I´m not going to apologize

I´m not going to apologize. I am Spanish.  Spain built an empire in the XVI century that has been bitterly criticized for his actions in the lands it conquered. Some of these criticisms are unfair and form part of the black legend spread by rival countries to discredit Spain. The Spanish laws defended the indigenous people and there was a degree of race mixing unseen in other empires of those times, in which the extermination of the natives was closer to the rule. I am not going to defend the Spanish empire. It was an empire and, as such, it killed people and destroyed cultures.

I don´t know what my ancestors in the XVI century did. I can´t even tell if they were Spanish. What I do know is that I grew up in Spain and I currently work in the country. My culture and the economy of the state that pays my salary are somehow related to the imperial heritage, which makes me a distant beneficiary of events that happened five centuries ago. I don´t feel guilty for it. I don´t think I am responsible for things I didn’t do.

I´m not going to apologize. I am a man, a male. Our culture comes from a patriarchal tradition in which women have been oppressed. I think that there is some misrepresentation of the privileges of men and the hardships of women in patriarchal cultures, but I´m not going to defend the patriarchy. I admit it´s wrong to oppress women and I work for the equality of rights and dignity between men and women.

Among my ancestors there are both men and women. I don´t just descend from a lineage of men but I am an heir to both sexes. To the extent that society regards men and women differently, and privileges the male over the female, I obtain a benefit. On the other hand, the backlash that attacks men just for being men identifies me as a target. I don´t feel guilty for being a man. I don´t think I am responsible for things that don´t depend on me.

I´m not going to apologize. I am white (although the Americans might categorize me differently). White Europeans developed a racial theory with which they denied the humanity of other races and used it to enslave them. I might receive an indirect benefit from some of the consequences of the social, and especially, economic consequences of those centuries old events. I don´t treat anyone differently because of the colour of their skin and I don´t accept any blame for mine. I don´t think I am responsible for things I didn´t do.

I´m not going to apologize. I am a homo sapiens sapiens. It seems likely that my ancestors contributed to the extinction of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. There was probably some interbreeding between the subspecies and I may carry some Neanderthal genes, but that´s beside the point. I definitely benefit from events going that way, instead of being my subspecies the one going extinct. I don´t feel guilty for it. I don´t think I am responsible for things I didn´t do.

I´m not going to apologize. I am an earthling. Life on Earth has thrived while Martians are condemned to being a concept, a notion without existence. I benefit from things being that way and not the other way around. I don´t feel guilty for it. I haven´t done anything for things being the way they are in this respect, and I don´t think I am responsible for things I haven´t done.

There is a trend of historical revisionism that blames current people for things that happened in the distant past. Members of different collectives, and white males in particular, are made a target. There have even been some moves in the line of owning the guilt of historical events and apologizing for them. There are those who talk about reparations from the designated heirs of the culprits towards the designated heirs of the victims. Drawing a distinct line between the two, centuries later, is an artifact. Inheriting responsibility for something one hasn´t done is, at the very least debatable. I certainly don´t agree with that.