January 29, 2007
Wounded Knee was an obvious victory for the 7th cavalry of the United States Army. Years after the slaughter of Indian men, women, and children, American citizens questioned whether December 29, 1890 was a battle between Indians and the United States or whether it was a massacre. Should people change the language that was used hundreds of years ago? First of all, changing the language would change the way history is interpreted. For example, a massacre is a slaughter. At the battle of Wounded Knee, American soldiers slaughtered helpless men, women, and children. A battle would be “a fight usually a large scale engagement, between armed forces” (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 120). From the known facts that have been accumulated one would analyze the “battle” to actually be a massacre of the Indians.
Changing the language also deals with being politically correct. Many people today disagree about whether Indians should be called Indians, Native Americans or called by their tribal name. Being politically correct destroys history. For example, Christopher Columbus named the Indians the “Indioes” because he thought he had landed in India. By changing the name to Native American a person is excluding the fact and detail that Columbus had anticipated finding India. So, in thousands of years people won’t remember that “Indioes” was a name given to the Indians by Christopher Columbus. This name helps people to put the story together. By changing the name people are excluding the fact that for hundreds of years they were called Indians. Furthermore, historians may not have all the facts when deciding to change the name of some great, monumental, event in history.
Today, people want to be politically correct and say “happy holidays” rather than the traditional “Merry Christmas.” Not only is this “political way” offensive to many Christians but it also gets away from the principles of our founding fathers. Being politically correct as I mentioned earlier gets away from history and what founded the United States of America. This country is based on Christianity and yet many people want to exclude “under God” from the Pledge of Alliance and take “In God we trust” off our money. Americans try to satisfy everyone’s opinions by changing seemingly small details. People have added different languages such as Spanish on signs and labels. They also try to change the names of groups of people. The choices and decisions that we make now will affect history, our children and generations to come.
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4 comments:
I am loving that you back up your opinion with stuff you learned in class and research, which is probably more than I do. When you argue on facts, it's hard to disagree without one person being right and the other being wrong. What I can disagree with are the values behind what you say. I hope I can deliberate (and leave my mind open) rather than debate (where my mind is made up).
I don't think changing the language of how history was written changes what happened. If people didn't change how wounded knee was told, you would have gotten a version of the history that called it a noble battle. I don't think it was; I don't think anyone thinks it was. The facts were misrepresented, and had they not been corrected, both you and I would have been misled. What happened happened. It won't change.
As to to the Native American peoples: Christopher Columbus named them incorrectly. That is the fact. Whether it's okay to call them Indians is based on values. I know I wouldn't want to be misrepresented as a nationality I am not because a man made a mistake that no one bothered to correct. Traditional does not always mean correct.
Also, practicing Christianity is your right as an American. Americans also have the right to not practice Christianity, and when someone says "Merry Christmas" to a person who does not believe in the Christian faith, it's offensive. I think our founding fathers would agree that we have the right to practice any system of beliefs that we want. If I don't believe in the religion promoting Christmsa, I don't think it's so hard to say "happy Holidays" instead. Since I know you are of the Christian faith, I feel completely comfortable wishing you a merry Christmas. In a public setting, or to someone I don't know as well, I will say "happy holidays".
As far as removing "under God" from the pledge of allegence, I think it is an excellent thing to do. The founding father didn't put "under God" in the pledge; it was added after World War Two (or some time close to that?) so that the country would feel more united. I think it God should be removed from the money, too. As money gets made and recirculated, it wouldn't hurt to remove Christianity from our government. There should always be a separation between church and state.
About language: I don't think it says anywhere that you have to speak 'American' (English is spoken in England, in my opinion), but I think you're right when you say that it maybe isn't okay to have tons of languages on signs and things. The difference is that there is no amendment that says "You have the right to speak spanish". There is a right that you can choose your religion and that the beliefs of others do not need to be yours, if you so choose. I also think that it's the name of something that misleads people. Changing the name won't change what happened. It's an attempt to further teach something that was, perhaps, taught incorrectly. The update helps people interpret things in a way that will best describe it.
♥, Angela.
P.S. I hope I kept this on a professional level. The last thing I want to do is offend you, and it's clear that I certainly don't want to be offended. I love talking to you and I love hearing your side of things. =/
I really like how you did some research, like with the definition. It clearly shows that The Battle at Wounded Knee was not a battle.
I agree with Angela, under God should be removed from the pledge. Not all Americans are Christians and this is sort of...hm.."unfair" for people who are not Christians.
You're blog was REALLY good, and I agree with a lot of your opinions. Good job my stupendous friend!!
♥ Jess
For one, I really like how your paper is written. It flows well and it get to the point. Another point that I liked was how you spoke about the small things today that we are changing because they are not "politically Correct." For instance, you brought up money (haha had to say it caught my eye). You stated that they are trying to change our money to exclude the phase "In God We Trust." To me personally i believe that it is quiet unintelligent for people to be spending millions of dollar and lots of time just to change somehting so unimportant. I agree that we should be spend our money on making the country better, but we dont live in a perfect world. In short, I think that was a great point and changing the past is hard and excluding something from money that affends other make them happy, then wouldn't do the same with changing the name of the Native People (trying to be P.C.).
Hopefully that makes sense...
Justin
After thinking about what you said, I realized that you can't change history. People do not have to say the Pledge of Allegiance. So you changed my perspective. Congratulations.
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