It seems to me that race relations continue to be such a vexing problem in the United States because that country never adequately addressed the scourge of slavery 150 years ago.
It fought the Civil War, abolished the practice, made an attempt during Reconstruction to set things right but eventually allowed the white majority to regain power in the southern states and bring in the Jim Crow horrors that still haunt the country.
Maybe a frank national accounting for their sins was too much to ask of Americans in the 1860s and 1870s, but failing to address them ended up prolonging the agony of racism and oppression into the present day.
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Canadians made a similar mistake by refusing for decades to acknowledge the terrible things that have been done to the First Nations people.
On the Prairies, relations between the Indigenous and European cultures went off the rails soon after the treaties were signed. Promises were broken and attempts by First Nations to adjust to new economic realities were relentlessly beaten back.
One of the most egregious crimes was the residential school system. This unleashed untold suffering for multiple generations.
But for decades the calamity was swept under the rug while its poisonous legacy continued to fester.
Now it appears many Canadians are showing a willingness to pull back the covers and begin to seriously address the horrors of residential schools.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was an excellent start, and its 94 recommendations gave Canada a solid foundation on which to begin.
Tragically, little has been done to act on those recommendations.
The federal government did declare Sept. 30 to be a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and here’s hoping that this opportunity for reflection will bear fruit in the years to come.
The Western Producer, under the umbrella of its parent company Glacier FarmMedia, is recognizing the day with a special package of stories and opinion pieces. If you missed it while making your way to this column, it starts on the front page before continuing on pages 34-37.
The stories recount past injustices but more importantly look at what can be done to make things better.
We hope they will play a small role in finding our way to a more just future.
