In class I watched a film titled "trail of tears” I
learned a lot of things about native Americans that I previously didn't know. I
never knew Native Americans emulated the old American lifestyle; they kept
slaves, lived in houses and adopted their religion. Anglo-Americans also forced
their lifestyle on them because they felt Native Americans were not civilized,
making the gender roles change among them, the males now are the ones farming
and hunting and females being responsible for household duties such as
tending to the young. For the most part they kept a peaceful relationship
until Anglo- American’s greed tempted them to take over the land
they were originally settled in first and force them to march on foot to lands
far away. They were safeguarded by George Washington, who considered Native
Americans owners of their land and wanted peace between them because he
believed it was a violation of the laws of nature if their land was taken from
them. It was when Andrew Jackson took office the white man showed their true
colors and asked the Native Americans to move westwards away from the white
people. Motivated by greed they began to slaughter the Native Americans and
forced them out if their lands. This type of greed, which is classified as
ethnic cleansing, happened in the past before the American Revolution (such as
the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland) and still continues today
(Darfur, Sudan). I have heard stories of homes being purchased at the expense
of tenants who rented and not owned homes/apartments in the area where the
Barclay's center now stands forcing them out to bring in a lucrative business.
This is also an issue at willets point where the new Citi field is. Family
owned business that have been there for years are at risk of being closed down
because big corporations who fund events at flushing meadows / corona such as
the US Open want to create hotels and other businesses. It is not ethnic
cleansing but maybe the cleansing of poorer people. This may go on overseas
after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan among the
others have ended and will continue to go on in the future because mankind will
always commit the 7 cardinal sins especially pride, rage and greed.
