http://www.fathommag.com/stories/finally-healing-the-wounds-of-jim-crow

I kind of skimmed this, but I like these bits:

«When we follow up a story with statements like “I wasn’t there so what do I have to apologize for?” we are forgetting the precedent of repentance in the history of God’s people. In the Bible, God reminds his people of their collective past failures and provides opportunities to repent for the sins of previous generations (Nehemiah 9). In the Christian tradition, it’s always been understood that God uses past corporate failures to reveal his sovereignty and grace despite human imperfection. Why wouldn’t we want to remind people of this? 

….

This is an invitation for America to start over. We need to formally, on record, state by state, address Jim Crow like Germany faced the Holocaust, Northern Ireland faced The Troubles, and South Africa faced Apartheid. We need courageous leaders who are willing to go back and open the Jim Crow vault so that as a society America can actually begin the long journey toward telling the truth, enlisting our society in peace and reconciliation, and healing as our nation becomes more diverse over time. We need leaders who are willing to challenge their own constituencies to find the truth and forgive.»

Also, we need reparations.