• Lemming421@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    9 months ago

    but then again Trump didn’t try to destroy native Americans

    He was quite happy for millions of Americans (regardless of ethnicity) to die rather than do the minimum amount of work to get Covid recognised as an actual problem, not to mention actively peddling bullshit theories that probably made things even worse.

    I’m not an historian, but from what I know about Jackson, you could make the argument “he was an asshole, but he was of his time”, whereas Trump is an asshole regardless of what decade it is.

    • beardown@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      Jackson was not an asshole of his time, he was drastically worse. Do not whitewash the trail of tears

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        I conditionally disagree. It’s fine to judge the past by today’s standards, that’s how we know we’ve changed and are doing better.

        However you must also judge them framed in their own time. Was the dude impaling his conquered opponents on spikes normal for the time or did neighboring kingdoms go “WTF, dude?!” If normal, he was NTA then, but definitely the asshole by today’s standards.

        Understanding correctly framed history is not whitewashing. Changing, minimizing for gain, or cherry-picking history to meet today’s standards is.

        • beardown@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          9 months ago

          You’re acting like people in the 1830s just didn’t know that ethnic cleansing and genocide of Native Americans was wrong.

          They did know. And some, including SCOTUS, tried to stop Jackson. They failed. And Native Americans paid the price.

          This country was built on human slavery and genocide. Do not minimize or turn away from those evils

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            This country was built on human slavery and genocide. Do not minimize or turn away from those evils

            Can you stop with this shit? Nobody here is denying anything. We are discussing how we frame history from a modern perspective and whether or not the general population (not some minority) in Jackson’s time viewed his actions as unacceptable. If you don’t want to have that discussion, go wear your sandwich boards and earplugs elsewhere.

            • beardown@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              9 months ago

              “We” are actually discussing how this country was built on slavery and genocide. Turning away from that fact because it makes you uncomfy won’t bring back those who were murdered by the United States