My larger point was that to place the blame of ancestors past on the living today is to be complicit in the culture of violence that we all are responsible for today through our mutual tolerance. The past was terrible for many different people, there's no question of that. But so long as we allow past actions to define people as murderers, rapists and sociopaths today, we will never be able to heal together and cooperate for a brighter future.
This is the conundrum with America. We still haven't come to terms with our past, yet all of the laws, treaties, wars and events which we like to call the "past" still have every much of a bearing and are the foundation for what we do, why we do it, and how we do it today.
Look at the history of guns.
In the colonial world, guns went from canons on ships to the pocket size versions we have today. You can even find canons and canon balls on some state flags and other government insignia along with guns as well because they were the premise for this nation and symbolic of the nature and militancy of the founding of america.
If we truly want to create a peaceful nation, we would have to abandon the old ways and create a new nation out of peace. I believe that how something begins gives one clues as to how that thing will end.
In the case of America, I believe our future is already written.
