Re: James Fulford’s article Happy Fourth! "Independence Day" And "Immigration"—Two Things That DON'T Go Together

From: Michael Kenny Email him

The problem with your "foreign invaders" argument is that the US was founded by foreign invaders, namely English, later British, colonists, who stole the land of the native inhabitants. It is thus ridiculous to criticize those modern colonists who are merely doing unto you what your ancestors did unto earlier inhabitants.

You showed them how to do it, justified it, even glorified it. Now, they're following your example! Equally, the 13 colonies were not decolonized. It was not the native inhabitants who took back their country from the foreign invaders.

 It was the invaders who declared independence from their own country and the redcoats and Hessians you refer to were simply their own country's army come to stop the rebellious British subjects from breaking the law. The situation was no different from, say, rioters in a black neighborhood doing battle with their own city's police force or their own state's national guard. None of this is, of course, specific to the US. All the countries of the American continent emerged in the same (one could say Kosovo-like!) manner. But as you sow, so shall you reap. Ultimately, WASP America is unsustainable.

See previous letters from Michael Kenny.

James Fulford writes: We’ve often heard this complaint—here’s how I put it in 2001

“I have limited sympathy for the usual Indian complaints. I mean, my ancestors were cannibal savages on the icefields of Northern Europe, but I don't boast about it.  I could complain about being invaded by the Romans, then the Danes, then the Normans. (The Battle of Fulford being our first real taste of immigration skepticism.) But I don't.

The Romans captured some of us and sold us as slaves (Non Angli, Sed Angeli), but am I demanding reparations from Italy? No!

But when my ancestors got to North America, the place was practically deserted, there were buffalo running wild and tearing up the place, and what did we meet with?

Anti-immigrant violence—that's what we met with!”

More recently I wrote that

“There was this mostly empty country, populated by heathen savages, and the English came to settle there, whether the natives liked it or not. (Descendants of the Indians  will claim in court that they owned the land. The formulation I prefer is that they didn't own it—ownership of land being a civilized invention—they were just wandering around on the top of it.)”