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Originally Posted by almostaugust
Well said Roachboy.
This idea of 'letting the past go' and 'getting over it' that some members continue to spout is dangerous. Issues of race and descrimination still plague us today, and we cannot move foward and progress with these issues until we address the past. History isnt a simple narrative, its a field of contesting ideas and theories.
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I have already addressed this.
There is a difference between learning lessons from history (presumably in order not to repeat them) and holding on to the hurt of the past.
Some examples of the latter include:
Southerners and the civil war: Cries of "The South will Rise Again!" still ring out, almost 150 years after they lost and in some parts of the south you will still get the **it kicked out of you for being a yankee.
Slavery: Closely related to the above, people who are 4 generations or more removed from slavery are still incensed about it and hold it against those who are also 4 or more generations removed from it (whether their ancestors held slaves or not).
Columbus and the American Indians: This is one of my personal favorites as the American Indian Movement regularly clashes with the Sons of Italy in Denver during the latter's attempt to hold their annual Columbus Day parade. Over 500 years since the man crossed the Atlantic and they want to put all the sins of medieval Europe on him.
And finally the oldest (that I know of) and perhaps the most deadly: The Crusades and the Middle east: They are still pissed off about what happened approximately 800 years ago. It is important to acknowledge that the region has undergone huge political turmoil (especially in the last 200 years or so), but this is the start and OBL still cites in order to get followers. This tradition of holding onto a grudge has kept the blood flowing in the region even when it is in the best interest of all parties to stop the killing.
(There is of course much I have left out which I acknowledge here.)