IN RECENT explorations of my neighborhood, Fredericksburg, and the surrounding area, my wife and I chanced upon the unkempt, overgrown fenced area that I later learned was known as the Spirit of Freedom Exhibit Garden and the proposed home of the United States National Slavery Museum. The untidy and overgrown area was a disappointing sight, to say the least.

The site's dilapidated state struck an even more profoundly harsh tone in relating America's propensity for moving on at the cost of education, awareness, and soul-searching. As important as it is for us as a society to have a vision of where we want to go, it is equally important for us to be aware of where we have come from.

I am black, my wife is white, and my children are proud scions of a happy and successful marriage. Our love is emboldened by the tragedy that was American slavery, the endurance of the human soul, the precedent for an ensuing civil rights movement, and so on. I truly feel that we represent what America could become, should become, and can become. I am optimistic about a visionary utopian American society. But it is imperative that we as a people never forget our past, lest we be doomed to repeat it.

To some, the rest of this column will be put aside as liberal diatribe, provoking white guilt, and bent upon opening up old wounds or black mandatory reparation of societal debt that is owed. Let me say that this could not be further from the truth. If one reads this column with thoughts of repugnance or loathing, it only amplifies the reasons and need for a slavery museum. If the real specter exists in the mirror, only a true cleansing of the soul can give rise to unfeigned aspirations of equality, justice, and fairness for all.