Facing up to genocide
Re “OK of Armenian genocide bill predicted,” Oct. 3
Isn’t it amazing that our government has so much difficulty with the politics of genocide that lawmakers remain frozen when it comes time to stand up and be counted.
I am referring to all genocides, not just the Armenian genocide or the ongoing Darfur debacle. Perhaps the genocide that speaks most eloquently to our lost sense of historical honesty is the murderous genocide committed by ordinary Americans and our government against certain tribes of Native Americans in our rush to expand the western borders of our country.
Perhaps it’s time to stop looking for dirt in the backyards of other nations and begin by cleaning up the facts of our own history.
Along the way, we might also acknowledge the many genocidal aspects of slavery. Only then would we have the right to judge Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide. The victims already know what really happened.
Jon D. Elder
Monterey Park
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