Some black folks would have me believe I owe them a living because
at one time
some white Americans held some black Americans as slaves.
Now, I would not
condone slavery for one minute, and I believe I would would not
have if I had lived
in those times. Many white folks of that time were violently
opposed to slavery and
about 300,000 of them gave their lives in a war, partly waged
to end the practice.
But, let's face it. The slave owners are now dead and the
slaves are all dead.
The wrongs done to them cannot be righted in this life. Spoiling
their descendants
doesn't right anything.
Certainly, there were many instances of abuse of Indians by the early
white settlers
and the government. But all the abused and all the abusers
are now dead. There is
no way those wrongs can be righted in this life.
History is basicly the story of man's inhumanity to man. We
cannot and should not
try to right the wrongs of the past. Also, we do not live
in the past and do not know
the minds of those involved or the conditions in which they lived.
Many of my
ancestors were driven out of France and Germany by the French king,
Louis XIV on
orders from the pope. Should I, then throw rocks at the French
embassy or sue the
Catholic Church? I would be labelled as a certified nut, which
I would be. More
importantly, I am not the injured party. While
this was very tough on my ancestors,
it is a great gift to me. How much better has my life
been as a free American citizen
than if I had been born and raised in Europe. Thank God for
that privilege.
By the same token, Americans of African and Indian descent should
be (and I believe
most are) thankful to have been born in the USA, with all it's problems
and injustices
(which I do not discount). Also, if one really delves into
history, many of the so-called
"truisms" really aren't true. Much of it is policial garbage
created to benefit some who
claim to be, or to cater to "minorities".
For example: Some free blacks held slaves - do their descendants
owe other blacks?
Indian tribes in precolumbian America were constantly at war with
each other and
had no Geneva convention. They butchered, scalped, raped and
made slaves of the
losers - both Indian and White. do their decendants owe caucasian
descendants or
other Indians?
You will note I use the vernacular "Indians" rather than the politically
correct "native
Americans" to describe aboriginals. I was born in the USA
and so were seven generations
of my Chastain forbears. If I'm not a native American, then
please tell me just what I Am
. . . . . . . . JMC