Celebrating ‘America’s 400th Birthday’ ignores the genocide of the continent’s native people,
“America’s 400th Birthday”, the year-long staging of the mythologies of colonialism being played out on Virginia’s cultural and physical landscapes, culminates this month with the commemoration of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Jamestown 2007 is being celebrated as the initial step in Euro-Americans’ march to pre-eminence and the foundation of “representative government, the rule of law, free enterprise and cultural diversity”. The Magna Carta is on display and the “Erection of the Cross”, whereby the continent was claimed for England, has been re-enacted. Its official sponsors are the Verizon Corporation and the Anheuser-Busch beer company, and the Queen and the President will preside at the closing ceremonies. What’s not to like? Read the rest of this entry »
