Definition of complicit

(Randall Stewart, "A Little History, a Little Honesty: A...)

A dear , respected friend of mine , who like myself grew_up in the South and has spent many years in New_England , said to me not_long ago : `` I can n't forgive New_England for rejecting all complicity '' .

Complicity is an embarrassing word .

`` The recognition of complicity is the beginning of innocence '' , where innocence , I think , means about the same thing as redemption .

New_Englanders were a_bit sensitive on the subject of their complicity in Negro slavery at the time of the drafting of the Declaration_of_Independence , as Jefferson explained in his `` Autobiography '' : `` The clause reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa was struck_out in complaisance to South_Carolina and Georgia , who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves , and who on_the_contrary still wished to continue it .