Quote:Because the actual government is directly responsible for what happened to the Japanese and Native Americans. While they didn't prevent slave ownership, the government didn't round up black people and give them to people as slaves. Might not seem like it to you, but there is a big difference between the two.

 

The government is directly responsible for allowing slavery. It is directly responsible for Jim Crow, Reconstruction. It is directly responsible for segregation of Whites and Blacks, which is why laws were passed to end it. It was directly responsible for voter suppression which is why more laws were enacted to attempt to curb that. It was directly responsible for the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments on Black people. It was directly responsible for the 80s crack epidemic in black communities that had never seen the drug. It is directly responsible for treating its African American citizens like second class citizens. Negligence is just as bad. If you neglect something at work will your boss say "No I won't fire you because you weren't directly responsible for what happened, even though you showed neglect and allowed it to happen". If they don't fire you they might need to re-evaluate themselves as supervisors. 

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