As people of our age we are able to divide what would otherwise be joined so that we can disconnect conscience from questions that might be asked of it. I am not referring to something done just by materially comfortable white Americans, but since that is my people, that is whom I can speak to, and, because of our history, we are particularly good at.
     Our ancestors were slaveholders. Not all of them were, and some of us can say "none of my ancestors were slaveholders," which is historical truth. But saying that serves only to disconnect us from the fact that white America as a whole, perhaps understating it, profited from slavery. We deny that "white America as a whole" is a meaningful category with that statement about "my ancestors." "White America as a whole" has been and is a meaningful category, not only to black Americans but also to us. Or we might say "that was then and this is now," disconnecting the present state of black America from its past subjugation. All of this can also be applied to what has happened between white America and those who were already here when we started arriving. There, too, we disconnect ourselves from history. We like to believe that there is not much in the way of continuity from the pre-conquest cultures to the present cultures of both African-Americans and Native Americans, just as we deny continuity between the slaveholders and genocidal conquerors and ourselves.
     What can we do about it? First, take the example of the Australian "I�m sorry" movement. I have my doubts about the final usefulness of that. The most important thing, because it is the most humble, is not to disconnect ourselves or our time from history. "I�m sorry" looks to me like an attempt to encapsulate the learning of history, to say that historical learning has reached its goal, and therefore perhaps its termination, with the apology. Second, what about reparations? The logic of reparations is irrefutable, and it might be a good thing in some ways for the people receiving them (and bad in other ways). Reparations would point to an understanding of God�s grace: nothing can be done about history, but much can be done for people. But again, there's a danger in reaching a point where white Americans can say "now we have done enough." Some of us have said that before, and it was not good for us spiritually. It is never good to be in the place of the Phasrisee in the parable. We can deny history or disconnect ourselves from it, but it is there. It is not going away, it is irreversible, and that is the sinner�s despair. God does not remove it, make it deniable, or remove its consequences, but he does receive the despairing sinner and lives in and with that person.