In times of denial, it is good to have the facts. Ned Blackhawk has done a thorough job of analyzing US history from the sixteenth century until the end of the twentieth, from a First Nations point of view, in “The Rediscovery of America” (2023; Yale University Press).

Indigenous history on this continent goes back 25,000 years, but sustained European contact started in the early 1500s. Blackhawk strongly criticizes the “disappearing Indian” myth. He describes the explosion of racism in 1790, which justified genocide and slavery. After the Civil War, violence against indigenous tribes expanded, along with settler invasions which all but destroyed the former patterns of use and management of the land. The battle for self-determination, return of land, and improvement of living conditions, does not cease.

Capitalist tactics are still being used under national authority; most recently, the murderous invasion of Venezuela to obtain access to oil. We can expect more violence in the future.