The Worst Thing We've Ever Done | On the Media | WNYC Studios

Chip... here's the problem.

By and large, every American citizen knows and accepts that the cultural norms and values of one hundred, two hundred, or five hundred years ago are not compatible with those of today. I see no great impulse to wipe out the "savages", cast out the Asian (or the Irishman for that matter), or enslave the African. Cortez's bones are long since dust, as are those of Columbus. Since those first landings... we've fought to rid ourselves of imperialism, fought one another to rid ourselves of slavery, and slowly (at times, painfully) embraced better ideals of humanity. One need look no further than the fact that within approximately six generations... we've gone from the "Fugitive Slave Law", to an African-American President. No one's trying to "glorify" (or hide) genocide, racism, and hate... they're trying to oppose a retrograde and dangerous philosophy of vengeance.

I won't judge by the group, because everyone's experiences are different. However, I don't believe the impetus behind these "movements" has anything whatsoever to do with "justice". Personally, I believe most of it is motivated by bitterness, resentment, and a cruel rejection of anything positive associated with our society. I could theorize further, suggesting that it is those enamored with Marx, or those diabolical enough to plot global domination that are ultimately behind it all. Those who despise decency, loathe personal freedom, and lust for total control may very well be harnessing ghosts of the pasts to haunt we living in the present.

Up to now, I've seen America evolving towards more positive outcomes. With each passing generation, we seemed to be becoming more "aware" of our familial relationship as brother and sister human beings. Love, forgiveness, understanding... all seemed to be uniting us. What changed? Personally, I don't think it began with statues that went up a century ago... but with words like "political correctness" and "reparations". It began when we started equating crime and cruelty with "culture"... and began idolizing depravity.

An evil genie has been let loose from it's bottle... it may not be so easy to put it back again.