And will try to be more polite this time.
Agree that there is a lot of anti-Americanism circulating around both the nation and the world, today.
However (however), on this topic ("Roots" and slavery), slavery is very much a part of American history, as much as the American Revolution or settling the West.
While "Roots" could have tended toward propagandistic, it did show an actual thing which happened in American history, even if it embellished that history a bit.
The point which personally trying to make is that that history should not be shied away from, it should not be ignored, it should not be "swept under the rug" or "covered up," and it should not be considered as though it didn't exist (which is what personally suspect some of the "move on" proponents actually propose).
That bad part of this country's history should be accepted. Not used as a figurative cudgel to beat down pro-Americanism or as a tool to further anti-Americanism. Just accepted as a dark spot on the nation's history, the same way the American Revolution is viewed as a bright moment in the country's past.
To recognize that does not threaten reputations about the United States (Americans and the world are aware that the United States had slaves), nor does it help increase anti-Americanism.
As the last comment in the article (the BBC comments) states, the subjugation of a people is not something new, and has happened to many ethnicities. Not acknowledging or fully accepting the United States' slavery is far more ruinous to opinion about the country than was "Roots."
"That bad part of this country's history should be accepted. Not used as a figurative cudgel to beat down pro-Americanism or as a tool to further anti-Americanism. Just accepted as a dark spot on the nation's history, the same way the American Revolution is viewed as a bright moment in the country's past. "
You miss the point, we have been beaten down by this racial propaganda.
As a conservative you must wonder what set the United States on it's path of destruction, it was when we changed simple history into an indictment of everything American.
You wonder why we are swamped by immigrants of a different race, of a different religion, of a different culture, language, etc, etc.
America has always dealt with it's faults, but in the 50s and 60s the left used that to move us into a national feeling of guilt, and shame, and self revulsion (at least by the leftist elites).
The left used this falsely brutal version of our history to drive legislation like the 1965 immigration bill and feminism, and black power politics, and they removed Christianity under the umbrella of being "the white power structures religion".
Many of us on this forum watched this happen, many of us supported the shift, and then we saw the horror as the radical left used our nations goodness to destroy it.
You seem to have recently discovered warts that we all know about and are tired of focusing on, this is the 21st century, 50 or 60 years of wallowing in self destructive guilt is enough, for one thing "we" aren't even "we" anymore, so you can leave the old roots stuff behind.
""That bad part of this country's history should be accepted.""
You must be kidding, we have wallowed in it for two generations, we need to move on to the stars, and more advanced thinking.
Are you trying to get us to end our fight to end slavery, by reminding us that we participated in a relatively small way, a long, long, time ago, in the commerce of the African economy of human slavery, which is more a part of African culture than any other group? Within only 20 years our revolutionary new country had already stopped the importing of slaves.
Right now you should be helping America to get the Africans to follow in our footsteps, and end slavery among their race.
Join Christians in their fight to make African culture more like the pre 1960 American culture.