No, children are not responsible for their situation, at least until they are 18, by today's standards. Children of 14 in years gone by, were sometimes thought of as adult.
IMO, when a child reaches adulthood, then he/she IS responsible for the way they think, act, and view the world.
Are you thinking that a child who was born to slave parents who were freed after the civil war, should have raised His/Her children to either view the world from a slave's eyes, or what? When does the person overcome his/her circumstances of birth? Are you saying that slaves need 5-6 or more generations to overcome whatever their 4 and 5 Great Grandparent/s suffered in their lives?
I think you will find that not all slaves, were children of two other slaves. And when the slaves were freed, and free to marry the person they wished, they didn't always marry other slaves...etc etc etc. SO that being the case, if but one of your 16 great grandparents was a slave, are you thinking that those few genes overwhelmed all the others?
When do you think people are responsible for themselves?
Read Clarence Thomas's book, My Grandfather's Son. He was not a slave, nor were his parents. His father was a brief encounter. His mother couldn't raise he or his brother. They grew up in Savannah, GA in the time where the white's were not close to being civil to blacks, shameful as that was. The Grandparents were tough on the boys. They made them study and work hard on the farm. That would be classified as torture by todays standards. His grandparents loved both boys. The story is how Justice Thomas overcame his childhood, and lived to be an educated, successful, and very worthwhile man. I personally admire this man even more after I read his story.
Also, another good author is Eric Hoffer. He was an uneducated longshoreman, who eventually educated himself, and became famous for his views on life. I wish I could have known him. |
