Genealogy taught me about the good and bad of history and many still seem to have a cross to bear over some grievance because of it. They often carry it as a badge of honor; not to correct the mistakes from the past but to use it to encite more hate and violence. We're supposed to learn from history and correct our behavior, not dwell on it or live in it. Especially use it as an excuse to keep whining about something we cannot change or to allow it to keep breeding hate and violence.
I shared this comment (below) with a friend and decided to share it here too. It was in regards to memes about the treatment of Native Americans and Irish settlers. I don't mind the memes as long as it's to teach us how badly we've treated people in the past (which these were), so we don't repeat it. It's suppose to remind us how bad things were, not give us complete freedom to create more mayhem.
Also, I like to add to what I said below, there has been cruelty to many other cultures and religions in American history, too. The Catholics were treated very harshly in some areas of America. Other religions have had their fair share of hate and violence. There always seems to be a focus on hate somewhere about someone or something.
---- Comment
It doesn't matter which country, many immigrants, whether they were Germans, Mexicans, Chinese, Swedish etc, saw a lot of discrimination. The Native Americans saw the rush to migrate to this new land from Europe. Their fear of being taken over was realized just as people who settled here also began to feel the same way. Their way of life was challenged and it makes people uncomfortable. Their fear brings out the ugly.
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I also shared this link about the challenges of 19th century immigration. Excerpt: "America during the 1800s often faced prejudice and mistrust. Many had to overcome language barriers. Others discovered that the challenges they had fled from, such as poverty or religious persecution, were to be encountered in America as well."
http://classroom.synonym.com/challenges-faced-immigrants-19th-century-9525.html
Yes, we have had a violent past but we keep being violent. Apparently, we haven't learned our lesson, which is why we keep repeating it.
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