Kazuma Ikezawa Action Figure

Leaving aside the religion topic for just a moment, when looking at US history consider the topics of how the land was settled and how much labor was through slavery. Europeans can be glad of how that continent is working out at the moment, but the colonial attitudes and empires emerged from there and it is other parts of the world that are reeling from the complex consequences. It is obvious when living in a formerly colonized country what the immediate consequences are from having been in that situation. But it is harder to see in the US. It is helpful to look at analagous places, such as Australia. The US was colonized through subtle, blatant, viscious and duplicitous dealings with native tribes, most particularly as soon as the US Civil War was over and troops were transferred to Indian Wars. As for slavery, consider that the US has roughly 5% of the world’s population, 20% of the world’s prisoners, and that 80% of those are black males. Some 50% of all African Americans are in the criminal justice system — through probation, incarceration, tracking, etc. That is a huge commitment to keeping a people down. Before everyone responds with thoughts on criminality and justice, consider also that most of these prisoners are in jail for minor drug charges, probation violations, child support violations, debt (esp. in regard to child support, therefore a never-ending cycle. Who can pay when in prison?). There are murderers and all, but look up the stats before going into a rant about that.

My thoughts for the day
SJT