Something we have all heard too many people say when black people talk about the oppression their community has faced for centuries in America (and other countries) is, "Why can't you just forget the past and move on." This is hypocritical on its face, as the current uproar over "protecting" monuments to the perpetrators, upholders, and defenders of slavery clearly indicates.

My husband and I were talking about this last night. We don't forget our family history and there is usually one person or family story that is shared on and on through the family. For my husband, it is his great grandfather on his dad's side. Stories about him abound, some good, most awful. For me, it's my great grandfather on my dad's side. He was a pioneer in Alberta and made quite a name for himself. Again, some good, some bad stories, but the point is, we're all still talking about him. My husband's great grandfather was probably born sometime around 1850-1860, mine in the 1880s. That's a long time ago and here we are still talking about them.

More broadly, we talk about the world wars, the French Revolution, the War of 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry VIII, and countless other figures and events that define who we are, how the world was shaped, and how we live in it. We talk about loved ones ancient and recent who have fought in wars and recount their experiences in sentimental tones, often justifiably, but not always if we are honest. Those who defend the statues of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and others bemoan "the loss of our history" in apocalyptic tones, as if taking down a monument to a tyrant somehow erases them from memory. It doesn't. Shocking, I know.

And yet, the expectation is that black people simply forget their history, forget their ancestors, forget the brutality. They are told to stop talking about it and instructed to leave it in the dustbin of history.

Tell me, why can we, as white people, preserve our history, talk about it, glorify it, and prioritize it over all others? And who do we really think we are to demand that black people forget their history. I would posit that we don't want to be confronted with it because it makes us look bad and we just don't like that. We're not supposed to be the bad guys, right? That doesn't fit our self perception at all.

What are your thoughts?