Custer's Last Stand?

Custer's Last Stand?

words and photos by C.A. Matthews

The hometown of General George Armstrong Custer is located nearby to where I currently live. Monroe, Michigan, is a small city in Southeastern Michigan just across the Ohio/Michigan line. Custer wasn't born in Michigan, but he grew up in Monroe and met and married his wife, Elizabeth Bacon, there. "Libbie" and her father, a judge, were bigwigs in the community, so Monroe is where she wanted her late husband's statue erected in 1910. That's 34 years after Custer met his fate at the Battle of the Greasy Grass, also known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn. 

The delay from the date of Custer's death to the time of the statue's construction is telling in itself. The fact that the statue was moved not once, but twice within the city says something, too. It was moved in 1923 because of growing auto traffic near the courthouse. The second time the statue was moved was in 1955, during the Civil Rights era. The statue was moved this time because it had almost disappeared behind a wall of unkempt vegetation growing in the Soldiers and Sailors Park, and some townsfolk argued that the statue needed to be seen.  Today it stands at a very busy intersection next to the River Raisin.

The historical plaque beside the sculpture reflects upon Custer's Civil War experience and not his "Indian War" days in the US Calvary. He's wearing his Civil War era uniform, and the horse has all four feet on the ground, as Custer did not die in battle during that war. The fact that the historical plaque doesn't mention his death at the hands of Native Americans hints that perhaps not everyone approved of his later military service in the West or wanted to advertise it. 

Still, it hasn't stopped the controversy and repeated requests to retire the statue, according to locals I spoke with at a recent "Evict Custer" protest organized by Black Lives Matter activists and others.  A Native-led drum and dance group came to share their art. Signs and banners received honks of approval from passers-by. In spite of men like Custer, Native American culture still exists and flourishes on this continent and is appreciated by many.

Monroe residents shared with me how they were indoctrinated from grade school through high school about how great a man General Custer was. There was no way to refute this propaganda, either, according to a Native American woman who told me how she ended up more than a few times in the principal's office for speaking out about Custer's whole history. The public school system of Monroe seems intent of keeping the truth from their pupils and punishing those who know it.

So, why does Custer still stand at the corner of a very busy intersection in the city of Monroe? Is it any coincidence that many area white supremacists seem to be concentrated in this rural part of Southeastern Michigan? Is it any consequence that there's a statue of a soldier who was proud of his record of killing Native Americans located within the borders of Michigan, historic home of the Miami, the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Kickapoo? A state that currently has eleven (yes, eleven) federally recognized tribal groups/reservations. (http://www.native-languages.org/michigan.htm) 

I say there's no such thing as coincidence. Every decision (or non-decision) is a deliberate one. Face it--white supremacy exists in small town America. Racists tend to act like a bunch of children sticking out their tongues at Native Americans in general by preserving a statue of a known Indian killer. But there is nothing to be gained except contempt from people of color (and their allies) by keeping Custer's statue standing in Monroe, Michigan, in the year 2020.

Americans on the whole have moved on. Most feel only shame and regret at the horrible treatment our indigenous brothers and sisters have suffered--and still suffer--because of white supremacy. George Armstrong Custer, the poster child of an era full of genocidal actions taken against Native Americans, is no longer thought of as a hero or even a person of interest.

A statue of Christopher Columbus was recently removed from downtown Columbus, Ohio. There have been serious discussions about renaming the city to honor a Native American. Several other cities worldwide have also removed their Columbus statues. Confederate statues of generals and others are coming down faster than rain in some places in the South. Removing Custer from his ten foot tall stone plinth wouldn't stand out particularly in this current atmosphere of ridding our land of unwanted conquerors and unmerciful enslavers. The time to do it is now.

Let this be Custer's last stand. Retire his statue to a museum or assign it to the scrap heap. History should never be bowdlerized or forgotten, but there's no need to glorify genocide or a man who carried it out against a people simply because they spoke a different language and had darker skin than those in power.

Related articles:

What if All US Treaties Were Upheld? 
https://theintercept.com/2020/07/17/mcgirt-v-oklahoma-indian-native-treaties/ 

Christopher Columbus Statue Removed Outside Columbus City Hall
https://nypost.com/2020/07/01/christopher-columbus-statue-removed-outside-columbus-city-hall/ 

Did You Protest Recently? Your Face Might Be in a Database
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/64067-did-you-protest-recently-your-face-might-be-in-a-database

List of monuments and memorials removed during George Floyd protests
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monuments_and_memorials_removed_during_the_George_Floyd_protests

Strike For Black Lives! 

Solidarity--that's the best way to describe the coming together of many groups and individuals to make a difference, to keep the conversation going on a difficult topic. July 20 was a national day of strikes and protests emphasizing the rights of workers to a living wage, decent protection against the coronavirus, and the right to be treated equally. Toledo area health care workers took it to the street and made their voices heard, shouting: "Black Lives they matter here! What do want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" And the fight will continue.

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Remove the Robert E. Lee monument in Roanoke City and replace it with a lynching memorial

Sign now with a click

It is past time for us to remove a monument that memorializes the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. Roanoke City should show its citizens of color that this is not a history that we want to commemorate. As collective awareness grows that these sort of monuments were constructed to send an anti-civil rights message to the community, it has become clear that we need to send a new message today. We propose that this monument be replaced with a memorial to the Black victims of lynching in Roanoke in the late 1800s. "William Lavender and Thomas Smith were two black men who were lynched on separate occasions by white mobs in Roanoke. Both men were accused of assaults on white women that were never proved. Neither man stood trial. They were simply captured, beaten, hanged and murdered." - The Roanoke Times. This piece of our history has been unrecognized and we must reckon with it. This is one simple step we can all take towards building a community in which every citizen can begin to feel equally valued, regardless of their skin color.

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The pandemic is making it clear that water access is critical for public health. But utilities continue to shut off water service for many, despite the threat to public health. We all deserve access to water to keep ourselves and our communities safe.

That’s why in May the House — as part of their next stimulus bill called the HEROES Act — passed a national moratorium on water shutoffs and $1.5 billion for low-income water aid. While the bill is imperfect, the water service elements are important and necessary.

We know that Mitch McConnell is drafting his own stimulus bill, and we need to make sure it includes the utility shutoff moratorium and aid from the HEROES Act.

Join us now in urging your senators to support a nationwide moratorium on water shutoffs.

With your help, Food & Water Action worked to stop water service shutoffs in about 700 communities, protecting approximately 240 million people. Unfortunately, at least three statewide and 41 local water moratoriums have already expired. This means that more than 12 million people have lost the protections we helped win. We need to fight for them again.

According to new research from The Guardian, two in five households struggle to pay for water. Black communities face some of the most unaffordable water bills in the country, and shutoff rates are higher in communities of color, as well as rural and low-income areas.

Households facing a water shutoff will struggle to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They may be unable to protect their families because they will lack one key resource the CDC recommends to prevent or manage the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19): the water needed to to wash their hands frequently.
You’ve joined us in fighting water shutoffs since the beginning of this pandemic. You've probably already contacted your members of Congress on this issue, but we know the more we continue to pressure them, the more they will listen. So let’s keep the pressure up.

We need our federal government to step up and ensure that everyone's access to water is protected. Access to clean water is a human right. Period. We must guarantee access to clean and affordable water for all.

Send your message calling for the federal government to enact a national moratorium on water shutoffs.

Onward together,

Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch

Taking On The Ten Year Challenge

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was extremely cold and snowy here, causing cancellation of many events, but the "fire" of the slain civil rights activist lives on! Let's follow in Dr. King's footsteps and tackle the challenges that lie ahead of us with the same passion and dedication he did. We're all in this together.

This week we take a look at the economic, ecological and social injustices that Dr. King fought over fifty years ago and that we're still fighting today. The more things change... Or do they?

Taking On The Ten Year Challenge
by C.A. Matthews 

I've never been much for following the crowd, but I do like challenges. So, when everyone on Facebook started posting a photo of herself from ten years ago alongside one from today, I ignored it.

Why? Well, to me it's not much of a challenge. I can't turn back time and magically become the person I was ten years ago, so why torture people who've become my friends recently with a photo of a person they could never hope to meet? They've got to put up with me the way I am today. I don't want them to regret not meeting me earlier--or worse, wishing they had and then walked away.

But when people began posting before-and-after pictures contrasting once verdant landscapes with their now-denuded appearance, I began to see the usefulness of the ten year challenge. It's good to compare an image of a pristine forest with the strip-mined mud pit it's become. It's a wake-up call that gets you thinking: How could it have come to this? The simplest answer is, of course: We're greedy, selfish human beings who don't care what we're doing to our fellow humans and Mother Earth as long as we get what we want out of it.

The same could be said of the before-and-after memes of American drug prices and the federal minimum wage. You're not imagining things--medicine costs have risen astronomically in the US while real wages have stagnated over the past decade. So, why have we let it come to this?  Are ordinary Americans "greedy" and "selfish" and don't care what they're doing to each other and our planet as long as they get what they want out of it? 

It could be argued that ordinary Americans are indeed all those negative things, but it could also be argued the current system of government that our society functions under encourages these types of destructive behaviors. Some would argue our system of government practically mandates these actions. Until we eliminate our governmental system or vastly modify it, it will continue to promote Earth's destruction in resource and land grabs and the twin travesties of price-gouging and labor-devaluing.

Perhaps it's time all Americans take on the ten year challenge, first in our local communities, then in our states, regions and then the nation as a whole. I feel we need to go back a few more decades and probe even deeper in our comparisons. What was life like for average people thirty years ago? Sixty years ago? One hundred? 

While there's no doubt we've all benefited from recent advances in science and technology, let's seriously consider this question: Have all Americans benefited equally from these advances? If they haven't, then ask yourself the following: Why are only a handful of Americans benefiting from these advances? Why do we allow only a handful to benefit from these advances when so many lives could be saved and the country as a whole could become healthier, happier and more prosperous if these advances were available to all, regardless of class, race, gender or income?

At the end of the day, there is really only one challenge, one question that needs answering: Why do we not simply show compassion to our fellow human beings and the world that shelters and nourishes all humankind?

 

If your answer to that question is, "Because you can't get rich that way," then you have demonstrated what the problem truly is and how to tackle it. 

I believe humanity's challenge for the next ten years is the dismantling of the destructive system of late-stage capitalism and the artificial economic system it creates that prohibits the equitable distribution of life-sustaining necessities such as food, clean water, clothing, shelter and medicine. 

Will the end of capitalism bring about the end of  this evil called "money" and put to death the class system that degrades most and elevates only a few based simply on their bank account balance? Will it create a Star Trek-like semi-utopian society where all people are valued and their physical needs met so they're able to develop fully into the human beings they want to become? I sincerely hope so. 

Until that day, keep challenging your thought processes--and others'--with intelligent comparisons of how our lives were then, how they are now, and what they could become. Think about positive ways to bring about those changes and how to meet the obstacles you'll encounter along the way. 

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope one day you'll join us, and the world will live as one. --John Lennon

 

Related articles--

The Earth's #10YearChallenge is Grim
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvydvm/the-earths-10yearchallenge-is-grim-climate-change

250,000 Deaths a Year From Climate Change is a Conservative Estimate
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/54505-250000-deaths-a-year-from-climate-change-is-a-conservative-estimate-research-says 

Big Pharma Raises Prices on Hundreds of Drugs
https://thinkprogress.org/big-pharma-raises-prices-on-hundreds-of-drugs-dc66321ca9e1/ 

Students in MAGA Hats Surround and Harass Native American Veteran
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/54546-catholic-students-in-maga-hats-surround-harass-native-american-veteran 

MLK Warned Us of the Well-Intentioned Liberal
https://www.thenation.com/article/martin-luther-king-trump-wall-jim-crow/

***

It's time to face our challenges head on!

The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate in order to keep it ad-free. Almost four years without obnoxious pop-up ads (that many news sites have to cover costs) has been great, but the editor does have to pay for internet, electricity, etc., out of her own pocket, and she would like to be able to pay her contributors someday. 

Please consider donating a buck, $5, $10 or $20--any amount you can share with us to keep this progressive site going without those awful ads is appreciated. Help us become a strong alternative voice protesting against the corrupt establishment and its paid-off corporate mouthpieces. Give to TRC today. Thank you.

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And thanks to a generous reader, we have a  domain name. Please share the link: http://therevolutioncontinues.com 

Power to the people--not the corporations!

***

From NRDC:

Twenty-eight days into the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, millions of Americans are struggling without a paycheck, and nine federal departments and agencies are mostly shuttered.

But that hasn’t stopped President Trump from bringing Interior Department employees back to work — without pay — to push ahead with plans for expanding oil and gas drilling along our coasts and on our public lands, including in the Arctic.

The Trump administration just released a draft Environmental Impact Statement that, if approved, would bring the administration and its fossil fuel allies one big step closer to tearing open the Arctic Refuge’s pristine, publicly-owned land for fossil fuel extraction.

But before they can do that, the administration must accept public comments on this assessment — so we need your help to mobilize a massive outcry today.

Show the Trump administration that Americans strongly oppose destroying the biological heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Submit an official public comment now before the Feb. 11 deadline! >>

Often called “America’s Serengeti”, the Arctic Refuge in Alaska is the largest unspoiled wildlife refuge in America. It’s a haven for iconic wildlife like Porcupine caribou and imperiled polar bears, vital to the culture and survival of the region’s Gwich’in people, and ground zero for climate change.

Moving forward with these reckless plans in the middle of a government shutdown means that the future of this cherished refuge is being jeopardized in the dark, with little public oversight.

We can’t allow this administration to open the heart of our greatest wildland to destruction by the fossil fuel industry. If we don’t act now, lease sales for drilling in the Refuge could begin this year.

Act now: Submit a public comment telling the Trump administration you oppose any drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

NRDC is on the frontlines fighting to save the Arctic Refuge and so many more of our cherished public lands and waters from the Trump administration’s relentless attacks — in court, in Washington, and in communities like yours.

In fact, we're in federal court right now fighting to block Trump and his oil industry allies’ attempts to illegally authorize oil drilling in the Beaufort Sea, which sits right off the coast of the Arctic Refuge. An oil spill there could devastate the Refuge, blanketing its sensitive coastline with a deadly slick of toxic crude that would be functionally impossible to clean up.

And we’re keeping watch for an expected Trump administration announcement any day now about a potentially massive expansion of offshore drilling along nearly all of America’s coastlines, including along the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts.

Here’s the bottom line: The Arctic Refuge belongs to us — and this fight for our land requires a show of massive public resistance that the Trump administration can’t ignore.

Please send a message to save the Arctic Refuge today.

Thank you for standing with us at this critical time.

Sincerely,

Rhea Suh
President, NRDC

***

Don't Want to Live in Gilead? Tell the Virginia Legislature to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment Now!

Sign Now

Many people think women are already protected by the United States Constitution — after all, many other countries have constitutional protections for women — but the US does not! The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that guarantees women's rights, unlike laws which can expire or be changed. The ERA fell just three states short of ratification in 1982, which is why so many Americans think we already have it. We do not! Sign this petition to show your support for the ERA. In March 2017, Nevada surprised the nation and was the first state in over 30 years to ratify the ERA. In May of 2018 Illinois followed suit. We need just one more state to make history. And that state could be Virginia. The ratification resolution just passed in the Virginia Senate, but its fate in the House chamber remains unclear. Despite support for ratification on both sides of the aisle, House Speaker Kirk Cox is refusing to bring the ERA to the floor for a vote. So the constitutional rights of all American women are essentially riding on the whims of one man. Please sign this petition to urge Speaker Cox to bring the ERA to the floor for a fair vote, and be the final state necessary to enshrine women's equality in the US Constitution. Thank you, Lacey K. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Laws can be changed, and given who our President is right now, we need women's equality to be protected by the Constitution. Sign this petition to save us from a white bonnet existence. *** From Friends of the Earth: Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior is trying to gut a crucial protection for transparency in our government. It wants to make it even harder or impossible for people like you and me to gather information about troublesome land sales, backdoor drilling deals, and any other shady tactics between Big Oil, Big Ag, and corporate cronies in the Trump Administration. The agency wants to make drastic and likely illegal changes to the rules for requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act. This is a blatant rejection of transparency and democracy. It begs the question -- what could they be hiding? So we need you to raise your voice and protect the Freedom of Information Act. Can we count on your support?  Take action now: Demand DOI protect transparency, not hide shady corporate business deals!  The proposed changes would make requesting information from DOI much more difficult, and in many cases impossible. In one fell swoop, DOI is aiming to give itself unilateral decision-making power about what information is made public. This would be a huge blow to the power of grassroots movements and everyday citizens to hold Trump’s political appointees accountable for their cozy relationship with Big Oil.    In short, this is a likely illegal proposal that would make it easier for the Trump Administration to hide its corruption and conflicts of interest. The good news is, DOI is required to seek public input into the changes. So we need the help of progressives like you to stop them.  Help send 30,000 signatures demanding DOI protect the Freedom of Information Act NOW! Government transparency is a bedrock of democracy. But time and again, Trump’s Administration has proven it doesn't care about the rights of everyday citizens like you and me -- it only cares about furthering the interests of big corporations.  The Freedom of Information Act has been a key tool for holding the government accountable. It helped expose how the mining industry influenced Ryan Zinke’s conversations about handing over parts of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante to Big Oil.  Now, this crucial tool against government corruption is in danger. If the new FOIA regulations are implemented, the ability to protect our public lands and waters from Big Oil's drilling, Big Ag, and further environmental destruction will be threatened. But with your help, we can stop this abysmal misuse of power. Will you show the corrupt Trump Administration that you will not stand for the degradation of democratic rights and government transparency?  Sign your name: Stop the Trump Administration’s attempts to hide from public scrutiny! Standing with you, Nicole Ghio, Senior fossil fuels program manager, Friends of the Earth