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  •  I agree about that foreign language thing (6+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    catfish, Janet Strange, bankbane, onemadson, farleftcoast, balancedscales

    I was tempted to write a Southern White Man's response myself - it wouldn't have been this...

    Guilt? Not the right word.  I have made more than my share of bad decisions and mistakes.  The fact that I am still a homeowner, still well-employed, still able to put bread on the table despite these mistakes comes 100% from "where I came from". And someone whose heritage isn't mine could do far less wrong and be far worse off as a result.  That's not fair, and I don't really feel right about having that advantage.  Is it guilt? I don't think so. But I do feel the need to work to fix the inequity.

    And that's my disagreement with "Musings". I don't know about others around me (and if I had written that diary, I would have been talking a lot about those people), but rather than a one vote, one president band-aid - I want to dispel my ambivalence over my unfair advantages by helping erase them - and will only feel that burden lift when I see them gone.  Probably not in my lifetime.

    There's so much more, but it's so hard to discuss...

    What the individual can do is to give a fine example, and to have the courage to uphold ethical values .. in a society of cynics." - Albert Einstein

    by smijer on Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 11:19:53 AM PDT

    [ Parent ]

    •  Feeling shame about America's past is different (0+ / 0-)

      from being responsible for it.  And constantly trying to create a better democracy is what we are all doing here.  

      I believe the self-described "black woman" who wrote the words in question is seeking something that will never happen.  Namely, "justice" for hundreds of years of crimes against humanity, and against her family.  

      There is simply no way to genuinely "make up" for all of Western Civilization's horrendous crimes.  The only way is to move forward as one nation, with an acknowledgement of those crimes, and strive to do better in the future.  Starting now.  I agree there has never really been an acknowledgement of those crimes.  But to insist on putting Americans in political "camps" based on their skin color and their ancestors is to condemn all people to never being able to escape the sins of their fathers or make a live as their own individual.  We need to progress as a nation to the point where Barack is not a "black" candidate.

      Learning to speak the same American "language" would be a good start.  

      Let's hope we can eventually do that.

      by recontext on Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 12:26:46 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

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