“If the Mayflower was the advent of American freedom, then the White Lion was the advent of American slavery.”
This quote caught my uninformed eye in many ways. It brought attention to the absence of responsibility we have for our actions of the past, while simultaneously bringing the dirty parts of our history off of the shelf.
The claim that the White Lion was the advent of American slavery is one with accurate reasoning. Many of the original slaves were brought to America on the White Lion, which was one of the important turning points in our history. But a question comes to mind: “Why, if the White Lion was so important, have I not heard the name until now?” The answer is, simply, that America didn’t want to teach its misguided thoughts and reasoning to the rising youth. Not only is this selfish, but it is detrimental to people who want to see the bigger picture. I personally don’t want to be the type of person who ignorantly believes that the world is okay, because of the fact that I’m looking through a sugar-coated lens focused on the delusional parts of the world. If we do not talk about our wrongdoings, what stops us from making the same mistakes?
While some are looking at kittens online, there are people still being affected by war and destruction because of the decisions higher-ups are making for personal gain. They are not looking at the bigger picture. Large companies using tons and tons of plastics are not looking at the bigger picture. Oil extractors are not looking at the bigger picture. They are not watching our polar bears die because of what they are doing to our planet. Or maybe they are, and just don’t care. Nevertheless, they see the Earth's heating as an opportunity to make more profit. Not as a sign to stop and take care of our planet, our home.
As we learn about the White Lion and other horrific parts of our past, we forget that we are creating the path to the future as we speak. Though we can decide to not take responsibility for our ancestors' actions, we cannot hide from the obligation we have to our planet right now. We weren’t there to be a part of the problems during the time of slaves, but we are here to deter us from the future we are well on our way to. So I ask you this: What are you doing to carve our way to a better future?
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