As hard as it is to admit, the United States isn’t perfect. Being uncomfortable about the history of a country is something that The US can empathize with. Perhaps the culmination of this is the Salem Witch trials. While I am far removed from the time that it happened (1692-1693), the animosity of the whole event remains grim. To summarize,  the witch trials happened in Massachusetts and consisted of citizens being prosecuted for, allegedly, being witches.. Ultimately, this resulted in wrongful imprisonment and execution of 20 people, 14 of which being women.

In short… that is insanity. What am I supposed to make of the fact that people thought other people.. were… witches? As far as trying to explain it to people who are not familiar with the history of the United States goes, that’d be challenging. I’d probably start by saying that back in those times, religion and the supernatural played a larger roll in citizen’s day to day lives. This is something that I think that the Irish could understand, given their largely protestant/catholic past.

All in all though, i think it is important to talk openly about our past; whether its the US or Ireland, the only way to learn and grow is from your mistakes.