Dina Gilio-Whitaker: Obama acknowledges European colonization

Last week, President Obama went out on a political limb with his executive order allowing an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States. It was just more fuel for Republicans’ anti-Democrat fire, who of course responded with more threats to sue, and all the usual hateful rhetoric. What was more interesting, though, was Obama’s statement to a Chicago audience, pointing to the broader absurdities of immigration history. Talking about how each wave of immigration is met with complaints about who should and shouldn’t be allowed to immigrate into the U.S., Obama said “the only people who have the right to say that are some Native Americans.”

Someone somewhere along the way had to come out publicly and say it. Bravo for President Obama being that guy. But it’s not the first time he’s said something like this. In another immigration speech in Jan. 2013 the President said "Unless you're one of the first Americans, Native Americans, you came from somewhere else; somebody brought you,” generating a whirlwind of controversy.

Predictably, this latest comment again drew the ire of Obama’s conservative enemies (one blogger charged him with being anti-American). Of course, the statement is often said jokingly (unless you’re Indian), but when I watch the video I get the sense that he was dead serious. It is an indirect acknowledgement of the reality of Euroamerican colonialism, and on a very visceral level Americans know this. And that makes them squirm, especially those of the conservative persuasion.