You can apply that to many situations as well, like my father’s killing of Chinese and North Korean troops in the Korean War and harboring anti-Chinese feelings to the present day.
Or my family owning slaves 200 years ago.
Those things shouldn’t be used to shame their descendants, especially in an education setting. One can learn from that, but being punished because of what one’s ancestors did a long time ago does nothing but do a disservice to history and humanity.
There’s a big difference between what my grandfather did and what my country’s policies were.
My grandfather and I are not the same person, figuratively or literally. (In my case, both my grandfathers were dead before I was born.)
There’s much more continuity among governments and government policy over time. There are elements of American foreign policy that have been consistent for 75+ years. There were elements of British foreign policy that were consistent for 500 years.
And it should be noted there are a lot of Americans who far from indifferent to their ancestors. Some are ashamed of them. More often they engage in a form of ancestor worship. They celebrate their ancestor because they believe those past accomplishments elevate themselves in the present and/or they are apologists for their ancestors. I’m a good person, therefore my ancestors must have been good people." For example, common Southern tropes of “my ancestor didn’t own slaves, but he fought for the Confederacy therefore the American Civil War must not have been about slavery” or “I celebrate my ancestors because they’re my ancestors so if my ancestors were Confederates then we should celebrate Confederates.”
in War against Humanity or the archives?
Definitely the latter, though I don’t know if they did it regarding the former (I have to catch up lol).