I have an obscure area of specialization. I happen to know about–and have, at this point, 30 years of experience in–Native American Studies. Given the title of this writing, you may wonder why that is my first sentence. I’ll tell you why. For over 500 years, there has been an ongoing colonial project stretching the globe. Decolonization, among those of us who know better, is the name of the game these days, and while I’m certain other people have written on this topic, I aim to take it on as a person who is directly descended from some big name colonists: People in the American Revolutionary War. While heroes in a lot of ways, it’s true that the founding of America, but worse, its expansion, relied on genocide, among other horrific things, of Indigenous Peoples.
The particular form of colonialism that has happened in the Western Hemisphere has often taken up Christian Nationalism, for example, in the form of Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine. These, in my opinion, false prophets, have advanced, globally, a narrow worldview, and have often imposed it, by force, on billions of people by now.
The world, were it not for this colonialism, might have been much more rich and diverse; lives that were lost or stolen might have advanced humanity in ways we cannot imagine.
At this moment, Donald J. Trump, unsurprisingly to many of us, is simply carrying on an old, old colonial tradition. He has, at various times, wanted to take Greenland, Venezuela, and even the entire Western Hemisphere. To make this clear to readers who know a lot about a paradigmatic evil figure, Adolf Hitler, Hitler said he needed “living room.” That faux need is what fueled occupation of, say, Poland, and the eyeing of conquering as much of the world as possible. What’s more, Hitler, rounded up millions of people who met the rich diversity of life: Jews, Lesbians, Gay men, Bisexual people, Catholics, people with disabilities, and transgender people.
But look at the above photographs: These are Indigenous people who are transgender; two spirit. These, we hope, happy and healthy people, deviated from the Christian Nationalist norm.
During a period of around 70 years, the United States implemented an experiment in the construction of social reality: “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” Indigenous children–not just in these United States (Canada and Australia did the same)--were rounded up and forcibly indoctrinated. On the gurney to be excised was their language, their ways of dress, their hairstyles, their religion, their forms of care, and, yes, their sexual and gender identities. Heaven forbid, even for colonists, that anyone be openly LGBTQIA prior to Stonewall.
Now we come to see that the Gender Critical project of today fits exactly within the realm of colonialism. Internationally, these projects, once they are known about, are condemned and halted.
Hopefully, if you are not convinced of this, I have at least given you a starting point to do honest research on the matter.
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