Video of Lecture by David Stannard, author of "American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World"

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Permalink Reply by Tony Mendez on April 1, 2011 at 5:48pm

I have the book (which I have already read) and still have to finish this video.  At about 20 min in he gives an interesting quote from Christopher Hitchens that I found very disturbing.  I have tried to find the original essay from Christopher Hitchens, but have been unsuccessful.  However, other authors, such as Norman Finkelstein also reference the same quote.  While I understand the important role Hitchens has played for the modern atheist movement, I cannot respect someone who views the genocide of the Indigenous peoples of Abya Yala (the Americas) as just the progress of history and triumph over technologically backwards peoples.  I'm holding off my final judgment until I can read the original article, but I am highly disappointed.

Permalink Reply by TNT666 on April 6, 2011 at 4:51am

But one of the many reasons I can't stand Hitchens! There is a definitive tendency among his ilk to consider ex-christian styled Humanists to a-ok all actions perpetrated by "western" white males onto the rest of the planet, religious or not. Just like Pat Condell, very little self criticism as holder of ruling class of the planet. People like Hitchens may be atheist vis-a-vis gawd, but they do not represent significant change in policy compared to western civilisation's status quo of power. Which is why I usually say, why bother preaching godlessness if you're not planning on changing the society that was created by god followers? No point really.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Ray Smith on August 15, 2011 at 6:36am

I have been meang to get the book, and one would think that since I have Cherokee blood I would have already read it, but alas, I have not. Honestly, it has been very hard to make the time to do the "outside" research on the Native American Holocaust. However, after grad uation, I am taking a semester break just for that pupose, and I will at full throttle when I do it.