Introduction
This blog endeavors to discover and expose the history of a relatively small region (only several acres) that is responsible for centuries of slavery, genocide, hate crimes, racism, & colonization. This small area was a headquarters for the attempted extermination of entire nations and a race of people. It was the headquarters of a large, western pro-slavery & pro-Confederacy movement, escalating to the point of attempting to overthrow the state’s legal government in support of the Southern Confederacy.
This area & the surrounding region were critical to a movement to wage private wars against other countries, illegally declaring conquest and new “nations” that were pro-slavery. This region is one of the most polluted & contaminated areas in the entire country, if not the world, often referred to by environmentalists and public health advocates as an “environmental disaster area.” This region housed the development of nuclear weapons and to this day provides support for the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, including a weapon referred to as the “doomsday device.”
Today, the sheriff’s department for this region is known for decades of human rights violation, hate crimes, and a disturbingly disproportionate amount of arrests, incarceration, and police killings of Black, Brown, and Asian people. This region is one of the wealthiest in the world, yet is also home severe and untenable income inequality.
This area is home to a university sitting atop thousands of human remains from the genocide. The University directly and indirectly embraces the history of slavery and genocide, branding all of its marketing materials with symbols of the racism and violence.
If you look to popular histories or talk to someone casually about the area, instead of any of any of this, you’re likely to hear romantic thoughts about “orchards” and exciting stories of “innovation.” While likely not intended to be as honest as it is, some will speak about the region’s culture of “disruption.”
From the Mission Santa Clara to present day, this small area and its surrounding region have indeed been disruptive. Welcome to Silicon Valley.
