Somehow related to that, perhaps Thanksgiving should become a Day of Atonement for Genocide of Native Americans. Or, the enslavement of millions of West Africans, stealing men and women from their families, letting 50% die in transit, for the sake of profits. Those are hard historic realities of our history, ourselves.
We become so self-congratulatory - it's damned obtuse. I really don't like to live in bubble of falseness and myth...I like truth.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, you yourself do not have a monopoly on the truth. "Roots", for all its dramatic storytelling power, was not a documentary. Slaves in general were bought, not kidnapped off the shore. Not to mention the dubious notion that allowing half of one's cargo to die somehow enhances profitability. I'm not saying the real truth isn't unpleasant enough, but there is a popular modern tendency to accept anything unpleasant that is said about times long past.
All that said, on this Thanksgiving, I am thankful that we, as a people, have such a relatively light load of problems of our own that we have the luxury of worrying about the living conditions of our food animals, or the sins of our ancestors.
God bless you all. |
