General Discussion

and I should have qualified that statement to recognize these cardinal sins of America's past.

And it's also true that the descendants of ethnic Germans make up the largest single block of current American citizens.

Which is interesting given how little attention is paid to their role in American history, both good and bad.

For instance, Ronald Takaki in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, is virtually silent on this aspect of our multicultural history. In fact, "Germans" as a ethnicity are mentioned only twice in his 493 pages. One of these references is to German Jews, one is to note that, unlike Japanese Americans, German Americans weren't sent to camps during WWII. "Germany" as a nation is mentioned once, in relation to the murder of ethnic Turks in that nation. Nothing about, for instance, the intense persecution of German Americans during WWI, which included the closing of most German language newspapers, laws passed banning the teaching of German in public schools, and so on:

https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entries/german-americans-during-world-war-i/

The role of ethnic Germans in American society is also nuanced.

The failed revolutions of 1848, when uprisings across Germany and Austria sought to replace the various autocracies, led to thousands of German liberals and radicals having to flee for their lives. Many came to the US, where they joined progressive causes here. German-Americans, for instance, became a major part of the abolitionist movement, and were a significant pro-Lincoln voting block in 1860 and 1864. They also volunteered for service in the Union army in disproportionate numbers. Ironically, the common belief of the time was that Germans made poor soldiers, on account of their perceived pacifist beliefs.

Similarly, the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933 led to more thousands fleeing the country, with many again coming to the States. Scientists, artists, authors, film makers all made significant contributions to American culture. There was, again, a dark side to this in that after the war the US government brought over German scientists, Werner von Braun being the most famous, who were pro-Nazi or at the very least had been willing to put their talents in the service of a genocidal regime.

You perhaps already know all this history, and I post this here simply to add to the discussion.

In terms of "complicity," German-Americans such as myself have benefited from and continue to benefit from all the advantages of white privilege. This part of my heritage is in fact much more problematic than my ties and roots to Germany. For instance, my various though trivial interactions with the law might have had a very different outcome had I had a darker complexion. And my parents, as white immigrants, no doubt had an easier time making their way in America than so many others, both immigrants and native born people of color, and I of course have benefited from their advantages. Then too, my status as an American, hyphenated or not, means that I accrue advantages not open to many people around the world. My carbon footprint--though much smaller than your typical American--nonetheless is no doubt considerably larger than the majority of people on this planet.

So even though my immediate family only participated in American culture post 1940s and into the '50s, I still can't escape my own part as a beneficiary, so to speak, of all the horrors that came before. Indeed, the very land on which I live, this plot of ground on which I'm typing these words, was no doubt stolen from peoples who received no compensation and have largely been hounded out of existence.

Please forgive the length of this post. I do tend to ramble some, don't I?

And thank you again for your post and kind words.

Best wishes.