Part of a special section on American Buddhism, Race, and Power.
This article examines “America’s racial karma,” a concept coined by Larry Ward, to critique the temporal logic underpinning narratives of progress in the US. Drawing from Buddhist conceptions of karma, alongside queer theory, Black studies, and postcolonial critiques, I argue that America’s linear, future-oriented historical narrative functions as a political myth, obscuring racial trauma, perpetuating cycles of othering, and ultimately foreclosing possibilities for genuine healing. I propose an alternative temporal orientation rooted in Buddhist theories of samsaric time, interdependence, and narrative multiplicity—one that resists linear progress and instead embraces relational and pluralistic ways of understanding time, language, and identity. I argue that the work of juxtaposition itself is a productive exercise of estrangement; if America’s progressive history forecloses alternative possibilities, then defamiliarizing this narrative through juxtaposition and multiplicity may inspire a different ethical relationship to time. My goal is not to offer a single solution, but to provide a critical and creative toolkit for rethinking how we tell our collective stories.