The foundation of America is rooted with Human Rights Violations. We obtained this land by pushing Native Americans off their homes and built the nation on the backs of African slaves. Our history is filled with terrible acts against humanity, however our country is not ashamed of its past. Many people encourage that we embrace our history no matter how heinous it was. The romanticism of American history is why our country is under high social tension today. As a nation we have not learned from our mistakes because we were never made to feel guilty about the origin of this country. It is time for Americans to understand what we did and try to develop into a more aware country, especially because it is the land of immigrants. History often repeats itself because people are not educated about it correctly. In other countries where human rights were violated there are laws against embracing that past. Nations like Germany made it clear to its citizens that the events that took place were wrong and will not be tolerated again, America needs to do the same.

The existence of social justice movements like Black Lives Matter is proof of America’s rising social tension. People do not feel safe and appreciated by their country, therefore they will not respect it. Instead of reacting to major social movements such as these Americans must find a way to prevent them, which can only be done by acknowledging the crimes against humanity that took place here.