The takeover of the Federal building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is a perfect representation of how we have failed as a society. The situation exudes white privilege, hypocrisy and a sickening display of human domination over nature.
When our government sits like a lame duck, while white male cowboys ride in and take over a wildlife refuge building in protest of the conviction of a father-son duo who were prosecuted for illegal poaching and setting fire to 139 acres of BLM land, we have failed. We have failed to protect the existence of other species. We have failed to recognize an undeserved superiority complex that seems to justify the illegal occupation of a Federal Wildlife Refuge; an act that cannot be considered anything less than domestic terrorism.
The hostage in this situation is nature and our media has labeled the gun-toting cowboys as “protesters” and not domestic terrorists. Our institutions have framed and convoluted the definition of democracy so it is congruent with keeping white men in power. The demonstrations are framed by the majority as a protest by people rebelling against the oppression of the federal government. When a white man is the victim of a land dispute, the government listens. But when the Paiute Indians were in a land dispute with the federal government over this same swath of land, the same courtesy was not extended. Our institutions continue to favor the white victim and because of this, we have failed.
We have a hard time seeing the hypocrisy and institutionalized racism in our society. But we cannot sit back and watch the government condone the killing of a black child by police officers for carrying a fake gun, while armed white males are allowed to forcibly takeover a federal building.
We cannot pretend to live in a world of equality, when we know damned well if the leader of this militia was named Adnan instead of Ammon and was a Muslim instead of a Mormon, the outcome of this situation would be radically different. Were this the case, our media would most likely be referring to the organization as terrorists, not protesters. When countries wage war over land, it is seen as terrorism. However, when white people do it, they are seen as would-be defenders of the Constitution. This double standard can no longer be tolerated.
The event in Oregon is the epitome of what it means to be a racist, anthropocentric and broken society. When we go to war in distant lands for oil, but allow domestic terrorism to occur on a wildlife refuge, our skewed priorities become clear. While we continue to marginalize minority voices, we will continue to be broken. To remedy and reshape this broken society, we must piece ourselves together with the lessons learned from history, and implement an equitable system of justice for all.