In the last fifty years, debates have swirled over the question of national forgiveness. Using two examples, the land claims of the Oneida Indians and the claims of reparations for Japanese Americans interred during World War II, Brian Weiner suggests a way of thinking of past national mistakes. Arguing beyond collective "innocence" or "guilt," Sins of the Parents offers a model of collective responsibility to deal with past mistakes in such a way as to reinvigorate our notion of citizenship. Drawing on the writings of Abraham Lincoln and the work of Hannah Arendt, Weiner offers a definition...
In the last fifty years, debates have swirled over the question of national forgiveness. Using two examples, the land claims of the Oneida Indians and...
