(July 2, 2015 at 10:34 pm)smax Wrote: That's just a failure on your part to properly consider the facts. The fact is, Lincoln coordinated and ordered assaults and conquests on Native Americans all throughout his term as President because, just like leaders who preceded him, he knew that it was vital that the "Indians" numbers and force continue to be reduced so that they would have:
#1. No military presence
#2. No political weight
#3. No significant hold over the land's resources
During Lincoln's term as president, he not only ordered attacks on Native Americans, he also broke numerous promises to them regarding land, resources, and money. He also ordered many Native American's to be held, without legitimate cause, in concentration camps.
No one is arguing that the genocide at the hands of the Federal Government didn't happen. The point is about the literal purpose of the Thanksgiving holiday. It is not about being thankful that the genocide occurred, which is the claim you've shopped without support.
(July 2, 2015 at 10:34 pm)smax Wrote: That letter Lincoln wrote, among other things Lincoln did, was so people like you could live ignorant of the reality of the injustice suffered by the Native Americans at the hands of European invaders/"settlers".
lol, you don't know who you're talking to, and yet you say shit like this.
(July 2, 2015 at 10:34 pm)smax Wrote: Lincoln partook in Native American slaughter, just like every president who preceded him, but he did seem to understand the implications of the European conquest of America, much like he understood the implications of the slave trade, and he considered more than just the perception of his actions during the time, but also his place in history. That didn't stop him, however, from putting some of the finishing touches on the conquest of the American territory while also carefully maintaining important allegiances in Europe during the civil war.
No shit, Captain Obvious. You got anything that wasn't in my eighth-grade history lessons?
(July 2, 2015 at 10:34 pm)smax Wrote: By the way, I have the same percentage of Native American ancestry as you, and I have close relationships with many of my family members and friends who are Native American. Not a single one of them celebrates Thanksgiving, nor do I.
And that says nothing about the purpose of the holiday.
(July 2, 2015 at 10:34 pm)smax Wrote: I mean, is it really difficult to figure out that something is fishy about a holiday that supposedly honors European settlers breaking bread with Native Americans and yet Europeans are relatively the only ones left around to celebrate it?
Chew on that for a minute.
Wait, first you said Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the slaughter of the natives. Now you're saying that it is to honor the meal of the settlers with the natives after surviving a hard year. Which is it?
Nothing in this post of yours demonstrates that Thanksgiving is literally a celebration of the genocide. It was a day set aside to thank God for the blessings of the land -- which yes, was taken from the natives with genocidal force -- but in America it is not a celebration of the genocide itself. Saying that that is what it literally is is factually incorrect.
You can have the last word. I doubt anything useful will arise from this conversation, so I won't be continuing it.
