I believe the distinction between blaming people and blaming their actions is critical. All sides seem to focus on judging people, which just degenerates into an us-v-them attitude. Focusing on people's actions, or their failure to act as you point out, is the only way we can actually solve these problems.

Your example of Germany illustrates this. I haven't been there myself, but I understand that the former West Germany embarked on a program of education to teach about the Holocaust. They faced their actions and learned from them. The former East Germany, however, just announced that, since they were a Socialist Utopia, they had solved the problem of anti-semitism and racism, and never taught about it. Today, it seems that the most racist, xenophobic and neo-Nazi actions come from those raised in the former East Germany.

America, as you point out, is trying to whitewash its past, and so we head down that same dangerous path.