(SPAN draws the following
analogy...)
| The Auschwitz Money-Grubbing Jews vs. The UND Fighting Sioux |
What's the difference between the people represented by this fictional "team" and those represented by the real one??
Perhaps a better question would be, "What are the similarities?"
| The Auschwitz Money-Grubbing Jews | The UND Fighting Sioux | |
|---|---|---|
| People | A proud people with close spiritual and cultural ties, and an affinity to their homeland | A proud people with close spiritual and cultural ties, and an affinity to their homeland |
| Target of | A planned genocidal policy | A planned genocidal policy |
| History | Were murdered and decimated during their entire history in Western Civilization | Were murdered and decimated ever since their contact with Western Civilization |
| Adjective | The stereotype of "greedy" often applied derogatorily towards them | The stereotype of "warlike" and "belligerent" often applied derogatorily towards them |
| Population ratio | The minority in a land of a hostile majority | The minority in a land of a hostile majority |
| Conformity | The majority of German people went along with it | The majority of UND students go along with it |
| Oppression | The group that historically been oppressed in that region | The group that historically been oppressed in that region |
| Residence | Had been forcibly relocated on numerous occasions | Has been forcibly relocated on numerous occasions |
| Location | After forced ghettoization they were forced into concentration/death camps | After treaty after treaty was broken, they were forced on to federally-designed reservations |
| Depiction | Starving, broken | Cartoonish |
| Future Legacy of their Struggle | Holocaust memorials, Shindler's List, textbook dedications | The mascot at college sporting events |
| "Human Being" Status | True | True |
| "Object" Status | False | False |
Taken from "The Manufacture of Consent" from The Chomsky Reader, by Noam Chomsky, 1984, pp 121-122.
During the Thanksgiving holiday a few weeks ago, I took
a walk with some friends and family in a national park. We came
across a gravestone, which had on it the following inscription:
"Here lies an Indian woman, a Wampanoag, whose family and
tribe gave of themselves and their land that this great nation
might be born and grow."
Of course, it is not quite accurate to say that the
indigenous population gave of themselves and their land for the
noble purpose. Rather, they were slaughtered, decimated, and
dispersed in the course of one of the greatest exercises in
genocide in human history. Current estimates suggest that there
may have been about 80 million Native Americans in Latin America
when Colubmus "discovered" the continent--as we
say--and about 12 to 15 million more north of the Rio Grande. By
1650, about 95 percent of the population of Latin America had
been wiped out, and by the time the continental borders of the
United States had been established, some 200,000 were left of the
indigenous population. In short, mass genocide, on a colossal
scale, which we celebrate each October when we honor Columbus--a
notable mass murderer himself--on Columbus Day.
Hundreds of American citizens, well-meaning and decent
people, troop by that gravestone and read it, apparently without
any reaction; except, perhaps, a feeling of satisfaction that at
last we are giving some due recognition to the sacrifices of the
native poples, presumably the reason why it was placed there.
They might react differently if they were to visit Auschwitz or
Dachau and find a gravestone reading: "Here lies a woman, a
Jew, whose family and people gave of themselves and their
possessions that this great nation might grow and prosper."