Me and my big mouth....

Maybe I picked the wrong time to really start being interested in understanding the phenomina of culture theft, what it is and what it means and how it hurts people. But, for good or ill, I started looking deeply into the issues surrounding it last night, and today when I turned on the Olympics and their Opening Ceremonies, and I saw a blatant example of it, I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

I agree, the Olympics is a beautiful event, and is an excellent example of the ways that the world can work together in peace. But I also think that blinding myself to the issues of culture theft, stereotyping of cultures, and the deeper politics at play behind a ceremony where native americans and the people who stole their land from them are honored, back to back, as if the natives were part of the past and the white settlers had heralded in the future... I feel as if that would be ignoring my moral and ethical obligations, and allowing myself to settle for an illusion of beauty, peace, and harmony instead of the real thing.

Perhaps that does ruin the beauty of the moment. But, I honestly feel that we can see the beauty of a gesture of peace and find fault with the context it is being presented in at the same time.

I'm sorry if I ruined it, for anyone.