Indian Cent - Cultural Appropriation?

I appreciate this Forum having a polite discussion over the internet on what much of the internet turns into a firestorm. Members here represent many generations and backgrounds, and I appreciate the various viewpoints speaking civil :)

The term I often use is "Revisionist History", and I think we see it more and more as ideas spread "virally" over the internet impacting modern moral views of the world, including world history. How fast information flows across the world in 2019 is just stunning.

I went to high school in Richland, WA. The rival high school's mascot was the Bombers in honor of the community raising funds for a literal bomber at the start of WWII. Eastern WA also hosts the Hanford Nuclear site, which produced the plutonium put into "Fat Man" and dropped on Nagasaki. The region of Eastern WA and Idaho also hosted camps for Japanese during this time of ethnic paranoia. A good friend of mine who grew up on the Kennewick side of the river is now an Ivy League intellectual in linguistics has advocated to change the Bomber name on grounds of making long-overdue peace and cutting the ties to racism against the Japanese. The counter is the Bomber is a symbol of the community's patriotism and sacrifice to help the national effort at the time. Peace and not being racists at good traits. Patriotism is also generally a good and constructive trait. So here we have decades of patriotism versus modern concepts of anti-racism. Ask someone of the older generations who lived in the Tri-Cities during the War and Post War eras (cleanup will be going on for a loooooooong time) and one will likely get a very different story than the Millennials and younger looking to get out of town for the big city.

More closely tied to numismatics are the Spanish Colonial American produced from the 16th to the 19th/20th centuries. Lots of silver and gold was mined and converted into some of the most prized coinage in world history. Pirates wanted it. Counterfeiters prioritized duping it. It was the financial standard. Artistically, those pillar dollars are some the best designs the world has ever had. Gold doubloons can sell for millions of dollars today. These coins are literally the stuff of legend. That being said... the mining operations were the opposite of voluntary labor with fair wages and safe environments. And yet we have romanticized the coins. I have struggled with the underlying issues of these coins for a while. This historian (my undergrad degree) in me is fascinated them, especially the chop marked pieces that passed through the hands of Chinese merchants. The Millennial in me (born in 1982) counters at times on moral reasons.

My own family history has ties to Prussia, which became parts of Germany and Poland. I am rather sure my ancestors included sexist, drunk, racists, some of whom sent family lines into the Nazi ranks. I also have an ancestor who was a leading entrepreneur in the now ghost town of Bodie, CA... She ran a brothel. It is believed that two of my ancestors killed opponents in various local bar fights, but no one ever went to jail; neither stayed around long (emmigration and hid in Mexico for a while).

History sure is fascinating, isn't it? When we layer modern morals on top of previous intensions, decisions, and ideas, it sure makes for an incredible discussion.

I do own a few "Native American Head Cents" and Buffalo nickels. I have a few of the Spanish Colonial issues from a few mints. I once even traded a US$1 for a North Korean note while I was at a deal in China just for the story - good and bad. I'm not sure I will ever sort out all the issues in my own conscience, and I know future generations will condemn me for something.

Best of luck in your collecting pursuits.