Happy Independence Day! but I have a question?

Question

I love America...so I am not trying to be unatriatic, especially today, but does anyone else think of the native American's today, how our founding people, well what we did in the past to them?

I am not a native american, i'm a white person

I apologize, I should have wrote American Indian.......Thanks to everyone who answered my question. I'm sorry If it was a dumb question, I do suppose that today is a day to celebrate independence and that is a very wonderful thing.

Answer 1

I think that issue is raised more around Thanksgiving and Columbus day. Independence Day is to earmark the birth of a new nation as our forefathers fought and won freedom from oppression (religious, economic e.g., taxation without representation, and cultural). I think the native Americans don't enter into the equation on this day but that is not to say they do not deserve a more dignified place in our history and in our future as a country.

Answer 2

All culture and nations have some dark times in their past. Why dwell on them? We didn't do those things. And to clarify, it was not just the founding fathers who harmed Native Americans. All of the colonial powers did - The French, English, Spanish and Dutch.

I have noticed that Americans do suffer from an overabundance of what is called "White Man's Burden." It is guilt over being white and feeling displaced guilt for historical crimes. Again, there is a history of atrocity in all races.

Where does this guilt end? I'm of English descent, so should I feel guilty for what England did in Africa and India? I'm also Native American. Should I feel bad because some settlers were killed? My husband is German. Is he responsible for the Holocaust?

The 4th is a time of celebration. There are days and places that commemorate and remember the darker side as well.

Answer 3

You have a compassionate heart. It is sad was happened years ago to the Native Americans.

Yet, if you study the history of the world, that is how the human race has lived and survived--by invading and conquering neighboring lands. I don't understand why people can't be happy and content with what they have and learn to get along with others instead of going to war. But it is a matter of survival, I suppose. Populations increase and need for food and goods increase. For example, the Irish went through a devastating period where most of the died due to famine. They came to the US in huge numbers to find a better life.

Many countries have taken over others. The US even took over the islands of Hawaii in a bad way.

Even the Native American Indian tribes went to war against each other.

But for today, let us be thankful that at least the US was established to be a free country where citizens have rights and freedoms. Those, including the Native Americans today, can live as they choose. The US government is trying to make amends to them by giving them federal grants and money to own native lands, etc.

For today, let us celebrate this great country!Let freedom ring!

Happy 4th of July!

Answer 4

One has nothing to do with the other. Why should I now worry about wether or not someone got their feelings hurt in the founding of this country. I don't worry if the British have lost self-esteem over the loss of the colonies. The People who Migrated to the North and South American Contintents before us( Native Americans to you PC types, Haven't all been treated badly and their great great grand children are still being taken care of by the federal Government. When my child was a baby, I didn't see the Government come by my house with a spare Tit. Don't get me wrong, the first 150 years that the US was working its way across this Continent they treated the Locals Badly. But again it wasn't me and I didn't do anything to them.
So No not untill you asked me did I think about N.A. at all today.

Answer 5

We should always try as indiviuals and as people to be considerate of others.

But don't beat yourself up over the treatment of the native american. Remember:

1. you didn't have anything to do with it, you weren't there
2. it was not one-sided, it was a cultural clash, you should read some of the many stories written by european colonists who were enslaved after their parents were killed by natives
3. the native americans at the time of the european colonies in America were not the first people here either, the various indiginous tribes had warred for many years, pushing each other here and ther across the land, and before them were diffenent people

I am not excusing mistreamtment. I do not believe that the colonials employed an enlightened or appropriate treatment of the native population. The U.S. government was likewise in many ways blameworthy. But mostly these were people doing their best based on how they understood the world.

Answer 6

wow, finally someone who wonders as I do!! I'm going to keep a watch on this q for the answers of others. I certainly do!! In this world of "racism" and unfortunately it still is around we work harder at fixing things. But, the Native American's really have nothing of their own. You do not hear where people, groups, government are trying to better them or help them with education and a better way of living. It's so sad!! We took everything from them and then the fight was over. People gave up and did nothing to get rights etc for them really. As today people continue to fight and better things for other races. I could type so much more, but, I think you can clearly see where I'm going, what I'm feeling & thinking.

Thanks for asking this question!!

Answer 7

I do but there's little we can do about it at this point. I was born here so I can't "go back." The Native Americans came over from some other place, too.

All we can do is to continue trying to live in a homogeneous society and enforce the present laws that make it illegal to shoot Indians.

The alternative would be for us to engage in a fruitless 2,000 year-long "dialog" much like the Israelis and Palestinians are doing.

Answer 8

Gee, I was born in America, so I'm a native American. I know you are talking about American Indians. What makes you think they were here first? There is evidence that there were other people in North America before the Indians.

Besides, being somewhere first guarantees you nothing.

Answer 9

I agree, most people only think of the 4th as a day off from work, a chance to gather with families, an excuse to party, etc. The real reason for today's holiday is the independence we fought for in this new country.

Answer 10

I do. I have Native American friends (and family) and I've wished them all a happy Independence Day as well. Mostly beause Americans are pretty good at looking ahead as well as back...and even though there are things in the past we really do need to address, there are things in the future we can hope for, so when I wish anyone a Happy Independence Day, it's not all about Founding Fathers and Declarations and stuff like that. Oh, that's a part of it, but its also about BEING independent NOW, of taking the time to think for yourself and forge your own path in life regardless of what people, governments, churches, or that guy next door might think. Independence Day, like any other holiday--especially in America--is about looking back at what's been achieved, and at what needs to be fixed (honestly) AND looking ahead to what we aspire too...and ultimately, what we aspire to, as Americans (though we're not the only ones) is Independence from dogma, independence from fear, independence from hatred, independence from meddlesome people who think that the reason they have noses is to stick them in other people's business.

This holiday is about independece from anybody who's depraved enough to burn our flags, revise our constitution for BAD reasons, to spit on our Bible or our Qu'ran, or our Pentacles, or our Athiesm...it's about independence from anybody who's gonna tell us how to love, who to love, what to do with our stem cells, or NOT to do with our stem cells...its about independence from something like Katrina ever happening again, at least in that way, and it's about all of the other things that I haven't mentioned. So yeah...I think about Native Americans a lot, but I don't dwell on it, especially since I claim Native American heritage (to a small degree) and I'm independent enough to know that hey...for all the bad that happened in the past to my cousins, both Native American and Black, there's a whole lot of good that can happen in the future, because the people that did those bad things also did some pretty amazingly GOOD things too. And Independence Day, at least for me, is a reminder that as an independent person, I can decide what parts of the past to hold on to, and what parts of the past to get over. It all happened and it's all important, but the bad stuff is over and the best way to address it is to NOT repeat it. EVER.

Happy Independence Day to every singe HUMAN on the planet...including the ones I don't like.