, let alone being described as a natural conquest survival of the fittest.
If conquest is natural and OK, then so must be rape. Conquest is the forcing of whole groups of peoples to do something against their will so the conquerer can steal what they have for themselves. Rape operates along the same lines. Rape is the forcing of others to perform sexual acts against their wills. No wonder their are so few arrests for acts of sexual violence, let alone convictions. It is considered a natural act to force somebody to give you something that doesn't belong to you. No wonder the Portland police aren't arresting, let alone not investigating, the child rapes of the archdiocese in this great city of ours. They were just small natural acts of conquest.
BULLSHIT! These people are criminals and their behavior has to be stopped and it all has to change. I, for one, will accept nothing less.
The word "conquest" was tossed about like it was actually OK that it happened. It's tossed about in this movie like it was a natural act. Like it was a piece of evolution. Survival of the fittest. Natural.
To control a people by oppression, rape, mass slaughter, slavery, starvation, and many other various forms of FORCED subjugation is OK at the root if you listen carefully enough.
Talking about "conquest" in such a manner as to make it sound natural is disturbing. Conquest is forcing people to do what you want them to do. Like rape. It is a rape culture. If a man can overpower a woman and rape her, it is a conquest, natural, because, afterall, this nation was founded on the forcing of nations to release all title to their lands via genocide.
But wait, I'm not done. At least in Mexico, they acknowledge it. They acknowledge the conquest. They acknowledge that an extreme brutality took place, even if they do believe it to be natural to be so horribly cruel and take things that belong to others. Here in the states, it's not even mentioned. No one says, "on October 12, 1492, Columbus discovered America. Then came the conquest." Nope. It's more like, "first came Columbus, then American independence, then George Bush, Jr." You won't see the great American slaughter of the Indians even mentioned, let alone being described as a natural conquest survival of the fittest.
If conquest is natural and OK, then so must be rape. Conquest is the forcing of whole groups of peoples to do something against their will so the conquerer can steal what they have for themselves. Rape operates along the same lines. Rape is the forcing of others to perform sexual acts against their wills. No wonder their are so few arrests for acts of sexual violence, let alone convictions. It is considered a natural act to force somebody to give you something that doesn't belong to you. No wonder the Portland police aren't arresting, let alone not investigating, the child rapes of the archdiocese in this great city of ours. They were just small natural acts of conquest.
BULLSHIT! These people are criminals and their behavior has to be stopped and it all has to change. I, for one, will accept nothing less.
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