Today the notion of "our" land, the house we "own" or apartment we rent was initially land inhabited and lived on by the indigenous peoples. Today this is not recognized just completely forgotten. Yet the truth is it was stolen from them.
So in reality the US government is illegitimate. Yet it was more powerful than the indigenous peoples who inhabited the lands. They were savages so the lands were open to our government's usurpation. The indigenous people were an inconvenient nuisance and displaced as necessary.
We say we have "rights" granted to us by the United States Constitution. But if the lands of these United States was taken-stolen-from peoples who inhabited those lands whatever happened afterward was an illegitimate usurpation making the US government an illegitimate enterprise.
Of course we the people mostly don't see it that way. The US government is the most powerful in the world, dictating, issuing sanctions and provocations against any country that refuses to fall under its hegemony and uses the dollar as the world's reserve currency to get away with its larceny.
So we salute the flag, stand for the "Star Spangled Banner. Kids are required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school, we work to support our families and try to survive not giving even a nod to the real history of where we reside.
Oh yeah we recognize "Redskins" is now unacceptable for Washington's pro football team and St John's University is no longer the Redmen but Redstorm. There's talk of reparations to ancestors of slaves yet this would only exacerbate the racism toward African Americans.
Our government has never even apologized to the indigenous peoples whose lands they stole or even apologized for the legal slavery that existed until the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
So yes the real history of the US is rather sordid. One can't change that history but one can face the truth of it. Then maybe one can make amends of sorts and do what he(she) can do to change it for the better.
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