# When Our Forefathers Fail

![rw-book-cover](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article3.5c705a01b476.png)

## Metadata
- Author: [[David French]]
- Full Title: When Our Forefathers Fail
- Category: #articles
- URL: https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/when-our-forefathers-fail

## Highlights
- We’re more than willing to feel pride over the virtues of our ancestors. But when the past is grim, we separate ourselves. We forget. We grow defiant. “How dare you,” we say, “impose any responsibility or accountability on me for something I did not do.”
- It is not “hating America” to acknowledge this is part of our story. It is not unpatriotic to understand that much of our present reality exists because the legacy of past atrocities does not fade as quickly as their memory.
- Unless we remember our worst moments, we simply can’t truly understand our own nation, nor can we relate to all its people.