I know my history. Knowing my history has given me a sense of identity, a sense of purpose. Because of my past, I try to act honorably, knowing that I have not only my own honor, but that of my family, to protect.
About 300 years ago, one branch of my family came to America from the shores of Scotland. Oral tradition has made their exodus an apocryphal tale, but most such tales bear some basis in fact. My ancestral clan was at war with a rival clan, so the story goes, and were due to set sail for America under the protection of the crown. The protection promised never showed, however, and my family were slaughtered at the port, with only a pregnant woman who had already stowed away on the ship to carry the family name into the future (it's far too dramatic to be entirely true, as I realize).
Another of my ancestors owned a rather large farm in Mississippi. During the Reconstruction, he paid his black workers in greenbacks instead of the customary scrip (which was essentially worthless), and for his actions had to abandon his land and titles to head north.
It's fair to say that, through the years, various skirmishes, tribal conflicts, and wars have reduced my family's material legacy and left us unable to pass our wealth onto future generations. As the discussion wages on about reparations, I have to wonder if every person who had a legal redress for grievance were to petition the offening party, where would it end? I belive that it wouldn't end, it couldn't end, as all of us are descended from past victims of wrong.
I believe it imperative for us to remember the past wrongs that were committed, but only with a resolve not to repeat them. We cannot use the very real, very wrong past of our treatment towards African Americans as an excuse to favor them now; future generations of white citizens will then have redress for grievances in the future, and it will never end.
Most of us who have been in this country for more than two centuries are either the descendants of former slaves, the descendants of former slave owners, or both. But the wrongs our ancestors committed, or the wrongs committed against our ancestors are in a past that needs to be forgiven, but never forgotten. If we want to remain strong as a nation, we MUST begin to put them aside.