Is the Goal Genecide?
Then the
righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?
And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked
and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in
prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I
tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are
members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:37-40,
NRSV).
The
above quote from the Gospel According to Matthew, should be a guiding
ideal for those who profess to be Christian. However, current events
and policies lead me to believe that many political leaders who claim
to be followers of Jesus are actually followers of Jeffery Amherst,
an 18th century proponent of using germ warfare against
the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Amherst infamously wrote,
“You will Do well to try to Innoculate [sic] the Indians by means
of Blankets, as well as to try Every other method that can serve to
Extirpate this Execrable Race”.1
The difference of modern day subscribers to the Amherst doctrine, is
they have expanded the groups who are deemed “execrable.”
These
days there seems to be a concerted attempt to jeopardize the lives of
People of Colour, especially black lives. This effort isn't only
demonstrated by the reluctance of the U.S. Senate to pass legislation
that will reduce murders by police. Scientists and Medical experts
have made it clear that covid-19 affects Black and Brown people at a
higher rate than whites. They also know that most of the workforce
that cannot work from home are People of Colour, yet Trumps is
pressuring governors to reopen more businesses, despite the rise in
the number of cases and deaths in 21 states.
It
couldn't be achieved in the past by lynching and the war on poverty,
that is, the draft. It isn't being achieved fast enough by mass
incarceration, voter suppression, and police murder. So now, it
seems, they are trying through policies that allow covid-19 to run
rampant.
The
lack of federal leadership and action during this pandemic has given
the green light for states and municipalities, by political action or
inaction, to traverse a road that will cost hundreds of African
American lives.
On
June 16, 2020, over the pleas of the city's medical experts, the City
Council of Montgomery, Alabama, refused to enact a law that would
make wearing masks mandatory. The council voted along racial lines
(4 African American, 5 white). As is predictable, the white
councillors prevailed, even though or perhaps especially, because the
experts informed the councillors that currently 90 percent of the
people in intensive care are African American and warned of the
potential for the virus to spread if the law was not passed. So, I
as, is the goal genocide?
If
you are reading this and you support social, racial, environmental
and economic justice, find out what organizations in your area are
working for these issues and support them. Give them your time, your
expertize and/or your financial support.
If
you live in the greater Vancouver (BC) area, you may be interested in
the Our Lady of
Guadalupe Tonantzin Community which is the spiritual community
that grew out of the Vancouver
Catholic Worker. They work in tandem to provide anti-racist and
educational correctives to the ahistorical foundation myths of the
North American settler states and explorations of scripture informed
by the experiences of colonized and racialized peoples.
1
Jeffery Amherst and Smallpox Blankets: Lord Jeffery Amherst's
letters discussing germ warfare against American Indians.
http://people.umass.edu/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.html
Comments