History can’t be a sword to justify injustice

In the leadup to the US presidential election I started listening to It Was Said, an excellent podcast written and narrated by Pulitzer-Prize winning historian, Jon Meacham. Each episode focuses on an important public speech, telling the story of these words and how they mirrored and made the history of the United States. This is where I came across these words by Barak Obama who spoke them in honouring Reverend Clem Pinckney and the other victims of the 2015 Charleston church shooting.

Reverend Pinckney once said, “Across the South, we have a deep appreciation of history -- we haven’t always had a deep appreciation of each other’s history.”  What is true in the South is true for America.  Clem understood that justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other.  That my liberty depends on you being free, too.  That history can’t be a sword to justify injustice, or a shield against progress, but must be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past -- how to break the cycle.  A roadway toward a better world.  He knew that the path of grace involves an open mind -- but, more importantly, an open heart.
— Barack Obama

Acknowledgement: Photo by David Everett Strickler on Unsplash

Please share. Let’s get the past and present talking.