The "American Question" revisited

by Rick Capotosto

Our children grow up, learn things and uncover the Ptolemaic questions we tired of so many years ago. They stick it right back in our faces, demanding answers like we did. And they grow up smart, at least they all seem to have their specialties going, backed by a lot of schooling, the internet and talk radio.

My sons know their Founding Fathers and they see the genius of it all - what took place when this nation was knit together in the 1700's. They have also seen where the propaganda breaks down and it always comes around to "slavery," the American question. Still.

Now we oldies all got tired of "the question" sometime in the late 1970's after 20 years of ugliness. Everybody did and we've been letting time work. And it has.

But the kids still want to know how come "all men" didn't really mean "all men". They want to understand how men who kept others chained and caged could shake their fists at England for subjecting them to political servitude. They need to grasp exactly where disconnect was for these wise intellectual giants between the lofty platitudes and the maintenance of their kitchens, stables and fields.

They want to know which Jesus was in their hearts, the real one, or, the impostor.

So they bring it all up again for us, scratch open the wounds of humanity anew. This is what I've learned recently in my renewed curiosity after sitting down one-on-one with several blacks and discussing this head-on:

First, I don't feel guilty anymore about any of it. It's "history" and not even my history at that.

Second, black-Americans have no interest in pinning guilt on whites. They got over that somewhere along the way too. The cry of the 60's for reconciliation has been sincerely replaced with a reasoned call for recognition.

At the heart it is a compelling plea - "understand that we don't know who we are! All that we do know is rather shameful, disjointed and fractured. We want to first be recognized as having value as a people group just like everyone, not just us but our forefathers also."

Third, the real Jesus was at work in the hearts of many back then, but far from all. They were shaking the foundation of the world -- and risking hanging & quartering -- by denouncing aristocracy as a fraud, asserting that God did not ordain one class of humans as "noble" and others "common". Though many called for going further, eliminating slavery, there were not enough of them.

I am convinced that no power or intellect on earth besides the love of Jesus can overcome bigotry in men because slavery in all forms is of Satan and only Jesus ever could or ever can stand against that slave pimp.

The French revolution was totally of "men" and ended in butchery because they could not stand against the Hater of Men without Jesus. He twisted their fine intentions into his will for more destruction.

So, this is what I tell my kids and then I listen to hear what they think. And pray for their world as I assume our parents prayed for ours. by Compostholestoy