In the simplest terms, it hasn’t, and this has caused an excessive amount of consternation and cognitive dissonance not only in America but around the world. As racialize violence continues to spread, the nation is still not ready to acknowledge the pain and harm caused by the enslavement of people of African descent. Recently, while reading Caste; The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson, I came across a segment that speaks to the challenges Nazi Germany was having in considering what to do about its “Jewish problem.” As they looked worldwide at how people treated the undesirables in their communities, they spoke about how America was lynching, burning, tar, feathering, and other heinous acts of brutality against people of African descent were too brutal. They chose to go with gas chambers as a more “humane method to dispose of the undesirables” in their communities.

 

Aside from the fact that human beings are being labeled as “undesirable,” it should give us pause when a country with the history of human mistreatment that Germany has, looks to America as being too barbaric. Furthermore, fast forward to Germany today and one would be hard pressed not to see the visible atonement that Germany is continuing to make for this horrific moment in their history. They made financial and political decisions that openly worked towards addressing the impact of enslavement of the Jewish people which lasted well over 12 years. 

 

We have seen the acknowledgement of the harm to Japanese being placed and kept in internment camps as well as the pain of the Chinese railroad immigrants. We have also seen America acknowledge the pain of the Jewish who were brutalized in Germany and take on efforts even to provide protection to animals and wildlife through legal and financial measures being provided. Yet, when it comes to the descendants of the African people stolen from their homeland, there is a hesitation to acknowledge in the same legal and financial manner or to simply state that harm has been done to an entire race of people. America is quick to compare people of color and their successes, but much slower to be transparent about the differential supports that have been provided to those that have been harmed. 

 

In America, there is still debates on the impact and the denial runs so deep that people literally attempt to behave as though slavery didn’t occur and that its impacts are not continually felt today. Whether it is the continued flying of the flags of losing entities like the confederate or trump flags. Or the backlash of the removal of racist historical symbols, statues and figures. The debates that come about when history is told from the perspective of people of color, it is told how it illuminates the lack of desire to address the fact that the American slavery and its roots in racist ideology have harmed everyone. This phenomena begs the question, how will we ever heal if we never acknowledge that harm was done? What exactly are we healing from, if we do not clearly point out who was harmed, and how it continues to be perpetuated today?

 

While many are attempting to answer these questions on large political or moral scales and seeking sweeping legislations, I argue that the solution to this is much more simple and personal. The solution lies in the very place where these ideas are born, flourish and perpetuate through beliefs and actions. The solution lies in our homes, in how we worship and how we raise our children. 

 

There is this belief that America is this untouchable outside entity that is beyond reproach and meant to be defended, yet who is America? As an educator, I would constantly hear people complaining incessantly about “the district”, yet when I ask “who is the ‘they’ that is being referred to as ‘the district’” there is usually an awkward silence.

 

‘The District’ much like ‘America’ is made up of people and what occurs in a school district or in our country is based on what we “the people” believe and therefore allow. That being said, America is made up of families like yours and mine and we have more power inside of our own homes than anywhere else. So, how can America acknowledge the harm of slavery? How about we start by teaching our children the truth of what was happening during that time, why it was happening, who was harmed and how, and discussing with them what we can do to make this right in the future? 

 

Addressing racism in our homes using a restorative approach will require that we learn the history of which we are looking to teach. The problem is many adults are stuck with the version of history, which paints that fantasy visual of America as this untouchable unicorn like entity that needs to be preserved, defended and saved. In actuality, America has been harmful to many people in her short time in existence and if we are going to change the future, we have to start by being honest about what happened in our past. We cannot expect the world to acknowledge the harm of American slavery if America has not done that herself. 

 

This begs the question of each of us as Americans: what are we doing to ensure our children understand the harm that America has done as a result of slavery? How are we making sure our children are aware of the prices that were paid by their ancestors for the benefits we have today? How are we going to have our children be the change that we seek in the world? And finally, how are we as parents going to teach our children something that we ourselves may be learning alongside them? 

 

 

Article about Germany’s Atonement and Reparations for Slavery

Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson