America isnt getting into heaven

Barack Obama's Speech on race and its relevance today in society, has been echoing throughout the media, schools, the workplace and everywhere in between. Even Condoleezza Rice has made comments reitereating the points raised by Obama, leading to more bigoted responses from people like Lou Dobbs

Obama was not the first person to call slavery America's original sin. People can refer to him as the man who made it a point during the 2008 presidential campaign, but lets not give him too much credit.

BUT! As essential as slavery was to the U.S's development as a dominant world superpower, to the creation of white ruling classes consisting of corporate and and inherited wealth, and to the general privilege afforded to white people, none of this would have been possible without the land they stole. America's original sin in my mind was the genocide wrought upon Native Americans from Canada down to South America and throughout the Carribean. A genocide fueled primarily by greed for land and wealth, not fear/hate of "savages"

Was that not the quintessential crust that makes up the American Pie?

"Remebering" tradgedies of the past isnt a shopping cart philosophy, we cant just pick and choose what is convienent. If we are gonna talk about America's sins we need to talk about everything. We cannot ignore the Native American genocide and the enslavement of Asian immigrants to build the railroads, and their immense contributions to the West's developments. The knowledge alone, that was stolen from them was/is a sin in itself. But what about the CURRENT inhumane conditions of immigrant workers in constuction and domestic jobs, and all the other systems that oppress people on the basis of RACE AND CLASS AND GENDER AND SEXUALITY. Why hasn't a presidential candidate talked about that? Until the public starts to account for the multiple "sins" and the current ones, its not going to get into heaven.