Partaking in a thorough review of the United States as a nation founded (in part) on racist principles is necessary. We tend to underestimate the impact of systemic white racism, rationalizing it as an individual affair rather than a system of oppression involving 246 years of slavery and 90 years of Jim Crow for roughly 85 percent of our existence as a nation. Recently I watched a movie titled, Traces of the Trade, where the producer/director tells the story of her forefathers, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. The film follows the producer/director and nine fellow family members on a remarkable journey which brings them face-to-face with the history and legacy of New England’s hidden enterprise. The narrator states, “In Ghana, we attended a ceremony that was for people from throughout the African Diaspora who'd come back to their homeland. We were a conspicuous minority. The ritual was at a river in a town called Assin Manso. It's where captives, after being marched from inland, were brought for a last bath. They were washed and oiled, primed for sale at the coast. An African-American leader was performing a ritual to help people heal from the past. My cousin Dain asked if he could perform the ritual for us DeWolf descendants. The healer smiled and said he could do that, but he thought we should ask our own elders to play that role. I think he was basically saying go home. Look no further than your own backyard. Do the healing there, with each other. So I've come full circle, back to my community, back to the church that my family has attended for generations. And I don't know exactly what the ritual or the healing process would look like. But I do know that it should be grounded in the spirit of love for all. And I do know that we'll figure it out once we face the history...together.” I believe at the core of this statement is fundamentally Wise’s argument, “…if people such as that can be redeemed, then perhaps anything is possible – even justice and the end of white supremacy altogether” (156). Neither shame nor guilt are ineffective and are unnecessary in attempting to decipher: what is our responsibility? It takes bravery, empathy, and the effort of being cognizant to not simply tolerate but to accept and love individuals who are not similar to you, which is not an easy undertaking. We as a society need to heal together and forgive each other. However, along with this forgiveness there needs to be an awareness and commitment to bring about change within yourself and others.  Bell hooks states, “The moment we choose to love, we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love, we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.” In congruence with Wise, I am not willing to simply give up on the fight because “what is required that we be prepared to die for our principles if need be, but even more so, to live them. So let us begin” (271).