Atonement

John Krull wrote a column precipitated by Colin Kaepernick and others who refuse to stand for the National Anthem. Krull is sympathetic to those who don't stand, but he himself stands to “rededicate” himself to making the country better. However, he is sympathetic to those disappointed by inequality in the United States. He writes

As I did [listen to the disappointments of some minorities], I thought – neither for the first nor the last time – that we Americans will be a long time atoning for America’s original sin, the racial prejudice that led to slavery, segregation and other violations of the human spirit. In his famous second inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln prophesied that we might spend 300 years accounting for the 300 years in which we enslaved other human beings.

If Old Abe was right, we still have more than a century’s worth of work to do.

I was intrigued by this bit from Lincoln's speech. And sorry that so many Americans believe that the sins of the past no longer reverberate, that healing happens without atonement.