What about intentions?

As I read the two student papers and poem I started to think about what to blog about. The first thing that came to mind when I was reading the papers was that I should write about the injustices caused by the assimilation of Indians into white American culture through education. It was the obvious first choice because it is really the main focus of both pieces. However, as I read, I started to wonder about these people, the instructors and administrators in charge the institutions. Our first reaction is to think of them as racist, ignorant and morally corrupt. Why would they try to make people leave their culture behind and become assimilated into American culture? Were they really just awful people? I don't think that they were. I think that when people have bad intentions, the intention to hurt others, this is what makes them "bad". I do not think, for instance that "Ms. Stock", referred to in the paper analyzing the Theodore Roosevelt school, was an evil woman who prided herself on ruining traditions of ancient cultures. I think she was a normal teacher who prided herself on what she considered to be improving the lives of unfortunate children. The paper gives a quote saying that the school was "guiding the Apache toward more useful, healthy, and happy lives". What is wrong with this goal? To the people in charge of the school these goals sounded admirable and generous. However, to us they sound narrow minded. I guess my point here is that we should not be so quick to judge the intentions of people whose world view and perspectives vary so much from our own. I also am sure there are plenty of cases where I have been quick to judge the values of another culture and had the feeling that if only they lived like I did they would be happier. So maybe we are not so different from the people who assimilated the children at the Indian schools into American culture with the best of intentions.