The Democratic National Committee began a summer meeting with an Indigenous land acknowledgment honoring the Dakota people as original stewards of the lands. The acknowledgment noted historic land theft and sought to honor Dakota Oyate. The inclusion of the land acknowledgment provoked criticism arguing that addressing historical injustices is inappropriate in an election-focused setting. Critics invoked other historical wrongs—slavery, wartime atrocities—to contend that the DNC's role is to win elections rather than to right historical wrongs or make people feel better. Critics questioned the tactical value of such acknowledgments for electoral performance in early states.
Okay, lady, you're right, commented Carville. That land, what we did to Native Americans is really well-documented, and it is a sad part of our nation's history. Why are you bringing this up in an election!? Okay? What we did with all kinds of things, with slavery, with experiment, with drugs, what we did during, what happened in the Confederacy during the Civil War, and Andersonville. This is an election, and the DNC is not the place to discuss this!
Understand this. The DNC does not exist to right wrongs. It doesn't exist to acknowledge the more unpleasant parts of history. It doesn't exist to make people feel good. It exists, get this through your head, to win elections. Now do you think that is going to help us win elections say, like we did, in Iowa, which is, I think, close to Minnesota, my geography is there, by talking about land theft from the Dakotas. We're not.
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