Politically Incorrect

Can you be "politically incorrect" if you are unaware? Can you re-write history? Can people today apologise & make reparations for what was done by others, years ago? Should monuments to people who achieved something in their lives be removed because some of the things they did are not acceptable today? I find all of this quite challenging. I can't see any of it in black & white terms, (sorry), of right & wrong.

A post about Golliwogs on my Facebook page prompted me to think about this. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog

There must be thousands of children, like me, who had a Golliwog that we loved & cuddled & took everywhere with them. There was something very jolly & cheerful about the image which was comforting. We knew nothing of this dark side to the toy & image, which I do understand now. There are now a lot of "politically incorrect" toys. Attitudes & understanding have changed hugely. But lets not forget that we who played with Golliwogs did that because we loved them, not because we had racist attitudes.

The Golliwogg first appeared in 1895 in Florence Upton's book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls,  published in London. 

https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/golliwog/homepage.htm 

Hopefully human beings do learn lessons from the mistakes of the past. We have the capacity to improve, be better people, be more understanding & aware. I think I can understand racism better than many white people because my mother was German. I was born in 1945 & have a very German name. My childhood was not easy. But that does not mean that I feel discriminated against today or have a desire for apologies or reparations for the unkindness & bullying. I feel that the past is history & what matters is now & the future.

It is undoubtedly true that colonialism & slavery are a huge blot on the history of the world. Amazingly it can be traced back 11,000 years & into the ancient world of Egypt, China & the Middle East! We only tend to think of slavery in relation to Africa. Slavery existed in Africa well before colonialism & Africans themselves participated in colonial slavery. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery

Human beings are a combination of good & evil. They have the capacity to be both saints & sinners. Life is a constant battle to be the best person you can be & not be greedy & self serving. All religions are allegories based on that fact. 

It's a good thing that we now acknowledge what has been done by people historically. It's a good thing that we are now more aware. I just don't believe that people today can apologise for sins they did not commit. I don't believe that reparations can be made by people today to the actual people discriminated against if they are not still alive. Tearing down monuments does not change anything. 

What we should do is ensure that the truth is told about these people, both good & bad.