How to learn from history while letting go of the past

Renowned sociologist, Kelly Oliver , describes how all nations like to imagine a smooth history. Each one only looks smooth because we work so hard at covering up the cracks. Like a cheap renovation, however, the cracks will always become visible. In conversations about the history and memory of our various nations, both the Germans and the Dutch I was keeping company with stated that at least as an Australian I did not have to deal with such an uncomfortable history. To their surprise I rattled off a number of difficult aspects of Australiaââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s history: our betrayal of East Timor in the 1970s, the appalling role we played in the Bougainville conflict, the illegal invasion of Iraq, the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“children overboardââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ fiasco, the refusal to accept the genuine refugees picked up by the MV Tampa and of course, and the clincher, the long history of mistreatment of Australiaââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s Aboriginal population. Such a discussion of any countryââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s chequered history raises two invariable questions: why should I feel any responsibility of a past that had nothing to do with me? And, are not the recounting of such details disrespectful to a nation that has served you well?