By Leo Brown
In President Obama's Thanksgiving Address, which seems to have become one with this week's Weekly Address, he does not mention American Indian peoples past or present.
Why would this supposedly enlightened president ignore the shame of our favorite holiday? It would be a bit different if he were to speak exclusively and generally about blessings, family, and the like. If he were to describe his favorite stuffing recipe, I wouldn't jump down his throat for silencing the oppressed other.
President Obama wanted to avoid mentioning the genocide of our nation's first inhabitants, and he could have done so tastefully by declining to discuss history altogether. Instead, he delves right in to the same old narrative, extolling the character and fortitude of "the pilgrims, pioneers, and patriots who helped make this country what it is."
He does not mention the effort by early settlers to enslave Indians. (Only after this utterly failed did the Europeans begin to import captive Africans.) He thanks the military for protecting us today, but he does not mourn President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced relocation of tens of thousands of Indians from the southeastern states to Oklahoma. Nor does he question the slaughter of the American bison herds, sanctioned by the US Army as part of an effort to starve the remaining Indians onto reservations. He celebrates our "chance to determine our own destiny," but his message further silences the Indian languages and traditions that were extinguished by government-run boarding schools.
We live in a great country, and we have a lot to be thankful for. But this Thanksgiving, President Obama frittered away an opportunity to uphold one of our most powerful values: a willingness to look squarely and honestly upon our legacy. The President has exhibited this sort of courage before, both in his oration and prose, and it is always disappointing when he doesn't live up to his own standards.
Will you vote for Obama?
ReplyDeleteI think so, Katya, unless the political scene drastically changes. I could list many reasons why I think he is a good, smart, and talented man. But perhaps above all, he will do better for our country than any of the Republican candidates, who, whatever they believe, are beholden to the party mantle of small government and social conservatism, with which I disagree.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, though this post is about disappointment, I wouldn't even be disappointed, nor would I bother to write, if most other politicians delivered such a speech. Lies and disingenuity are par for the course in American politics. But because President Obama is not only our President, but a man whose character and intelligence I trust and respect, I don't expect him to behave like most other politicians.
I can't believe Obama forgot to mention God in his Thanksgiving address! Scandal!
ReplyDeleteMore seriously, I agree with your points here. Good post.