Morgan Freeman suggested in 2005 that the way to end racism is to "stop talking about it".
I have repeatedly suggest that everyone stand in a circle and pass a quarter to the person that is to their left.
Now that all past ancestral debts are paid let's get on with life.
If the people who committed the crimes are alive, fine, punish them. If the people who were harmed are still alive then see that they get as much justice and restitution as possible. But when all involved are dead you have to stop.
You can not apologize for things that you did not do. Expecting people to do so just makes them resent you.
You can not forgive an offense that was not against you. Trying to do so just leaves you feeling slightly empty and unsatisfied.
Let. It. Go.
Morgan Freeman is a great actor. A moral philosopher? Not so much.
When do we stop “talking about” anti-semitism? Would silence on it make it go away? Is not talking about issues the best way to make them disappear?
On the one hand we’re supposed to remember and celebrate our history. On the other hand, we’re supposed to forget (or at least be quiet about) those parts that make us squeamish.
(By the way, even if we disagree on the blame, at least there’s some collective memory of the depredations we inflicted on native Americans. On the other hand, NO American school child....and very few adults....has ever been taught of the fact that after winning the Spanish-American War, we embarked on a three year Philippine-American War which killed hundreds of thousands, most by cholera and famine, but many from summary executions and various atrocities. Like the native Americans, the Filipinos were considered “savages.”)