Germany Confronted Its Past and Flourished. So Can the U.S.
The willingness to face up to a shameful history can be a source of great strength.
Time to grapple with the past.
Photographer: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A cultural revolution is sweeping across Great Britain and the United States. Toppling statues of slave owners, protesters are demanding moral reparations — an acknowledgement that slavery and imperialism underpinned the wealth and power of two of the world’s most prominent countries, condemning millions of people with darker skins to generations of poverty and indignity.
The iconoclasts have shifted much public opinion in their favor, as can be witnessed in the truly incredible (if also slightly absurd) scene of Democratic lawmakers in Kente stoles kneeling in solidarity with victims of racist violence. A range of individuals and institutions have come out vigorously in favor of racial justice; those found in violation of it are being named and shamed.