Settler Colonialism Essay

The United States has an entire day dedicated to the “discovery” of North America, despite the fact that it was already settled, just not by white people; this entails the ongoing concept of settler colonialism. Settler colonialism is the process in which a group of people, known as colonizers, moves to a new area with the goal of living on and conquering the land. It differs from classical colonialism, or financial imperialism, in that settler colonialism aims to conquer an area permanently, as opposed to temporarily using land to extract resources. Typically, settler colonialism involves one group, the colonists, which perceives the culture they are conquering as uncivilized, and attempts to “modernize” and “civilize” their culture, religion, …show more content…
The goals of settler colonialism led to the mistreatment of Native Americans, Mexicans, Africans, and African Americans, and because of the history of the country as well as the nature of U.S. government, these groups of people are still discriminated against today. The persistence of such a structure, in regards to Native Americans, is due to the fact that indigenous people who originally resided on the land that white Americans claim as their own have not left, the white colonizers are still present, and the two groups still do not necessarily see eye to eye.
The fact that the effects of settler colonialism, along with settler colonialism itself, have persevered over time have led to distorted concepts of what it means to belong in U.S. society. One effect of settler colonialism is the existence of Indian Reservations. Such reservations prevent Native Americans from feeling like bona fide members of U.S. society, and in some cases, Native Americans living on reservations did not receive the right to vote until the 1960s ("Frequently Asked Questions - Native American Rights Fund."), further exacerbating their sentiments as