The emotional racists on both extremes want a vigilante war, and they must be exposed as part of the problem so we can move forward in a positive direction.
Finally a statement from you I can concur with..
Still, history demands perspective and deconstruction.
Does it now? Then why stop at 200 years?
Here's some perspective for you.. Horrible as the practice of human slavery is (since it STILL occurs in Africa .. etc), the majority of the male slave population transported to the US would instead have been slain had they not been sold into slavery by their African "brothers". Most slaves were captives of inter-tribal warfare, with the males that could not be sold, killed, and the women integrated into the victorious tribe.
None of my relatives of that era, that I know of, ever owned a slave. They were sharecroppers and tenant farmers to wealthy landowners. And while tenant farmers and sharecroppers were easily replaced when they could no longer act as "debt slaves", physical slaves were valuable property, actually bred by slave owners after the importation of slaves was prohibited.
So why should I feel any more sympathy for African Americans than I do for my own forebears who literally grew up dirt poor up until the 1970's (My father's birth town still has a population of 100)?? Should I blame someone for my ancestor's poverty and demand "justice"?
Ask yourself which ethnicities predated the Blacks in the city ghettos? The Irish, the Jews.. etc.. most of whom stop blaming others for their plight and worked, saved, and educated themselves out of poverty. Same can be said with many Asians and Latins..
Too many people are using the past either as a crutch for their own under-achievement and insecurity, or as a weapon of blame to extort pity, and financial reparations for something few of us hold any blame for..
As for justice.. it should be satisfied between the family members, not sought by non-involved individuals, looking for a reason to validate their own hatred and bigotry.
Bottom line, none of us can change the past... We can only learn from it... And ultimately we can use those lessons to shape the future.. |
