Charlottesville, A Final Thought
My slave holding people of the mid 1800s who lived in the South deserve more consideration for their brutal attitudes toward blacks, —than do we for our racism toward people of color. The slave trade, referred to by Southeners as “our peculiar institution” was the fading, dying residue of an ancient institution. The Slavery Abolition Act abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire became law in 1833. The factors entailed in the law were the advance of religion, morality, and education. The work of William Wilberforce for 20 years played no small part. Also, no doubt the developments of the industrial revolution made slaves less important to the economy.
When we have racist thoughts and sympathies at this juncture in the 21st century, we are thinking as did our slave holding ancestors. We need to put that behind us.
Here are words for thought composed in 1946 in the aftermath of WWII.
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There can be no question of force triumphant.
We live in the age of victorious justice.Do not mention force, or you will be accused
Of upholding fallen doctrines in secret.He who has power, has it by historical logic.
Respectfully bow to that logic.Let your lips, proposing a hypothesis,
Not know about the hand faking the experiment.Let your hand, faking the experiment,
Not know about the lips proposing a hypothesis.Learn to predict a fire with unerring precision.
Then burn the house down to fulfill the prediction.
excerpt from CHILD OF EUROPE
By Czeslaw Milosz
