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My point had nothing to do with 'reparations'; I do not desire anything I have not earned, nor does she.

Your statement that she lost tens of millions of acres is neither defense nor condemnation.

I stated her people lost ten million acres (no exaggeration, it was deeded to them before it was siezed for 'back' taxes). Often that notice was served by someone riding on the same wagon as the one handing out the deeds.

First, what they owned America?

That part of it, otherwise they would not have been given deeds, and the 'back' tax scheme could not have been used to sieze it.

Second, who did they take it from?

According to current archaeological theory, no one. They settled there some time after the last Ice Age.

Third, you assume that our involvement in history was only for the worse.

No, you assume I assume that.

I never made a judgement, just stated facts.

That land was not taken from my wife's ancestors by military conquest, but political and legal chicanery. (BEWARE!: Great half-white Father still speaks with forked tongue!).

That is not a judgement of anyone but politicians, who are equal-opportunity thieves (they'll steal from anyone).

You said: I’ve got an idea, let’s stop pretending we are affected by events of well over a hundred years ago.

My point is simply this: The past affects the future, often with specific and possibly quantifiable effects on individuals.

There is no guarantee that had that land not been siezed 100 years ago, it might not have been lost 50 years ago. There are no guarantees that those assets would have been available in any form.

Still, my point remians: what we do today will affect the lives of our grandchildren's grandchildren, perhaps far more and far more directly than we can imagine.

Similarly, saying events of 100 years ago are irrelevant to today's situations is nonsense. Short of ripping up those historical foundations, we build upon them, for ill or good, but they do have an effect.

That is not to whine about the past (I provided that example only to illustrate the effect), but to learn from it. Otherwise, the cycle of history will keep repeating the lessons.