Why is it that whites don't like to be reminded about the past?

Answer 1

Because none of us had anything to do with the past.

We weren't born yet.

Answer 2

No one wishes to be reminded about the past if they were terribly wrong. The white people in America did some pretty bad things. The wholesale slaughter of Indians and a massive amount of slavery with black people along with dangling women's rights in front of women's faces for years before finally giving them to them. The country likes to keep up an appearance of being "Free and Right" and to look back and see what terrible things it did tarnishes that image a terrible amount. So does the fact that America ignored a big part of what was going on in Germany during WW2 (but, to be honest, that was mainly because people couldn't fathom anyone actually DOING those atrocities).

It's not just America. Many countries have problems like this. Japan had a big controversy awhile back when it was going to change schoolbooks saying that it had never harmed Chinese citizens during a war (to the best of my knowledge) which sparked anger in China.

Answer 3

We have people in this country, USA, who do not know the significance of the year 1492, does not know when the civil war ended, does not know why the revolutionary war was fought, does not know who the first president was, etc., etc.

It would be a stretch to believe that they would know about black history, particularly slavery. It would be downright silly to think that. And where there is ignorance, there is opportunity for the less-than-honorable folks, especially if they are racists, to fill in the gaps with false history.

People talk as if slavery was the only major event in history. It is a bit convenient to ignore the discrimination and lynchings that have occurred since then. It was alway more than just slavery but the racist hatemongers constantly drag it down to just one aspect of American history. They don't want folks to focus on more recent history including current events. They don't want people to see what they have been supporting, or in some cases behaving after all these years.

It is a bit convenient to ignore FBI statistics showing that black folks are 3 times more likely than white folks to be victims of race-based hate crimes in 2005 ( http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2005/table1.htm ). And that is current events, not history, but people still falsely claim that most hate-crime victims are white. If people lie about current events, they will certainly lie about history.

Remember the holocaust? The pro-Nazi types do their best to make people believe that the murders conducted by their ancestral hatemongers never happened or was grossly exaggerated and misrepresented. And some do believe in that false propaganda. Efforts are made to ensure that their evil deeds are never forgotten, which is easy now only because some of the survivors and their children are still alive. Even some of the murderers (and their children) are still alive.

But wait until they all pass away. Then the angry cries against being reminded of the evil deed gets much louder than it is now. The opportunity to rewrite history becomes apparent then.

Yes, it can be annoying to those who already know the history (or current events) but it is news to those who don't. And, at the very least, it provides a counter-point to racist people who spread false history. If you don't provide any counterpoint to deceit, then people would start believing in the lies.

Answer 4

Reminded of what? History? If you'd ever picked up a history book and read some of the things inside you wouldn't be asking such a nonsense question. Please, do the world a favor and get an education. Don't pass up the opportunity your country is granting you. Study the past so our children won't be condemned to relive it. It also might empower you to not live up to the stigmas associated with your race. If you can distance yourself with the image you now hold of what it is to be black or white, you will be free to decide for yourself who you are. It seems now that you aren't quite capable of separating between some fairly old stigmas, and the modern global citizen. But maybe its me who is wrong, maybe you're living on a farm in South Africa and I am assuming you are living somewhere in the west. If that is the case then I am sorry. Good luck.

Answer 5

I agree that whites have no problem being reminded of the past, but we have no control over what people in the past did to African Americans. My ancestors had nothing to do with slavery...they were still in Italy. So to hold it over white people's heads all the time is repetitive and makes us feel bad. We feel like we always have to walk on egg shells as not to offend and such. We're SO careful about that, because we don't want any black person to feel like they're being discriminated against. So please, don't say that white people don't like to be reminded of the past. We just don't like being blamed for something that we had absolutely nothing to do with.

Answer 6

Who is reminding who?

Because no one alive today had any part in it. Speaking for myself, I have no blame for being a "white" since my ancestors were not in America at that time, my family were victims, sometimes slaves, in their own countries and I get no benefit from America's slavery past, in fact I bear the brunt of it every time I go for a job or a raise. The head of the EEO office actually told me that there is no law against discriminating against me, and she intends to make whites suffer as much as possible. That's the form this friendly "reminder" takes.

Oddly enough, people with slave owner blood in them, both white and black, are never the ones called to account. This woman who heads EEO is the decendant of both a rape victim and a rapist. Her ancestors were the slave owners, not mine. With that kind of pedigree perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that she takes it out on innocent victims, as does Jackson, as does Farakkhan, and the whole parade of hating, racist monsters from the KKK to Charles Rangel and David Dinkins. How does it feel to be reminded about them? If everyone followed the philosophy of MLK, we would all be fine. Have some respect. That goes for everyone.

"We may have arrived on different ships, but we're all in the same boat."

--MLK

Answer 7

I don't think that they mind being reminding about it. Because it did happen so it is something that everyone should be made aware of. It's just that the people living now had no control over it. And sometimes people still act as if whites today were responsible.

Answer 8

I don't think white necessarily care about being "reminded" of the past, they just don't like being blamed for something that happened 150 years ago. Of all the races that have been slaves throughout history, only the slavery of the blacks keeps getting brought time and time again. We're tired of blacks using it as an excuse for everything wrong in their lives. We're tired of them playing the race card. They also seem to think that EVERY white person in America today has an ancestor that owned slaves. Me personally, my people (the Italians) didn't get here in America until AFTER slavery. So no, I don't feel guilt for something my ancestors had nothing to do with. So any black who wants to hold me in contempt as a "white devil" needs to do alittle research. We're just sick of it.

Answer 9

cause like you, they were not part of it. Racism will continue as long as Blacks continue to make it the issue or the excuse for everything.

I think Blacks and others who had family who suffered in the past need to realize that was the past and just move on. the energy it takes every day to push the issue and punnish whites who had nothing to do with it could be used to better yourself and stop saying everyone else is the reason for your lack of efforts.

Before you start calling me names or whatever, a bit of history about my race. Puerto Ricans were enslaved, families separated,homes destroyed, buisnesses and land taken and just as recent as the 60's the women who went to the hospitals to bare thier child here in the US and in Puerto Rico were sterilized without thier consent. so save the, "you dont know what it was like". despite all that. you dont see Puerto Ricans going around using those things as a cheap defence. We are better then that, we realize that that was the past and we are not owed anything or have any need to punnish the white race. maybe you should do the same.

Answer 10

I do not suffer from White guilt.
That is a fatal white liberal disease.

There are no slaves alive today,
unless you consider the millions
of working White people that
pay for the total support of
millions of Ghetto Slag.
The Slag that you read about
in the newspaper, every day.

Answer 11

What a stupid question but it looks like I have to answer it HOPING to educate you. The past ISN'T the present (as the present isn't the future). We are blameless for whatever happened in the past and minorities are NOT victims unless they, themselves, experienced slavery (by us). The past is just a catch-all for irresponsible behavior. Most blacks are victims of other blacks and we are tired of hearing about their plight esp when Mexicans, Arabs, Asians and Africans come here and make it. The weak and useless cash in on supposed racism. Using the "logic" of people like yourself, all black people are guilty of rape 100 years from now for the rape that is happening now.