This cartoon makes an important point:
As an American, I’m often confronted with people who demand that if I take any pride in American developments such as the space program or defeating Communism I must also take responsibility for things like slavery and the mistreatment of the Indians. On a simplistic level… sure, I suppose. But the distinction I make: I refuse to feel shame or pride for things that NO LONGER EXIST. The space program? Still exists. Slavery? A century and half gone. Nuclear power? Still exists (despite the best efforts of the anti-nuke activists). Jim Crow? Generations gone. First and Second Amendment? Still in force. Trail of Tears? Long over.
There are wrongs that still exist. The War on Some Drugs, for example. The Great Society programs that have contributed to the collapse of the family structure and the permanence of poverty. Idiotic rules and regulations on *everything,* political correctness and speech codes, the lack of forward progress on nuclear power, astrologers, televangelists, dubstep. They still exist, so we should own them. But demanding that people alive *now* take responsibility for things that happened and *ended* long before they were born is just stupid and wrong.