Look, can we stop with this shit about how everyone living on stolen land is technically illegal?
Seriously. Can we fucking stop?
Now, here’s the thing. I understand the argument. Land was stolen from Indigenous peoples. Colonization happened. People were displaced, communities were destroyed, and injustices were committed. And I’m not going to sit here and pretend that any of that was right. It wasn’t.
But here’s where I have a problem with this argument.
Stop blaming and shaming modern people for the sins of the past.
The land was stolen long before most, if not all, of us were even born. None of us can go back in time and change what happened. None of us can undo centuries of colonization, forced displacement, or historical injustices simply by acknowledging that we live on stolen land.
And frankly, calling everyone illegal doesn’t exactly solve anything, either.
Now, before anyone jumps down my throat, I’m not saying we should ignore history. I’m not saying Indigenous peoples don’t deserve justice. I’m not saying we shouldn’t acknowledge the harm that was done or discuss what can be done to address its consequences today.
Quite the opposite.
What I’m saying is that there’s a difference between acknowledging historical injustices and treating modern people as though they’re personally responsible for everything that happened before they were born.
We can acknowledge that something was wrong without automatically assigning personal guilt to every person who happens to live on the land today.
And here’s another thing: acknowledging the past means very little if we’re unwilling to do anything to make the future better.
We can’t change what happened centuries ago. We can’t undo the decisions made by people who are long dead. But we can change how we treat people today. We can listen to Indigenous communities. We can have honest conversations about historical injustices. We can support efforts to address ongoing inequalities. We can work toward a future where people are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness.
Those are things we can actually do.
And I’d much rather see people focus on making meaningful changes than spend all their time arguing over whether everyone living on stolen land is technically illegal.
Because what exactly are we accomplishing by shaming people for something they had no personal control over?
Does that help Indigenous communities? Does it repair historical damage? Does it make the world a better place?
Not necessarily.
And if your goal is to make the world a better place, then shouldn’t your focus be on what you can actually do to achieve that goal?
Look, history matters. The past matters. We should learn from it, acknowledge the wrongs committed, and understand how those wrongs continue to affect people today.
But we also need to recognize that we are living in the present, and our actions in the present will shape the future.
We cannot change the past, but we can change what we do moving forward.
So let’s stop using history as a reason to shame people who weren’t responsible for it, and let’s start talking about what we can actually do to make things better.
That’s my take, anyway.
What do you think? Do you agree that we should focus more on addressing the consequences of historical injustices today rather than blaming modern people for the actions of their predecessors? Or do you see it differently?
Let’s discuss.