America's 250th anniversary celebrates conquest, not freedom

Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin from the School of Arts and Centre for Policy Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, argues that while America celebrates 250 years of independence this year, its history is one not of liberation and freedom, but conquest and dispossession.

This year, America celebrates 250 years of so-called independence from British colonial rule following the 1776 War of Independence.

It gives the impression that white Americans were already here when the British arrived and colonised them.

That is not true.

The so-called Americans were European immigrants who came to a land already inhabited by indigenous natives who had lived there for thousands of years. Both the British colonials and the white settlers were immigrants, not the indigenous people of the land.

The Declaration of Independence stated that all men are created equal and have the right to pursue happiness. But the indigenous people were not included in that category and were referred to as “merciless Indian savages”. Thus, they were neither regarded as equal nor given the right to pursue happiness.

Only the whites were considered free and equal, not the indigenous owners of the land. This is the independence upon which the United States was built – on stolen land.

Some would argue that independence meant liberating the land from the so-called savages and bringing civilisation to them. In reality, the indigenous tribal people already had their own systems of government, agriculture and sustainable ways of living in harmony with nature and the environment.

What America is celebrating today is not liberation and freedom but 250 years of atrocities, massacres and genocide perpetrated against the indigenous people through almost 200 wars and skirmishes, broken treaties, and the spread of diseases to which the indigenous natives had no immunity, wiping out almost 90 per cent of the native population.

The 250th anniversary also celebrates the confiscation of indigenous land through outright seizure, treaties that promised the sovereignty of their land but were never honoured, and the elimination of indigenous people through genocide and massacres.

For example, in 1887, the Dawes Act took 90 million acres of indigenous land and returned only a small plot to each family, while the remainder was handed to white settlers. The native plots were controlled by the government, and indigenous people needed permission to use them. That system remains in place today.

It also celebrates atrocities and massacres committed by white settlers against indigenous people, including the Trail of Tears, the Bear River Massacre, the Massacre of Needle Rock, and the forced sterilisation of indigenous women to end their bloodline.

In 1852, the Treaty of Santa Fe, signed by the United States government, promised to protect Apache land, including the sacred site at Oak Flat, known to the Apache as Chichel Bildagoteel, a ritual ceremonial place. For more than 175 years, the government claimed to honour that commitment.

But in 2014, a foreign mining company, Rio Tinto, lobbied Congress to mine copper and transfer Oak Flat to the company using mining methods that would destroy the land.

These are just two examples of the numerous land grabs and confiscations of indigenous ancestral land. The indigenous people eventually ended up in reservations, while the white settler government seized virtually all of their ancestral land.

This is the so-called Independence Celebration; celebrating the demise of the First Nation and the appropriation of its land, denying its people their rights as the land’s rightful owners and consigning them to the dustbin of history.

It is also a celebration of the legacy of slavery that dehumanised Black people, treating them as chattels and worse than animals in the service of domestic and economic interests.

The atrocities and suffering inflicted on slaves are legion in the annals of Black history, scarring the memories of slaves and future generations. So much so that discrimination against Black people exists even today.

The 250th anniversary also celebrates the bombing of sovereign countries, the assassination of their leaders and the indiscriminate killing of civilian populations. It did so by fabricating lies to justify military interventions in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Iran and elsewhere.

America is celebrated as a warmongering nation, having initiated the Indian Wars, the Mexican-American War and the Spanish-American War in the 19th century. In the 20th century, it conducted military invasions of Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan based on highly controversial justifications.

It also celebrates the horrendous and inhumane bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki using atomic bombs – the only nation to have used such weapons – killing hundreds of thousands instantly and maiming thousands more for life.

In the 21st century, it has been complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and the bombings of Gaza and Lebanon, and directly involved in bombing Iran at the behest of Israel.

It is a reminder of America’s disregard for human values, human lives, the sovereignty of nations, international law and the world order.

It is a celebration of the strong over the weak, injustice over justice, the rich over the poor, and America’s posture as the world’s undisputed superpower dictating the pace and rhythm of geopolitical engagement.

Above all, it celebrates America as an imperial power demanding compliance and obeisance from other nations in pursuit of its agenda of global domination.

But American imperial stature and hegemonic ambitions are no longer a fait accompli. They are being challenged by China and Russia, and more recently by Iran, a middle power with the military capability to respond to American threats and attacks.

We are witnessing the celebration of the demise of an empire that once held sway over global geopolitical affairs and sought to shape the world in its own image.

This decline has been hastened by Donald Trump’s destructive policies, which have caused disillusionment among a significant segment of the American people.

Many are reluctant to join the 250th anniversary celebrations because government policies have fractured the nation along ethnic and partisan lines, perpetuating class animosity, inequality and confusion over the country’s direction.

Moreover, the country has become subservient to the Zionist Israeli entity at the expense of the well-being of the American people.

The American 250th anniversary is not a celebration of the human spirit that shines a benign light of goodness and kindness on humanity irrespective of colour or creed. Rather, it is a celebration of hypocrisy, lies, subterfuge, fascism and oppression.

It celebrates crimes against humanity, beginning with the massacre and genocide of the indigenous people, the atrocities and inhumane treatment inflicted on slaves, the wars, invasions, assassinations, the plundering of sovereign nations’ resources, and the ongoing killings in Gaza and the West Bank.

America is no longer the beautiful and the home of the brave, but a quagmire of inconsistencies that reflect the decay of the human spirit and mind, leading ultimately to its own demise.

The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not represent those of Twentytwo13.