It’s Time for Belgium to Face Up to Its Past

Re “A Monument to Denial,” Commentary, March 2: I read Adam Hochschild’s powerful book “King Leopold’s Ghost” before our family traveled to Belgium. Before I took my kids to the Royal Museum of Central Africa, and knowing the horrifying history of Belgium and the Congo, I prepared them to encounter the frightening past. I was first confused and then outraged at finding instead a Disneyland-type collection of colorful African artifacts. There was no mention of any “troubling” history.

Humanity moves toward social justice only by discovering, exploring and confronting our history. No doubt the United States has many faults, but we relish the dissection and confrontation of our collective past, and the more troubling that history is, the more attention we give it. It is one of our nation’s greatest strengths.

The Belgian people owe the Congolese so very much. A huge portion of their enormous wealth was built on the barbaric exploitation of the people of the Congo. The very least they can do is tell the story of what happened.

Jennifer Horsman

Laguna Beach