Why should I (or most Americans) feel guilt for slavery?

Question

1) No one alive today owned slaves. The Abrahamic God might yap about 7 generations, but that's not the way our laws work.
2) Given the vast amount of immigrants post civil war, I'd claim a majority of Americans have no possibility of a slave holder, seller, or even supervisor in their past. I did the math myself (solid northerner, pretty good family records) and calculated out of my 130 K (or so) ancestors since the Pilgrims landed, 80+% no possibility, 20% possible/not probable, maybe 6 people likely (sailors), and one confirmed. Pretty hard for me to feel guilty, about the one rich Puritan 15 generations back (Table the NA guilt Q.)
On the other hand genetic testing says 80-90% of all African Ams have white blood and pretty much anyone but Strom Thurmond would agree most didn't come from love childs. So a vast majority of African-Americans have way more slave owner, etc. blood than I and a majority of Ameicans.
So why should I cut a check for what their parents did?

Answer 1

you shouldn't. Like you said that's History.We are not responsible for it.

Answer 2

Although the enslavement of people was one of the most abhorrant acts within the history of this great nation, there should be no guilt, or malice between the American people 200 years later.
What about the displacement of scores of Native Americans?
Or the slaughter of countless Chinese Railroad workers, simply because it was easier and more cost effective than paying them the wages agreed upon.
These, and many other issues with the same basis seem to have been virtually forgotten.
Guilt? No Way! I was not here 200 years ago, and neither was anyone else. Should your future descendants feel guilt for your mistakes?
I am an eighth generation American, and the possibility some of my ancestors owned slaves is very real, but I don't even want to know.
I am not saying slavery should be forgotten, only that it needs to put into perspective. It happened! It was 200 years ago! Let's get over it so we can move forward.

Answer 3

You're right. There's no reason to feel guilty for slavery after all these years, unless you were directly involved in it.

Practically every demographic, Southerner or Northerner, white or black (Yes, you heard me. African-AMERICANS owned slaves too, and had no qualms about it either!), owned slaves at some point in time. Does that mean we should ALL start fasting to protest the atrocities of our ancestors? NO! My dictionary says that to feel guilty is "to feel responsible for or chargeable with a reprehensible act." And yet, the responsibility does not lie with us, but our forbears.

People kept slaves as a necessary economic commodity and not because they were sadistic monsters out looking for fun (although a few were). If they are to be judged, they ought to be judged in their full socio-economic context.

Slavery's over and done with. Yes, it was a monstrous institution from the moral point of view, but let's not cry over spilled milk, since we didn't even do the spilling in the first place. The best thing to do is to acknowledge past wrongs done, apologize, and move on. We've got the present to look to, after all.

Answer 4

Most Americans should not feel guilty about it. It happened way before their time. The few that should are sadly the ones that will never feel guilty about it, because they still think it's a good idea. But those people are idiots.

But this issue isn't really about guilt or responsibility. It is often more about getting something from it. If any person is trying to claim compensation now for something that happened a hundred years ago or more, that's just greed.

Answer 5

White people today are no more to blame for slavery then my step-father is to blame for the Halocaust. He may have been born in Germany in 1945, but that doesn't mean he had anything to do with murdering Jews!!

On the other hand, there are still many social evils and injustices in the world today. Shouldn't we ALL spend our energy fighting those, instead of spending the energy sobbing and debating about past history.. debating as to whether formal "apologies" are needed or not?

The only thing the African Americans need from us Caucasions is to be treated with respect and as equals. That's how we can "make ammends for past wrongs".

Answer 6

I don't know if the goal of the African American political agenda is really to make you feel guilty as it is to build a very strong intolerance to anything that makes the period of slavery seem appealing or acceptable. It may seem right now that slavery ended almost 150 years ago, but up to about 50 years ago we had crazy amounts of pro-slavery, anti-minority feels being expressed very openly. Our world today isn't something that naturally 'happened', it came from a lot of people, black and white, that spent most their days fighting for a better life. And that fight still continues, enough that white people even question whether they should feel guilty. I'm sure it would be amazingly funny to a black person in the early 1900s to think that white people, unrelated to slavery would be considering this. But anyway, my main point is that people have learned from many generations that they can't stop pushing, and they will, and I think should, continue to push for more... and whether it leads some people to feel bad or unjustly guilty is not nearly as important as a beneficial result of leading a people to further improve their civil rights.

Answer 7

I personally don't feel guilty about slavery. I did not have anything to do with it. I do genealogy research and have no slave owning ancestors to date. I live in the far north of the country and so have most of my ancestors.

I do however sympathize with those who's ancestor's were slaves. And, I do think it was a shameful part of our history. Certainly nothing to be dismissed. I would hope that people who have slave owning ancestors. Would realize that it was bad what they did. However, they cannot change what their ancestors chose to do.

But we can decide how we want to represent ourselves to future generations.

Answer 8

You may be right about that, concerning the number of "black" slave owners. Many looked white and from a community standpoint were identified as mulattos.

I have found some in my own family records. We have not really began to understand the social distinction of race and how it works in America. Our racism has prevented us from seeing its reality properly..... I think.

There is much black blood in the white race as well and only time, and a better understanding of race will bring this out.

So I say put your checkbook away the jury is still out on this one.

Answer 9

Hold on here, Slavery was not just all Americans fault, it was also many Spanish, Dutch, Danish, French, English, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese, Russians faults, and you name it which the list goes on. This problem has been going on for thousands of years. Today, slavery is almost extinct, but still thriving in places like in areas such as Congo, parts of Asia, and still to a degree here in North America (pay slave labour). Again, why should those who were never responsible for these problems of slavery be punished and pay those are now related to their ancestors who suffered the fate of slavery. If the people who suffered from slavery are alive today and those who did the crime should be the ones who should be paying for it not those who didn't. This is called reverse racism and scapegoating for money which is pure greed. Not only that, this tells me that they want to punish a particular race to make them feel good and powerful or superior over others when the punisher did nothing wrong. So hyprocritcal of those who abuse this type of problem to get what they want and shame on them. Regardless of race, no one should suffer racism and slavery. Blaming others who did none of these things to them is wrong. It time to forgive and move on, and prevent these thing from happing again. And God bless you all.

Answer 10

Relax. The United States was the first country to not only talk about ending legalized slavery but actually did it.

You probably never owned slaves unless you are from Sudan, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, South Asia...to name a few places where it openly exists in the year 2007.

The only people who should feel guilt about slavery are those who owned or currently own slaves.

Answer 11

one million: No. even in the experience that your great, great grandparents have been interior the U. S. on the time and had any involvement in slavery, you will desire to no longer sense to blame, you weren't born then and had no longer something to do with it. additionally, you're no longer to blame of your ancestors sins. 2: you will desire to no longer be considered because of the fact the oppressor or the reason. while somebody of any shade shows the form of element, remind them of the plight the Irish had while they first immigrated to North usa. perchance you will desire to do slightly history examine on the Immigrant Irish to the U. S.. slightly history lesson for you from me: did you recognize that as much as the 2nd international conflict that the only activity maximum Irish men would desire to get the place heavy labour jobs on the water front and being a beat cop, because of the fact they have been risky jobs. additionally, bars had signs and indicators out front putting Irish men final. They examine "No canine Or Irish men Allowed" 3: i've got not got self assurance they'd desire to be. Even in Canada are taxes at the instant are procuring "Head Tax" of the early chinese language immigrants. i think that throughout basic terms the survivors would desire to get this or their first descendants, no longer their grandchildren. and how many cases can we would desire to continually pay the community Peoples back? i understand for a actuality my Grandparents had no longer something to do with stealing every physique's land and nor did I. Your interior a similar boat my chum.