Ever since Lucy and her band of our Homo Sapien ancestors left Africa some 70,000 years ago, our species has been migrating. From our savanna homeland, we have spread over the entire globe so that almost every nook and cranny of our planet has been populated with our species. There are some who even talk of colonizing Mars. While we are known as a tool-making primate, we should also be recognized as confirmed travelers.
There are many reasons for our wanderlust. Whether we are enticed to improve our lives, evicted by harsh circumstances or just plain curious, we do get around. Not that this constant migrating has necessarily been easy. We’ve had to adjust to new climates, master the earth to provide food or, if the land was already occupied, confront its occupants. While this commingling of newcomers and strangers can be peaceful and mutually beneficial, it frequently results in conflicts. All too often, warfare is the means by which one group conquers another people’s land and lords over the vanquished.
To bring this situation to our own country, weren’t even the first Europeans who settled here immigrants who didn’t speak the local...