The New Republic has an interesting (and tragic) article by Judith Shulevitz about trauma from large-scale historical events being passed down biologically to children of the victims. The article discusses children of Khmer Rouge survivors, Lakota descendants of the U.S. government's treatment of the Lakota nation in the nineteenth century, including the Wounded Knee massacre, children of Holocaust survivors, as well as African Americans and Vietnam veterans.
There's a lot here that needs to be sorted out. The article raises a great variety of questions. Whether the answers--if they are ever ultimately discovered--support my favorite theories about how to reduce psychological distress or not (no matter if they don't), I hope that the children and descendants of people who experienced these events can find their way out of the dark places in which they currently find themselves.
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