Americans are Hitler

Americans looked at WWII-Era Germany in disgust and terror as Hitler unleashed unimaginable injustice towards the Jews. Enraged Americans enlisted, rationed, and sacrificed to bring down the dictator of Germany. After the sacrifice of many young men, Americans celebrated as a nation on V-E Day. The greatest injustice done to a race has perished.

Sorry to say, us Americans celebrating the fall of Hitler is the greatest ironical injustice of all. The forgotten side of our history parallels the deeds of Hitler. Compare the deeds of Hitler to of Americans:

                Adolf Hitler thought the Jews were an inferior race that ruined society. He drove Jews out of their homes and stores into concentration camps. At these inhumane camps, Jews were massacred, beaten, and forced into labor.

                The first colonists of America saw Native Americans as savages that couldn’t possibly be assimilated into society. The newcomers soon kicked the Natives out of their land. The disease that the colonists brought killed the majority of the Native population. With the remaining Natives that survived the disease, the new “Americans” enslaved the people in the encomienda system. When the Natives supported the French in the French and Indian War, the victorious British punished and killed many Indians. Under Andrew Jackson, the few tribes that remained in the East were forced out of their homes into the desert of present-day Oklahoma. The Indian Removal Act was so inhumane, it left many dead such as the Cherokee’s Trail of Tears. Then, the United States government proceeded to massacre Natives in various conflicts and corner them into tiny reservations.

The fact that the injustice done to Natives by the United States is often forgotten and only told from the sunny side of history makes it comparable to Hitler. Even today, the life on the reservations continues to negatively affect Native Americans. In the chapter “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock,” Sherman Alexie’s teen Indian character describes, “my father needed me just as much as he needed every other kind of drink.” (27) Alexie brings attention to the alcoholic problems on reservations through humor. Not only do Natives face alcoholism, they face high teen suicide rates, sexual assaults, poverty, and domestic violence.

The United States government continues to ignore the need to address the alarming problems on the reservations. Landmark SCOTUS decisions leave the tribes powerless to fight crimes meanwhile the federal jurisdiction prosecute only 65% of rape cases on the reservations (2011). The biggest concern is the Native American youth that have to deal with the constant beatings, rape, hunger, and poverty. These are American kids with American citizenships on American soil that choose to take their lives rather than face the appalling reality of the reservations. In these ways, it isn’t a stretch at all to call Americans “Hitler.” 

~Room for Growth~

Why do people shy away from addressing the wrong doings or mistakes of their country?

Video: Truth about Christopher Columbus

Sources: The Washington Post, The Atlantic, “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock”  by Sherman Alexie, YouTube