THIS IS REVOLUTION>podcast Ep. 159: Deconstructing the Myth of Manifest Destiny: The Residential Schools w/ Dr. John Gram

There is a notion that poisons the minds of many Americans. The myth of Manifest Destiny. The narrative that the vast empty western lands of what we now call the United States was an untamed wild unknown filled with savages that could only be settled by a truly civilized people. In recent weeks, there has been breaking news from Canada that unmarked mass graves have been found near what were knows as “residential schools”. These “schools” were boarding facilities with a long-standing partnership between religious institutions and national governments. Their goal was to isolate Indigenous youth from their families erase their customs and language and assimilate them to the dominant culture.   In the United States, Col. Richard Henry Pratt was maybe the most impactful figure of the off-reservation schools. His goal was that of complete assimilation. His motto that became that of the system, “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”. In this episode of THIS IS REVOLUTION, we’ll take a deep dive into the insidious nature of the residential schools in the US as well as Canada with historian John Gram.   About John Gram (From his website https://johnrgram.blogspot.com/): Dr. Gram’s research and teaching interests focus on the political, social, and cultural consequences of US expansion during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His current research agenda examines the process of indigenous identity formation under the pressures of settler colonialism, as well as the processes by which the United States incorporated frontier and borderland regions. He is the author of Education At the Edge of Empire: Negotiating Pueblo Identity in New Mexico’s Indian Boarding Schools (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015). He also has a blog, “Telegrams”   Thank you, guys, again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and every one of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined, BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron only programing, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH!   Become a patron now https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents? Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, (specially YouTube!)   THANKS Y'ALL YouTube: www.youtube.com/thisisrevolutionpodcast www.twitch.tv/thisisrevolutionpodcast www.twitch.tv/leftflankvets   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/ Twitter: @TIRShowOakland Instagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland   The Dispatch on Zero Books (video essay series): https://youtu.be/nSTpCvIoRgw   Medium: https://jasonmyles.medium.com/kill-the-poor-f9d8c10bc33d   Pascal Robert's Black Agenda Report: https://www.blackagendareport.com/author/Pascal Robert   Get THIS IS REVOLUTION Merch here: www.thisisrevolutionpodcast.com