Like most manufactured memes intended to tell a group of lazy-thinking people what they want to hear, this largely misses the point with distortion. To seek distance from the social effects of slavery by displaying a stock photo of an Asian little girl to represent an analogy of why no one alive today should be held responsible for acts of previous generations, you fall into the victim's trap that this is all about blame.
For example, perhaps we shouldn't blame current society for pollution because that was started by previous generations. In that light, to blame the innocent is just plain stupid. Maybe it's ridiculous to blame any tobacco company in existence today for hiding the health hazards of its products in the 1940's because the people who ran those companies back then are no longer alive today. So, it's probably just plain stupid to fine them now.
The problem with this "feel good, I'm not responsible" message is blame is not the issue or the solution. Japan has a modern day Constitution that accounts for its actions at Pearl Harbor and throughout the World War even though those actions were conducted by a previous generation. That little girl shouldn't be blamed (although she is probably not safe on the streets of American cities because of her Asian appearance), but she does have responsibility not to repeat the actions of her ancestors. Tobacco companies are being held responsible for promoting their "cancer sticks" with reckless abandon even though their current leadership had nothing to do with that promotion. Modern day people have a responsibility to clean up the air and water even though they did not cause the original pollution.
Society, today, needs to acknowledge the effects of slavery and needs to reconcile those effects even though no one alive today was involved. And, not necessarily with reparations, but still with a sense of responsibility.
I will always remember meeting a dear friend's father. He had been a Japanese soldier in World War II. My friend introduced him to me. He humbly bowed his head and said that he apologized for Pearl Harbor and all the events that followed. With tears in my eyes I replied and my father would apologize to your country for the atomic bombs that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
We do need to remember that governments make many decisions that the average person does not condone or agree with.
I don't have any answers. But, I will always remember meeting this very humble man.
Nobody's blaming anyone for slavery. [i]We all know who was behind it.[/i]
We're saying it's generationally incumbent on those who wielded the weapons to now soothe the wounds.
Slavery wasn't a few hours on an early morning. It was hundreds of years and the effects are still felt today. Rather than spending so much energy defending the bad actions of this nation, it might be more productive find solutions for everyone.
SW-User
Agreed...just as I don't hold anyone else accountable for what certain people have done to me. I feel bad for anyone with true hardship based on happenings, but I'm not taking the blame for something I never did.
Actually it is evil to seek to penalize the child for the transgressions of their ancestors..
The people who did the wrong and the people who suffered from that wrong are dead and buried..
If you demand an apology you are inflicting an injustice upon the child and the one receiving the apology is inflicting and injustice because they are receiving an apology when they have not suffered the wrong..
But this is the evil SJW's are seeking to inflict upon the world..
@MarkPaul Kind of difficult to combat a meme with a ring of truth to it, that is why you had to start right off with the insult of lazy-thinking people and drone on for 4 paragraphs talking about pollution and tobacco products instead of the point the meme was making. Which in case you missed it I have zero responsibility for slavery just like that little Asian girl had zero responsibility for Pearl Harbor.
When it comes to race people need to take account of the facts staring them strait in the face before they start crafting solutions to problems which they never identified.
@MarkPaul I have a responsibility to do my part in upholding my society but that is it, what happened to someone a century or more ago to people who are no longer alive by people who are no longer alive is just not my problem and I resent people who try to in their warped liberal ideas try to make it so.