I can see a person suffering without understanding why they are suffering. I don't need to judge the suffering as right or wrong in oder to emphatize.

Knowing about the fact that native Americans get slaughtered hundreds of years ago doesn't allow me to determine whether a native American I'm meeting is suffering. It's quite irrelevant to the question of whether the specific person is suffering.

I do much better by actually engaging in empathic listening. Instead of judging a person based on what happened in the past I can interact with them in the present.