Well said!! I wish such insight were far more common but unfortunately it is rare. Slavery was a horrible thing but the US did more to abolish it worldwide than any country except Britain. I would add that as one of tens of millions of Americans whose ancestors only reached this country in the 20th century, I get particularly tired of being told I bear some special responsibility for what no one in my ancestry had anything to do with. My ancestors were all poor struggling fishermen, farmers, and miners in faraway lands (Cape Breton Island in northeastern Canada, Ireland, France) and they never even heard of slavery.
I’d say it’s time for the subject of race to “move on” from the bitter rants and recriminations of Jeremiah Wright and Al Sharpton, et al. No one alive today had anything to do with it.
“I would add that as one of tens of millions of Americans whose ancestors only reached this country in the 20th century, I get particularly tired of being told I bear some special responsibility for what no one in my ancestry had anything to do with. “
I totally understand your point. If I were constantly blamed for something I myself didn’t do it would get old very quickly. The only chance of being successfull in this world is Self Responsiblity. (the most successfull usually have a great deal of Self Dicipline as well but I digress)
And how can you have Self Responsiblity when you are always being told it’s somebody else’s fault that you are in your position in life. How can you grow?