Friends,
I was sitting at lunch the other day and overheard a conversation that stuck with me. They were talking about sovereign wealth funds and high taxes. One guy said, “So what if it’s 60% taxes? Your life is taken care of.”
That logic bothered me. Because if 60% is good, why not 100%? It treats grown adults like children who can’t handle their own money.
That same mindset shows up in the slavery and reparations talk. They want to make it simple: if you’re White, you’re guilty. If you’re Black, you’re a victim. End of story.
But history is not that simple.
Only about 4% of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas came to what became the United States. Most went to Brazil and the Caribbean, where the death rates were so brutal they had to keep importing more just to replace the ones who died.
Here, the slave population grew naturally. Most White Americans never owned a single slave — it was concentrated among a tiny wealthy class. Free Black people owned slaves too. The very first legal slave owner in the colonies was a Black man.
And let’s not forget — Africans captured and sold other Africans to the Europeans. The Europeans rarely went inland themselves.
None of this excuses anything. Slavery was evil. But pretending America was the center of it, or that every White person today owes something, is dishonest.
The real question nobody wants to ask is about agency.
Look at the Jews. They were persecuted for centuries, including here. A few generations later, they’re among the highest achievers in the country. Same with many Asian groups, Nigerians, and others who faced discrimination.
They didn’t sit around waiting for someone to fix things for them. They took responsibility. They built. They studied. They moved forward.
That’s the mirror. After all the legal barriers came down, what have we done with the freedom we have?
Gratitude doesn’t mean ignoring the past. It means refusing to be chained by it.
Accountability. Assimilation. Allegiance.
That’s how you honor this country — and how you actually move forward.
LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸
(It starts in The Spine NOT on your Knees.)
– A Grateful Immigrant
Grateful Immigrant 