For Those Who Claim "Innocence" from Racial Oppression:

A fence who "receives stolen property" is not a thief. However, the fact that he benefits from the crime committed by others is enough for us to judge him as if he were a participant. And then there is the fact of "Nazi plunder". There is still a concerted effort to return the art and treasure to their rightful owners. "Rightful owners". How much of the wealth of America resulted from the stolen labor of slaves and of Jim Crow-era oppression (North AND South)? How much continues to be stolen through the wide network of racist policies that we use to disguise our white advantages? The reason that the Enlightenment ideal of "corporate responsibility" has been buried under the anti-Christian ideas of "personal responsibility" and "individuality" is that it allows us, white people, some plausible deniability. Well, it's not so plausible anymore. Too much of our real history is being exhumed. I admire the effort the Episcopal Church is making to bring about racial healing and reconciliation. I am disappointed that many professing Christians are finding this so difficult.