Archive for the ‘Quote’ Category

A snippet from John and Jean Comaroff’s — as always, gripping — opening essay of their edited collection, Law and Disorder in the Postcolony (Chicago 2006): …there has certainly been an explosion of law-oriented nongovernmental organizations in the postcolonial world: lawyers for human rights, both within and without frontiers; legal resourcecenters and aid clinics; voluntary […]


The white man systematically destroyed Indian culture where it existed, but separated blacks from his midst so that they were forced to attempt the creation of their own culture Vine Deloria Jnr., Custer Died for your Sins (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988 [1969]).


uncyclopedia

22Apr10

An alternative definition of settler colonialism from uncyclopedia: Utilising the ‘Overstaying Your Welcome’ strategy, settlers enter a weaker nation’s borders, ask for a drink and begin scrutinising their CD collection.


Every child thus reared learns to hate an Indian because he always hears him spoken of as an enemy. From the cradle he listens continually to horrid tales of savage violence and becomes familiar with narratives of aboriginal cunning and ferocity. Every family can number some of its members or relatives among the victims of […]


Among the thousands who cross the Plains, there are many who have never been refined by either mental or moral culture. The sum total of their religious and political faith consists in Squatter Sovereignty – the right to do as they choose, regardless of all but selfish interests. When such as these get beyond the […]


SAVAGE EUROPEANS! Ye doubted at first whether the inhabitants of the regions you had just discovered were not animals which you might slay without remorse, because they were black, and you were white. You almost envied them the knowledge of God, your common Father. Most horrid thought! But when you had permitted them also to […]


sydney gazette

21Mar10

Does the mere effecting a settlement by no other right but that of the strongest, and retaining possession owing to the physical weakness of the owners of the soil, for a period of forty years, does that divest them of their natural right to resist and expel the invaders, whenever they were in a situation […]


“I cannot recall that many words were said about the Palestinians, or about territory, or about the tragic past. Certainly no reference was made to Israeli settler-colonialism, similar in many ways to French practice in Algeria. It was about as informative as a Reuters dispatch”.


dear bono

17Feb10

Out-of-date rock star receives Santa Claus-style wishlist, reports the Aboriginal News Group: Dear Bono, We call on you now not to grant legitimacy to a state that practices the most pernicious form of colonialism and apartheid. […] Rather than shifting the blame from the violence of the colonial oppressor to the resistance of the indigenous […]


After We have sold out Land We in a little time have nothing to Shew for it; but it is not so with You, Your Grandchildren will get something from it as long as the World stands; our Grandchildren will have no advantage from it; They will say We were Fools for selling so much […]