why is it that we as a country have such
a hard time coming to terms with our
past and some of the uglier chapters you
think that saying I’m sorry makes you
weak
and I think that’s what has to change in
this country you can’t actually tell the
truth if you’re not willing to confront
the mistakes you’d be if you go to South
Africa you see a nation that is
committed to never forgetting a part
time there’s an apartheid museum if you
go to Rwanda you see a country that is
determined to not forget the genocide if
you go to the genocide museum they
actually have human skulls in there
that’s just how powerfully they would
express their pain and anguish I was in
Berlin a month ago and when you go to
Berlin you can’t go 100 meters without
seeing markers and stones that have been
placed next to the homes of Jewish
families that were adopted during the
Holocaust and the Germans want you to go
to that Holocaust memorial because they
want to change their identity they
haven’t pretended that there wasn’t this
thing called the Holocaust and because
of that we don’t have a healthy
relationship with one another on the
topic of race statues schools highways
why is this symbolism so important there
are some people I think you think it
doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter what’s
the big deal
we honor people that tried to to defend
and perpetuate slavery we create that
same
dissonance we cannot legitimate slavery
we cannot legitimate lynching we cannot
honor segregation and racial hierarchy
we just can’t do it and recover and
that’s the reason why those statues
matter those street names matter those
statues and schools and highways and an
incredibly powerful symbol that is
really almost hard to describe it is
hard to describe and the history around
them makes that symbol even more
disruptive even more painful because
these monuments and memorials were
largely erected to signal triumph of a
narrative war the North won the Civil
War but the South won the narrative war
they won a battle of never having to
apologize for the violence and
destruction having enslaved people it
was designed to communicate to black
people that racial hierarchy white
supremacy will still be the law of the
land and I don’t think we’ve appreciated
the heart of the psychic arm of what
these symbols can do and not just
african-americans and people of color to
all of us because when we are forced in
this region to make ourselves proud of
things that are not worthy of pride to
make ourselves proud of things that
should really induce shame we corrupt
ourselves we really do should statues of
robert e lee and Jefferson Davis and
other Confederate heroes they’ve removed
and
I want to remove them because we all get
closer to recognizing that they should
have never been put up in the first
place I want us to get to the point
where we accept and acknowledge that
we’re celebrating things that we
shouldn’t be celebrating we should
actually name some streets after white
Southerners who tried to end slavery we
can name streets and schools after white
Southerners who tried to stop flinching
and we can all be proud of that and it
would do something that these symbols
don’t do which is that it could bring
people together how do you convince
people who feel these statues are so
associated with their personal stories
that they don’t want to let that go my
interest in talking about our history is
to not punish America for this history
I want to liberate us and there is a way
to be a white southerner and proud of
who you are and acknowledge the pain of
this past
that’s what restoration is about that’s
what reconciliation about Native
Americans have to watch all this
unfolding and think when are people
going to accept and acknowledge what
happened to us you can’t live in a
community like Montgomery Alabama
without being mindful that the creeks
Indian nation were forced to see 21
million acres of land to create this
space and then they were forced on a
trail of tears to the west their burial
grounds their sacred spaces were
destroyed to build hotels and banks so
that black people could then be enslaved
and that story of the Native American
genocide is a story that we also have to
confront we have to talk about that we
have to deal with that
are you optimistic we’re at a moment in
time that we can come to terms with the
past I’m optimistic because maybe we’re
in a moment where the silence is
breaking down if we can break down the
silence I have no doubt that something
[Music]
want more exclusive content from America
inside out well just click one of these videos floating next to me
a hard time coming to terms with our
past and some of the uglier chapters you
think that saying I’m sorry makes you
weak
and I think that’s what has to change in
this country you can’t actually tell the
truth if you’re not willing to confront
the mistakes you’d be if you go to South
Africa you see a nation that is
committed to never forgetting a part
time there’s an apartheid museum if you
go to Rwanda you see a country that is
determined to not forget the genocide if
you go to the genocide museum they
actually have human skulls in there
that’s just how powerfully they would
express their pain and anguish I was in
Berlin a month ago and when you go to
Berlin you can’t go 100 meters without
seeing markers and stones that have been
placed next to the homes of Jewish
families that were adopted during the
Holocaust and the Germans want you to go
to that Holocaust memorial because they
want to change their identity they
haven’t pretended that there wasn’t this
thing called the Holocaust and because
of that we don’t have a healthy
relationship with one another on the
topic of race statues schools highways
why is this symbolism so important there
are some people I think you think it
doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter what’s
the big deal
we honor people that tried to to defend
and perpetuate slavery we create that
same
dissonance we cannot legitimate slavery
we cannot legitimate lynching we cannot
honor segregation and racial hierarchy
we just can’t do it and recover and
that’s the reason why those statues
matter those street names matter those
statues and schools and highways and an
incredibly powerful symbol that is
really almost hard to describe it is
hard to describe and the history around
them makes that symbol even more
disruptive even more painful because
these monuments and memorials were
largely erected to signal triumph of a
narrative war the North won the Civil
War but the South won the narrative war
they won a battle of never having to
apologize for the violence and
destruction having enslaved people it
was designed to communicate to black
people that racial hierarchy white
supremacy will still be the law of the
land and I don’t think we’ve appreciated
the heart of the psychic arm of what
these symbols can do and not just
african-americans and people of color to
all of us because when we are forced in
this region to make ourselves proud of
things that are not worthy of pride to
make ourselves proud of things that
should really induce shame we corrupt
ourselves we really do should statues of
robert e lee and Jefferson Davis and
other Confederate heroes they’ve removed
and
I want to remove them because we all get
closer to recognizing that they should
have never been put up in the first
place I want us to get to the point
where we accept and acknowledge that
we’re celebrating things that we
shouldn’t be celebrating we should
actually name some streets after white
Southerners who tried to end slavery we
can name streets and schools after white
Southerners who tried to stop flinching
and we can all be proud of that and it
would do something that these symbols
don’t do which is that it could bring
people together how do you convince
people who feel these statues are so
associated with their personal stories
that they don’t want to let that go my
interest in talking about our history is
to not punish America for this history
I want to liberate us and there is a way
to be a white southerner and proud of
who you are and acknowledge the pain of
this past
that’s what restoration is about that’s
what reconciliation about Native
Americans have to watch all this
unfolding and think when are people
going to accept and acknowledge what
happened to us you can’t live in a
community like Montgomery Alabama
without being mindful that the creeks
Indian nation were forced to see 21
million acres of land to create this
space and then they were forced on a
trail of tears to the west their burial
grounds their sacred spaces were
destroyed to build hotels and banks so
that black people could then be enslaved
and that story of the Native American
genocide is a story that we also have to
confront we have to talk about that we
have to deal with that
are you optimistic we’re at a moment in
time that we can come to terms with the
past I’m optimistic because maybe we’re
in a moment where the silence is
breaking down if we can break down the
silence I have no doubt that something
[Music]
want more exclusive content from America
inside out well just click one of these videos floating next to me
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