They were not merely cruel or unethical. They were genocidal. We do not use the word genocide because it evokes more horror than any other word. We do not use it because it is controversial. We use it because of its precise meaning.
Genocide is an act taken with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a racial group.
The intent to destroy a people. The explicitly racist and genocidal laws of the past have been wiped from the statute books. And the state no longer overtly sets out to destroy Indigenous peoples, as peoples. But neither the racism, nor the cultural destruction are things of the past. Our children are still systematically taken from their families and communities.