Earth Walker
December 31st, 2001, 04:07 PM
A new PBS documentary reveals the early Europeans' excesses
in Africa, Asia, Hawaii, Australia and the Americas -- but avoids
the dark chapters of U.S. colonization.
The missionary zeal of christian Europe mixed with a passion
for economic gain was an explosive cocktail.
The Crucible of the Millennium takes the easy way out on
its portrayal of European colonization. It focuses, for example,
on the well-documented Spanish genocide of the Aztec of Mexico
and Inca of Peru but makes only the briefest of mentions of the
role played by Americans in wiping out numerous indigenous
peoples as settlers spread from the eastern seaboard to the
west. Over and over again, The Crucible of the Millennium
has no trouble in pointing out the excesses of the British,
Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc., empires but shies away from
treating the American empire the same way.
The Crucible of the Millennium: Parts 1 and 2, from 9 PM
to Midnight, tonight on PBS Channel 9.
in Africa, Asia, Hawaii, Australia and the Americas -- but avoids
the dark chapters of U.S. colonization.
The missionary zeal of christian Europe mixed with a passion
for economic gain was an explosive cocktail.
The Crucible of the Millennium takes the easy way out on
its portrayal of European colonization. It focuses, for example,
on the well-documented Spanish genocide of the Aztec of Mexico
and Inca of Peru but makes only the briefest of mentions of the
role played by Americans in wiping out numerous indigenous
peoples as settlers spread from the eastern seaboard to the
west. Over and over again, The Crucible of the Millennium
has no trouble in pointing out the excesses of the British,
Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc., empires but shies away from
treating the American empire the same way.
The Crucible of the Millennium: Parts 1 and 2, from 9 PM
to Midnight, tonight on PBS Channel 9.