Native Land Acknowledgments Are the Latest Woke Ritual
Wall Street Journal | Eugene Kontorovich
George Mason Professor Kontorovich explains how Native Land Acknowledgments have become standard at universities. “Most land acknowledgments are only recommended acts of piety, not obligatory devotions. But when a university recommends such statements…all but the bravest…are likely to fall in line…” He also notes that such rituals “can quickly become mandatory.”
“University diversity, equity and inclusion bureaucrats are often the source of these incantations, and the statements aren’t one-time institutional apologies. They are intended to be read by faculty and students at the start of all public events, and even appended to email signatures.”
As the author notes, “Acknowledgments of a much less intrusive and ritualistic nature are as American as apple pie. European settlers often kept local place names, permanently honoring the earlier inhabitants. More than half of U.S. states have Indian names… These older practices were both respectful and organic, paying respect to the tribes without creating group guilt.”
Related:
Highlighting Indigenous People’s “Connection to a Place” (Harvard Magazine, 2021)
