Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

My friend yesterday, when we were discussing "The Sentence", said to me, in response to my statement that I hoped a Truth and Reconciliation commission would happen in America for both Indignious Peoples and Black people, that it would never happen. It shocked me a bit, that she would feel so certain that we will never make reparations for our treatment of this portion of our citizens. It seemed too dark and out of character. But I've been thinking about it since, and of course the sheer size of our country versus South Africa or Germany is a difficulty. Is she thinking the schism been red and blue is here to stay? Well, in point of fact, it has always been present in our country, from its founding, and caused a civil war that almost destroyed our union. Perhaps I am the Pollyanna. I believe these traumas have risen to the surface with the spotlight on killings of Blacks and Natives by police, by the increase in hate crimes against all groups, including Asians and Jewish people, and once something rises, it can no longer be covered up. Maybe my friend means we will not live to see it, and that I can believe, because we are in our midseveties and mid eighties. But I know history is cyclical, and therefore there is hope for change. There is no stairway to heaven called progress, but things do change, constantly and sometimes suddenly. Wounds are open because of Covid, but those can be be dressed and healed. I believe that is what Erdrich's book is implying, and I am hopeful.