Put aside the ignorant production of a non-masked close contact political rally at Mount Rushmore during a pandemic. The rally was held on land ceded to the Sioux Nation via the Fort Laramie Treaty and then taken over by the Federal Government after discovery of gold in the Black Hills.
The Native Americans protested the use of “their mountain” for partisan political rhetoric over and above the carved heads.
No matter.
At the same rally last night, Trump bloviated about the people arrested for trying to pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson on Lafayette Square. Ten years of imprisonment.
The same Andrew Jackson who signed the Indian Relocation Act in which more than 60,000 Native American tribes from the Southeast were forced to wander west of the Mississippi on foot.
Disease accompanied the tribes called the “Trail Of Tears” in which more than 4,000 perished.
Again because gold was discovered in Dahlonega, Ga. And the tribes had to leave so the White Man could profit from the gold.
And Trump talks about our proud history, a history of white supremacy based on greed.
Gerard Freisinger
Warwick