One Thing Leads to Another

April 16, 2009 by Jay Taber.

While racism and religious fundamentalism enabled slavery and genocide, racism per se is no longer a prerequisite for perpetuating such crimes against humanity in their modern forms. That said, by withholding acknowledgment of this wrongdoing by modern states and markets toward indigenous peoples of all colors, UN member states like the US hope to avoid not only reparations for the past, but also to continue theft of aboriginal nations’ properties.

This is why the Obama Administration is appealing the federal court decision ordering the Department of Interior to pay American Indians funds embezzled by the department from mineral leasing trust accounts. That is why the carbon-market trading plan of the UN makes no reference to indigenous peoples’ inherent interests in lands and resources supporting this World Bank Ponzi scheme.

Discussing racism leads to talking about colonialism, which leads to examining globalization and its impact on indigenous peoples. This is why Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States were the only four countries in the world voting against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007. That is why the UN denied the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum delegate to climate change talks in December 2008 a voice in the discussion. One thing leads to another.

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