@akjcv i ask these questions because i do not think that acknowledging that whiteness destroyed our homeland and erased our culture means that we should submit, call ourselves rootless, say we have no homeland and no culture. whiteness has destroyed many homelands and many cultures and most do not have the privilege of submitting. as someone born in north america, i have never seen the geography which my tongue developed to communicate within (a geography which no longer exists). but this is not so unusual. many others speak with foreign tongues.

i think the comparison to diaspora is not too far off, personally. and i think this also informs the relation to the land we are on: it is not our land; we do not speak its language. at the same time, it is the land which nurtured us; we have a debt to those who can return the favour. (we ourselves cannot, not yet.)

but i don’t see this as such a permanently sad thing, necessarily. we CAN support the caretakers of the land which raised us. we CAN build an international community which provides care and support to human beings. without being able to directly support the land, we have to make a choice as to what we WILL support. but i think we can still choose well, we can still support good things and live a life with purpose.