Land Back

What if I told you

that these policies

Carrie Fisher reciting the “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi” speech through the years

Yeah but that’s a white fantasy. That’s a contemporary concept of “oh humans are bad and we’re bad for the earth; it would be so much better without us on it”; and like that’s a very white perspective? Like just because white people grow up with exploitation of earth and it’s resources they’ll start to circle jerk over this concept of nature and wilderness without them. And they’ll make wild statements about humans being innately bad or parasites.

Whereas indigneous people have been living in harmony with our ecosystems for thousands of years. We know our lands and their specific needs very well and our cultural identity is wrapped around that.

So maybe think a little more critically when you fantasize about wilderness without people? Like why are you doing it? Because 9 times of 10 it comes from this idea that humans aren’t a part of that natural system or are innately bad for it. And maybe that’s true of western societies. But it’s not true of my mother’s people or many indigneous societies.

Also, you need to brush up on racist history. Because this is often a myth white people like to fantasize about. That America was once this wild place without human inhabitants before white settlers came. And like even if you don’t read it that way, it doesn’t mean that it’s not contributing. Like plenty of white people spend time thinking about a wild human less America or a “civilized” white America; and most skip over the whole thousands of years of indigenous land caretaking of the Americas.

Like maybe your fantasy is a world without humans. But I think that’s messed up. My fantasy is my people living in our traditional ways and caretaking for our lands.

(Here is the picture from the post anon is talking about, for anyone who needs context)

Artist Brian Coldrick’s series Behind You is an ongoing look at the very common fear that someone is lurking just out of your field of vision—perhaps prepping to do something not very nice.