let's have a catch-all thread about settler colonialism

... also, technically, I think "the land I'm on" was actually under water during the pre-colonial era? It seems weasel-y to say that I have an "out" in that regard ... but it does go back to the a-historicity of the whole thing.

yeah i mean.. our system of property ownership is a whole other part of colonialism run amok. it's a bit perverted when your institution is a huge engine for extracting capital from property in the first place. but i think the point that it doesn't engage with inequality in the present is the real kicker. history can so easily be used to justify the present, even when it's like "the thing that happened was bad." liberals are really good at it.

they constitute more of a performative self-congratulation

That's what a lot of academia is though. I mean you have to find ways to work these sorts of ideas into everyday life. People are actively trying to ignore this kind of contextualization so it's a never-ending battle to keep it centered if you are really concerned about it. It is more visible in academia specifically because in that space there is a lack of the corporate disincentives that make it untenable in an office or football stadium, etc. And probably a university should be a sandbox to try and figure out ways to make these kinds of contextualizations persistent.

it just reminds me of the one time I had thanksgiving dinner w/my ex-'s Mormon family, and we had to go around the table and say what we are grateful to god for.

... going back to the topic of settler colonialism in general

haha totally

what did you say?

i was thankful for pie.

i was very sincerely thankful / grateful for pie ... the rest of the food was quite bland and disappointing, but the pie was good.

nice answer

Pie-ous