My Cat Woody, Slavery, and How We Deal with The Past We Now Abjure: Part I

Abstract

How do we relate to our ancestors who did things that we would and do not do, for example hold slaves or express views about racial differences we find abhorrent? The impulse nowadays is to react to our ancestors who lived in the past and who produced us as unacceptable versions of ourselves —and to show this we frequently feel we must take down their statues and re-name buildings and institutions. This is a form of colonialism of time rather than place. The past is always different than the present, which is why we see it as the past, whether better or worse. Yet it is part of us and made us who we are.