I'm trying to come back from my struggles to survive and, so far as I can, to function at a better level after my bouts of cancer. Considering that I may now have a third cancer, a rare pancreatic cancer, this may be a wasted endeavor. Nevertheless, I am trying. And this is why I am again making an effort to make at least an occasional post on my blog.
This article addresses a problem that has come into national focus recently, although it is hardly a new problem. The problem is hardly a simple one. Everyone touched by this must ask themselves what to do about not only public reparations, but also personal and private penance for atrocities committed by your ancestors.
Putting myself at odds with the doctrine of most Christian sects, I regard the concept of original sin being passed on as morally reprehensible. Children should not be punished for the sins of their ancestors, and we certainly should not be considered to be born sinful and evil, because of what Adam and Eve did 6000 years ago in the Garden of Eden.
Still, being proud of your family history when it is good means it is unreasonable to refuse to be ashamed of your family history when it is bad.
I do not know if any of my ancestors held slaves. I don't know enough of my family history, which is in and of itself a shame, but so it is. And it is possible that some of my ancestors may have been guilty of this crime against humanity. However, I do not know.
After all, my family's Rancho, bordered on the South by the Rio Grande, was a land grant from His Most Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, no less. In other words, it goes back a long time. It was in the family hands until the property was finally sold decades ago. Obviously, it was in Texas , which, upon becoming a state, was a slave owning state. Prior to that, during the Spanish era, there were Indian slaves held in the region. Did any of my ancestors hold slaves to work the horse ranch? I don't know.
It wasn't a plantation or I would be certain. But I don't know. If they did, I would not be proud of it, and indeed would be ashamed of that element of our history.
However, the land is long gone, and so are the ancestors who may or may not have held slaves. So, I will say again, each individual, each corporation, each university, or any other group which formerly profited from the slave trade, must decide what to do about making amends.
I don't think there is an algorithm to solve this profound and disturbing moral challenge.
In this, and in all other areas, each and everyone of us must search our own soul and take what action we feel we must.
