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Amnesty International using Racist Streotypes to try to Score Points

surferdudesurferdude Posts: 2,057
edited May 2007 in A Moving Train
"Land isn't just about land," said Neve. "In Canada and throughout the world, there is a precious, unique and sacrosanct relationship that indigenous people have with the land." This is a quote from an Amnetsy International representative. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=9c1f1b67-2301-4727-a4d7-146fa7c6ae39&k=55775.

Indegenous people depended on the land to survive exactly like we all do. Let's cut out the racist crap that they have some kind of sacrosanct relationship with the land, or I'll start claiming that same sort of relationship as a Christian based on Genesis. Indegenous people have no more a sacrosanct relationship with the land than you or I, they are not noble savages, nor are they environmentalists by birth.

What would possess a group like Amnesty International to make such sweeping, false and racist comments like the above?
“One good thing about music,
when it hits you, you feel to pain.
So brutalize me with music.”
~ Bob Marley
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • TrauTrau Posts: 188
    The same people who created the idea of a noble savage.
    In the shadow of the light from a black sun
    Frigid statue standing icy blue and numb
    Where are the frost giants Ive begged for protection?
    I'm freezing

    Are you afraid, afraid to die
    Don't be afraid, afraid to try
  • surferdudesurferdude Posts: 2,057
    Trau wrote:
    The same people who created the idea of a noble savage.
    Amnesty International created the idea of the noble savage. Cool, I never knew that.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • ToolgardenToolgarden Posts: 88
    " We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family."
    -Chief Seattle


    "And God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and SUBDUE it; you are MASTERS of fish and birds and all the animals."
    -Genesis 1:28


    Now, which one holds nature as sacred?
    "Should I tell you my room is walled up? In what way might I leave it? Here is how; Goodwill knows no obstacle. Nothing can stand before a deep desire. All I have to do is imagine a door." -Schultz

    Trading stories with the leaves instead
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    surferdude wrote:
    "Land isn't just about land," said Neve. "In Canada and throughout the world, there is a precious, unique and sacrosanct relationship that indigenous people have with the land." This is a quote from an Amnetsy International representative. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=9c1f1b67-2301-4727-a4d7-146fa7c6ae39&k=55775.

    Indegenous people depended on the land to survive exactly like we all do. Let's cut out the racist crap that they have some kind of sacrosanct relationship with the land, or I'll start claiming that same sort of relationship as a Christian based on Genesis. Indegenous people have no more a sacrosanct relationship with the land than you or I, they are not noble savages, nor are they environmentalists by birth.

    What would possess a group like Amnesty International to make such sweeping, false and racist comments like the above?

    'Indigenous' doesn't mean race, cap'n numbskull.
    all posts by ©gue_barium are protected under US copyright law and are not to be reproduced, exchanged or sold
    except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Shared cultural norms amongst indigenous global populations differ so drastically from those of the imperial colonizer culture that sociopolitical and economic integration of persons from the former populace to the later has and continues to result in disaster. George Tinker identifies the following 4 fundamental differences that distinguish indigenous cultures from all others:

    Spatiality as a general frame of reference
    The priority of communal sustainability over individualistic action
    Conception of the interrelatedness of all of creation, including humanity’s place within the natural universe
    Attachment to particular lands or territory
    all posts by ©gue_barium are protected under US copyright law and are not to be reproduced, exchanged or sold
    except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    The colonizing Euro-American Western mind is structured around various understandings and attachments to notions of temporality. History itself is designed to perpetuate “structures of cognition and modes of discourse that pay homage to” temporal explanations of civilization progression. All academic discussions of history and development from the West are thus in conflict with indigenous conceptions of civilization. While still possessing a sense of temporal awareness, indigenous populations overwhelmingly understand the world around them through the lens of spatiality, the opposite of Western cultures who perceive things from a temporal perspective almost exclusively, even though possessing a sense of spatial understanding. Time and space are both instrumental determinants of each culture, yet the cognitive placement and analysis of each, changes the normative social base. Indigenous traditions and spiritualities are rooted in a spatial understanding of the universe. Indigenous spirituality is the single most influential aspect of in the formulation of indigenous values and ethics, social and political structures. Therefore indigenous cultural institutions and practices reflect a spatial consciousness that promotes a horizontal, communitarian organization in the interest of maintain balance and harmony in the natural world. The advancement of temporal notions of progress as a result of increased Western imperial efforts over the course of the past 2500 some odd years have served to empower those imposing and pursuing capitalist agendas.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_people
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    except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
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