“We sit on stolen land” said the
speaker at the University of Minnesota graduation ceremony, asking everyone in
the auditorium to acknowledge that “fact.”
“Racism is endemic, systemic in
this country,” said another presenter. “We must make certain we are striving
for equitable outcomes in the future.”
“It is not enough for us in the
nursing program to heal the human sick and wounded. We must also strive
to heal the planet” said a third, referring to climate change.
“Diversity is our strength” said
yet another.
All the proud parents, friends, and
family members were anxiously waiting to witness their loved ones graduate, but
first they were asked to acknowledge that they were occupying stolen land.
Those in control of the event, occupying the bully-pulpit as it were, thought
it mandatory to attempt to coerce those of us in attendance into believing—or
at least acknowledging—a preposterous piece of ideological drivel. It would not
have felt out of place at that moment had we been asked to stand and swear our
fealty to this notion—and, by extension, to them-- by way of a Nazi-style
salute.
And then we were subjected to
roughly an hour of various speakers, several from North African or Middle
Eastern nations, berating America, and everything it once stood for. (As they
stood there, living testaments to the benefits and opportunities that nation, in
which they themselves are not native/indigenous, provided them! Talk about
“chutzpah!”)
A speaker lectured us on the
“genocide” in Gaza. A voice or two chimed in with “Free Palestine!”
We were similarly treated to a
tutorial on “women’s reproductive care.” We were told that the nation—and the
state—was a sh*t-show for children’s health. The speaker asked, “How are our
kids doing?” To which the proper reply would have been, “You mean the ones we
haven’t aborted?”
“Diversity” was mentioned
incessantly. There were keffiyehs in sight, but nary a yarmulke—or Jewish
student, unless they were entirely nondescript and silent. The future,
apparently, is Muslim. Even in Minnesota. Maybe especially in Minnesota.
Imagine if a student speaker had
used the occasion to bash Islamic terror, Biden supporters, or abortion. I’m
guessing that would have been deemed horribly inappropriate, and that student
in line for disciplinary action.
One speaker said of her success,
“I’d like to thank myself.”
Diversity. Racism. Climate change.
Diversity. Racism. Climate change. Rinse. Repeat.
At a commencement ceremony! With
the audience essentially held hostage.
I have addressed racism, Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion, climate change, and Jew hatred on this site—and others--
on multiple occasions in the past. Let me now say something about “stolen
land.” I happen to be very fond of Native Americans in general, and several in
specific, but the idea of stolen land is ridiculous. If we “stole” the land
from, say, the Sioux, there is every likelihood that they stole it from, say,
the Ojibwe…who may have stolen it from someone else. Who may have stolen it
from those who first crossed the land bridge from Russia to North America. Who
would have stolen the land from wolves, caribou, and bison, among others. Who
stole the land from more primitive animals…who stole the land from
multicellular creatures…who stole the land from single-cell organisms.
By this line of “reasoning,”
mankind could never have made it out of the “Cradle of Civilization.” The first
primitive man or clan to step outside the “Fertile Crescent” would have
subsequently accused anyone else who followed—or even attempted to pass through—of
“stealing” their land. If they wished to hang around in that area, they would
have been branded “colonizers.”
The rest of the planet would have
been devoid of humans. There would be no one living in North or South America,
Europe, or Australia. And I thought indigenous peoples didn’t believe in
ownership of land, anyway.
I walked out on the speakers on
three separate occasions. (No one else did, at least so far as I could tell.)
At a graduation ceremony, that is supposed to be a celebration. But I could not
walk out on my daughter. I made sure I was there to see her receive her
graduate certificate. I walked out on the speakers because I could not betray
the memory of my father and all that he stood for, nor could I walk out on my
country, or all those who sacrificed so much for it.
The engraving on the granite façade
of the building in which my daughter graduated read in part, “DEVOTED TO THE
INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH AND THE WELFARE OF THE STATE.”
Tragically, the school today is far
more devoted to the indoctrination of youth and the advancement of the welfare
state.
