Senate Approves Resolution Apologizing For Slavery

[Suzetta]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for the wrongs of slavery.

The nonbinding resolution sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is similar to a House resolution adopted last year that acknowledged the wrongs of slavery but offered no reparations. The House will have to vote on the issue again because the composition of that chamber changed after last November's elections.

The resolution was approved on a voice vote.

Because it is nonbinding, it does not have to be forwarded to the president for his signature.

Several states have passed similar resolutions, but the House resolution was the first time a branch of the federal government did so.

Harkin's resolution "acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery, and Jim Crow laws," and "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws."

Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enacted mostly in U.S. Southern and border states between the 1870s and 1965 that denied African-Americans the right to vote and other civil liberties, as well as legally segregated them from whites.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/18/senate.slavery/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[Lady_Jean_La]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105620620&ft=1&f=1001&sc=YahooNews

The U.S. Senate apologized Thursday for slavery and for the segregationist Jim Crow laws, 144 years after the Civil War and 45 years after passing the Civil Rights Act.

[withay]

I think this is a good thing and do not understand why anyone would oppose an apology and acknowlegement that slavery was wrong. I am a southerner whose family has been in Georgia since 1700. I had always assumed that some of my ancestors had owned slaves. I did not like it but knew it was probably true. I remember when I was doing some geneology research and I first saw in print the proof that my fear was true. I literally went to the restroom and lost my lunch. It was several years before I could return to the research.
None of us can change the past. What we can do is acknowlege that what was done was wrong and apologize.

[Charms]

I think this is a good thing and do not understand why anyone would oppose an apology and acknowlegement that slavery was wrong. I am a southerner whose family has been in Georgia since 1700. I had always assumed that some of my ancestors had owned slaves. I did not like it but knew it was probably true. I remember when I was doing some geneology research and I first saw in print the proof that my fear was true. I literally went to the restroom and lost my lunch. It was several years before I could return to the research.
None of us can change the past. What we can do is acknowlege that what was done was wrong and apologize.



I was just reading this thread when I saw your post.
You have a heart of gold, but it's not your burden if your ancestors owned slaves.
My greatgrandfather was literally chased out of town in Donaldsonville LA in the early 1900's for marrying a white woman.
It's a history we all share but it defines who we are today.

[GentleBreeze]

I too am from the south and totally agree we should apologize not only for slavery but also to the American Indian for wrongs we inflicted upon them. No one race is superior to the other and no one should have had to endure what either of these magnificent people had to endure.

Until there is a genuine apology and a genuine acceptance we Americans will have a difficult time moving past racial issues.

I agree. I do understand why an apology may heal some old wounds. I know my great grandfather worked the fields right along with the black people. He certainly didn't sit in a plantation house barking out orders but a sincere apology for grave errors made in history is a good thing.

The Indians are the truly forgotten race. What has been done to them should never be forgotten by anyone and they still struggle even to this day.

I think apologies are owed but not just to the slaves and their families but to others as well.



imo

[LisaM22]

I agree. I do understand why an apology may heal some old wounds. I know my great grandfather worked the fields right along with the black people. He certainly didn't sit in a plantation house barking out orders but a sincere apology for grave errors made in history is a good thing.

The Indians are the truly forgotten race. What has been done to them should never be forgotten by anyone and they still struggle even to this day.

I think apologies are owed but not just to the slaves and their families but to others as well.



imo

and what is still being done to them, it is illegal for Americans to practice some of their religions, what happened to separation of church and state and equal rights for all?

[Lady_Jean_La]

http://www.examiner.com/x-369-Libertarian-Examiner~y2009m6d19-You-can-stick-your-slavery-apology

So the Senate's backing a resolution that would generate a formal federal government apology for slavery. Unanimously, even. Whee.

Forgive me if I don't get all giddy in anticipation of what would amount to little more than eye candy -- or ear candy, as it were -- should the American superstate "apologize" to today's enslaved masses for past actors who sanctioned chattel slavery.

[Adalena935]

Didn't this already happen, like a decade ago? I distinctly remember an apology by . . . was it Clinton? . . . for slavery.

The OP's link says this is the first apology by the federal government. States, counties, cities, corporations have apologized in the past and the House in 2008. Here's some links to past news about apologies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900694_pf.html

History of apologies to African Americans

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-27-slavery_N.htm

State’s apologies to African Americans

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902279.html

House Issues An Apology For Slavery
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

http://www.google.com/search?q=history+apology+for+slavery&hl=en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=1&ei=7sM7SojLIoqQMuWP3L8O&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=16

Historical apologies (timeline)

[Details]

An apology can have many purposes. In this case - it's a way to say that this was wrong, and thus that we don't intend to do it again. There's no way to change the past, but an apology is at least someone saying it was wrong.

[Adalena935]

My ancestors were part of the underground railroad and were shot for their part. I was beat up by blacks on Los Angeles while holding my baby son. My attackers automatically assumed I was a racist (which I'm not and never have been) because I'm white. There's plenty of racism on all sides to go around.

My family and I had the experience of meeting some of the descendants of former slaves which our ancestors helped free (before the federal government shot them for their efforts).

Slavery was a horrible idea. I don't believe the scars will ever leave our nation.

[Adalena935]

As far as the reparations debate, there's plenty of opinions to go around. I like Obama's idea of improving schools, education, jobs and the like in way of opportunity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/02/obama-opposes-slavery-rep_n_116506.html

[Details]

No - this isn't about reparations. It's a simple thing - an apology for past wrongs - mostly to say clearly that they were wrong, and won't happen again. That's it.

[Details]

There was confusion in the minds of some whether slavery was wrong or not?

Or concern that it would happen again?

Gee, sure glad Congress cleared that up!

:wink:There are those who don't think slavery was wrong - and it is not a bad thing to make it clear to them that the gov't disagrees - nor is it a bad thing for their victims to hear clearly that the gov't disagrees.

And yes, bad things can happen again. What was it - the medical experiments where we used minorities as guinea pigs? The Japanese internment? We're quite capable of forgetting all our lessons and treating a minority group as a less than human other again.


Do you object to saying slavery, and the discriminatory laws that were allowed so long after it, were wrong?

[Calla]

My ancestors were part of the underground railroad and were shot for their part. I was beat up by blacks on Los Angeles while holding my baby son. My attackers automatically assumed I was a racist (which I'm not and never have been) because I'm white. There's plenty of racism on all sides to go around.

My family and I had the experience of meeting some of the descendants of former slaves which our ancestors helped free (before the federal government shot them for their efforts).

Slavery was a horrible idea. I don't believe the scars will ever leave our nation.

I agree.

And it angers me to see people of any race suffer.

You became a victim because someone assumed you were racist.
How sad. I have been preached to about what my ancestors may have done so many times. Get this, I am white, but it so happens that one of my direct ancestors was a black slave woman who began a family with her white owner.

I also happen to be part American Indian.

As far as I am concerned, any apology is fine, but the culprits are long gone.

[Details]

Guess the loss of 600,000+ lives in the civil war isn't enough.:rolleyes:

IMOObviously it wasn't, since we went on to a near century of Jim Crow laws, segregation, violence, etc. before the civil rights act was passed.

[Details]

We were discussing Slavery.Reread the OP.

However, Jim Crow laws and all the other garbage that happened back then was part of slavery too - attempts to keep the former slaves in essentially the same status - while using a different name for them.

So it is indeed still entirely about slavery and the fallout and recovery from slavery. Took us a long time to go from slavery to where the former slaves were indeed legally full standard citizens.

[NatalieB]

I certainly don't think an apology is going to hurt anything, but until we all (blacks, whites, Indian, Asian, Latino, and on and on) stop trying to place blame and stop spreading hate, things will never change.

I'm outraged at what our ancestors did to Africans and African Americans. Words cannot express how atrocious I believe those actions were.

I however, never enslaved anyone and I don't know a single African American who was enslaved. As a matter of fact, the African Americans I do know wouldn't even exist had our ancestors not done what they did. That's certainly no attempt to justify something that can't be justified, but it is true nonetheless.

We all have to live with this history. No one who is alive today is at fault and no one who is alive today has been victimized in this manner. America has elected a black man for the first time in its history. That says that we are moving forward. The progress has been slow, but it is moving forward. While we may not live to see it, I believe one day, race will not be an issue at all.

[knot]

I certainly don't think an apology is going to hurt anything, but until we all (blacks, whites, Indian, Asian, Latino, and on and on) stop trying to place blame and stop spreading hate, things will never change.

I'm outraged at what our ancestors did to Africans and African Americans. Words cannot express how atrocious I believe those actions were.

I however, never enslaved anyone and I don't know a single African American who was enslaved. As a matter of fact, the African Americans I do know wouldn't even exist had our ancestors not done what they did. That's certainly no attempt to justify something that can't be justified, but it is true nonetheless.

We all have to live with this history. No one who is alive today is at fault and no one who is alive today has been victimized in this manner. America has elected a black man for the first time in its history. That says that we are moving forward. The progress has been slow, but it is moving forward. While we may not live to see it, I believe one day, race will not be an issue at all.

I agree. There is nobody alive today that was here when slavery existed. So what is the apology for.

As for the president....the people that voted him into office will soon realize...."i must have been out to lunch when i did that".

[Details]

I agree. There is nobody alive today that was here when slavery existed. So what is the apology for.

As for the president....the people that voted him into office will soon realize...."i must have been out to lunch when i did that".The apology is for slavery - and what we did afterwards that continued it to some degree - Jim Crow laws, segregation. There are plenty of people alive who went through that. Plenty of people affected by the damage that slavery caused to their parents and grandparents.

[Details]

Public school education?


IMOWhat do you mean - are you talking about when the schools were finally integrated? Doesn't matter which bit of prejudice and discrimination - it was all wrong, and apologizing for it is a good thing. Even when some of those affected are dead and this can only bring some comfort to their children, grandchildren, etc.

[Details]

Do you seriously believe that this is really going to bring comfort - or really be cared about at all - by the vast majority of descendants of Slaves?

I think it's all about providing Catharsis for White Liberals and something for the Race Purveyors to latch onto.

You're pretty sharp, Details.

Am I wrong?

:confused:I do think it is something that will provide some comfort to many people - descendants of slave or slave owner alike. I think if you aren't part of a minority, it's hard to see it sometimes (I'm not black - but there are a few other minority groups I either fit into or am related to).

Your grandparents were brought here in chains - like cattle, only cattle was more valuable and better treated. They were not merely enslaved, but tortured, beaten, used as breeding stock, had their children and loved ones sold back and forth - just the worst existence possible - and this was considered OK and normal - because you were not really human.

There was a war - kinda to free them - kinda because of economic and political interests - and whatever the motives, when the war was over, for almost a century, your freed grandparents and your parents were treated still as subhuman - Jim Crow laws, the KKK, the mere suggestion a black child attend a school with white children brought ENORMOUS crowds of people to violently oppose this; if your black father was even thought to have looked wrong at a white woman, he could be killed right there - and people would take photos for souvenirs - and this is not the hard core KKK - this is the normal average people of the time. It took nearly a century to have a civil rights law to say you should be equal under law, and even longer until most of this went away.

But in all this time, the government won't say anything was done wrong. Nope - no problem there with any of that. No apology - when one is asked for, they refuse. I know what I hear with that - someone who doesn't think what they did WAS wrong - not wrong enough to say they are sorry, not wrong enough for me to be sure the current state of affairs is anything more that what they are doing to keep me quiet.

The apology matters. It says this was wrong - and that's important, because it WAS wrong. It's important because there are still racists out there. It's important because it's not that long ago that we had discriminatory laws. It's even less time ago that we had common discrimination is many of the most critical areas of life.

This isn't just white guilt - I sure feel no guilt for what happened then - because I didn't have a hand in any of it. So why would I worry about admitting what happened was wrong? It's simply the truth.

Race purveyors - puhlease! You really think this is anything to help them? Or that they wouldn't be able to say slavery and jim crow laws were wrong without this apology?

[withay]

I agree. There is nobody alive today that was here when slavery existed. So what is the apology for.

As for the president....the people that voted him into office will soon realize...."i must have been out to lunch when i did that".

I know that this will probably make no difference to you....it seems you have already made up your mind.

Any apology has no way to "right a wrong" or change the past. All an apology can do is acknowlege that what happened was wrong. And while it seems so small, it can go a long way towards healing a hurt. Has no one ever apologized to you in a situation where the apology could not change anything but the way you felt about what had happpened? That is what this apology is about.

[baywench]

Again, Details, IMO it's a silly agenda item on the Liberal's plate.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Let me correct that - it does have importance to the "Race Purveyors" of whom I spoke (JJ, AS, guys like that) because - regardless of the disclaimer in the bill - they will use it as ammunition for Reparations down the road.

I thought we were all "post-Racial" now, Details!

Or doesn't that start until tomorrow?

:smile:

I think it starts when the Jacksons and the Sharptons are gone to be honest. It is as if they cannot acknowledge that they have won their battles and immense progress has been made. Rather than enjoy the fruits of their labors they seem to me to be unable to let go from the past as if letting go gives them no purpose. This apolology imo was a transparent, meaningless gesture.

[Charms]

I certainly don't think an apology is going to hurt anything, but until we all (blacks, whites, Indian, Asian, Latino, and on and on) stop trying to place blame and stop spreading hate, things will never change.

I'm outraged at what our ancestors did to Africans and African Americans. Words cannot express how atrocious I believe those actions were.

I however, never enslaved anyone and I don't know a single African American who was enslaved. As a matter of fact, the African Americans I do know wouldn't even exist had our ancestors not done what they did. That's certainly no attempt to justify something that can't be justified, but it is true nonetheless.

We all have to live with this history. No one who is alive today is at fault and no one who is alive today has been victimized in this manner. America has elected a black man for the first time in its history. That says that we are moving forward. The progress has been slow, but it is moving forward. While we may not live to see it, I believe one day, race will not be an issue at all.



I beg to differ. Race will always be an issue in THIS country.
Yes, we have elected a Black president but there are many people who are against him just BECAUSE he is black.
He's smarter, brighter more articulate than bush, but people cannot move past the fact that he is a man of color.
The posts on this board are proof positive.

As for people being victimized today, did you forget James Byrd?

[YoYo]

I would hope that no one thinks Obama should have been elected simply because of the color of his skin, and I doubt that Obama expects to be held to any standard not on par with what he promised. As a matter of fact I think he would be disappointed if he thought expectations were lowered for him. MO

[watcher2005]

There is slavery on the African continent today.

[Carol25]

I sometimes wonder if these apologies are meaningless but tributes to the original slaves would not be. To honor them and their understand their roles, their plight and what they endured for future generations would mean so much more.

The apologies belong to those who are gone. But the lessons to be learned are the legacies they left. Those of courage, hope, endurance and spirituality. We should all reflect on their memories and bringing a strong population of our country forward.

[MercedesV]

Another myth that has been promoted by the the Left.

This is exactly why I am against the apology, no matter how much it is done, and this is not the first time that it has been done, there will always be people/entities spouting off about alleged grievances.

IMO.

Alleged grievances? How about these current events:

Rusty DePass, a prominent South Carolina Republican activist, is now apologizing for making a racist joke about Michelle Obama, and taken down the Facebook page where he made it -- though he does make sure to shift the blame and say that Michelle started it.

DePass commented on a story about a gorilla escaping from a local zoo: "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

"I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone," said DePass. "The comment was clearly in jest."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...started-it.php

Of course it was just a joke, that makes it alright why?

Then there was this gem where the person hasn't figured out that their mistake wasn't using the wrong email list. Be sure to look at the picture in the link as well. From the link I quote:

Some of you may recall from last week, this little racist gem from Rusty DePass, a GOP activist from South Carolina who referred to an escaped gorilla as an ancestor of Michelle Obama. And now, from the state of Tennessee, we bring you the Obama "Spook" photo e-mailed from a GOP Senator's office -- on an official state e-mail account, no less:

Sherri Goforth, a legislative staffer working for Sen. Diane Black, a Gallatin Republican, confirmed to Nashville Is Talking that she sent around an email depicting portraits of all the U.S. presidents — but on the last slot, where Barack Obama should be, there is just an empty black spot with two eyes (see right).

http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murp...ge-tn-sen-dian

This is a proper way to show respect for the First Family?

[NatalieB]

I beg to differ. Race will always be an issue in THIS country.
Yes, we have elected a Black president but there are many people who are against him just BECAUSE he is black.
He's smarter, brighter more articulate than bush, but people cannot move past the fact that he is a man of color.
The posts on this board are proof positive.

As for people being victimized today, did you forget James Byrd?

Race will more than likely always be an issue during our lifetime, but I don't believe for the rest of eternity that that will be the case.

I never said people aren't being victimized, either. I said people aren't being victimized by being held as slaves any longer. People the world over are being victimized everyday of the week.

And no, I didn't forget about James Byrd. I had never heard of him before your post, but a simple Google search cleared that up. He was not enslaved according to the links I read.

[Carol25]

Has everyone forgotten the original topic here?

[Carol25]

I do think it is something that will provide some comfort to many people - descendants of slave or slave owner alike. I think if you aren't part of a minority, it's hard to see it sometimes (I'm not black - but there are a few other minority groups I either fit into or am related to).

Your grandparents were brought here in chains - like cattle, only cattle was more valuable and better treated. They were not merely enslaved, but tortured, beaten, used as breeding stock, had their children and loved ones sold back and forth - just the worst existence possible - and this was considered OK and normal - because you were not really human.

There was a war - kinda to free them - kinda because of economic and political interests - and whatever the motives, when the war was over, for almost a century, your freed grandparents and your parents were treated still as subhuman - Jim Crow laws, the KKK, the mere suggestion a black child attend a school with white children brought ENORMOUS crowds of people to violently oppose this; if your black father was even thought to have looked wrong at a white woman, he could be killed right there - and people would take photos for souvenirs - and this is not the hard core KKK - this is the normal average people of the time. It took nearly a century to have a civil rights law to say you should be equal under law, and even longer until most of this went away.

But in all this time, the government won't say anything was done wrong. Nope - no problem there with any of that. No apology - when one is asked for, they refuse. I know what I hear with that - someone who doesn't think what they did WAS wrong - not wrong enough to say they are sorry, not wrong enough for me to be sure the current state of affairs is anything more that what they are doing to keep me quiet.

The apology matters. It says this was wrong - and that's important, because it WAS wrong. It's important because there are still racists out there. It's important because it's not that long ago that we had discriminatory laws. It's even less time ago that we had common discrimination is many of the most critical areas of life.

This isn't just white guilt - I sure feel no guilt for what happened then - because I didn't have a hand in any of it. So why would I worry about admitting what happened was wrong? It's simply the truth.

Race purveyors - puhlease! You really think this is anything to help them? Or that they wouldn't be able to say slavery and jim crow laws were wrong without this apology?
Details, I understand what you are saying. And it is to the actual slaves we owe the apologies. Since they are gone, I still say they should be honored but no apologies to this generation. We didn' do the unbelievable harm that was done and the generation of blacks today didn' feel the torture of the chains and whips of their forefathers.

Instead, there should be a tribute to them for their courage, hardships, and spirituality. Their strength brought forward a portion of our poulation that is a solid, welcome part of our nation just as any other immigrant.

Without our forefathers of color, our country would not have built this country as well as it did with harvesting crops or building. We can no longer apologize for we were not the ones creating the injustices and those injured so terribly are gone. But we can remember them with tributes that should have been forthcoming for a long time now. Our children show know these lessons. Just as they know of Martin Luther King. What special people they were.

[Carol25]

If I went up to any of my friends of color and apologized for slavery, they would laugh in my face and ask me the last time I enslaved a black person. And I would feel foolish.

However if I would talk with one of those friends and discuss how the slaves endured their plight and maintained their spirituality and hope at the same time, we would have a lengthy discussion of admiration for these very special people of long ago.

Do you see the difference?

Apologies? Not hardly. Admiration? Absolutely.

[Details]

Again, Details, IMO it's a silly agenda item on the Liberal's plate.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Let me correct that - it does have importance to the "Race Purveyors" of whom I spoke (JJ, AS, guys like that) because - regardless of the disclaimer in the bill - they will use it as ammunition for Reparations down the road.

I thought we were all "post-Racial" now, Details!

Or doesn't that start until tomorrow?

:smile:You asked the question - if you didn't want an answer - that's your problem. Me - I'll answer it again - YES - this apology is something that will bring comfort to some people - NOT your 'race purveyors' - and it's a good thing.

The people who want reparations will continue to go for that regardless of any apology or not - but I'd hope we could do the right thing, regardless if some person out there could find a way to use it for a rhetorical point. It was wrong, admitting it was wrong is not a bad move because someone might use our apology as proof that it was wrong. It was wrong - period. Admitting that is the right thing to do. Reparations - it's a silly fringe movement - not much different than the fringe movements that would reinstate segregation. It's not something that will happen, any more than we are going to restart segregation.


Who said we are all post-racial? We've made immense progress, and I'd say that the laws are nice and colorblind. And we are reaching points where it's a good time to stop talking so much about it - which makes this a good point to close off that past chapter of our life with an apology for what we did wrong back then (we being America), recognition that it was wrong and we know it. We've still got racism, racists, etc. - just fewer of them, and society as a whole does pretty good.

But to not recognize slavery, jim crow laws, decades of turning a blind eye to lynchings, etc. as wrong, officially - if we could not do that - we're obviously not so post-racial as all that.

[Details]

Details, I understand what you are saying. And it is to the actual slaves we owe the apologies. Since they are gone, I still say they should be honored but no apologies to this generation. We didn' do the unbelievable harm that was done and the generation of blacks today didn' feel the torture of the chains and whips of their forefathers.

Instead, there should be a tribute to them for their courage, hardships, and spirituality. Their strength brought forward a portion of our poulation that is a solid, welcome part of our nation just as any other immigrant.

Without our forefathers of color, our country would not have built this country as well as it did with harvesting crops or building. We can no longer apologize for we were not the ones creating the injustices and those injured so terribly are gone. But we can remember them with tributes that should have been forthcoming for a long time now. Our children show know these lessons. Just as they know of Martin Luther King. What special people they were.As I said to another poster - reread the OP.

This apology is for slavery and the jim crow laws that went on for a near century after slavery - people directly affected by this ARE still alive today - the passing of the civil rights act was a mere 50 years ago, those who endured the protests and reaction are still here, those who lived under jim crow laws are still here. Slavery didn't just end with the end of the civil war - the former slaves were treated to a variety of different mistreatment at the hands of our varying levels of government. Some of it amounted to letting the slaveowners continue to keep them in near slavery, other bits 'merely' treated them as non-citizens without the same rights as the rest of us.

You really think if someone whipped your grandmother, and the people who did it never said it was wrong, you wouldn't think an apology was due - to her memory, to tell you that it wouldn't happen again, to you, would be in order? And it's cheap - unless, of course, you don't mean it. An apology is just that - recognition of a truth - simple - unless of course it's not the truth.

[Details]

If I went up to any of my friends of color and apologized for slavery, they would laugh in my face and ask me the last time I enslaved a black person. And I would feel foolish.

However if I would talk with one of those friends and discuss how the slaves endured their plight and maintained their spirituality and hope at the same time, we would have a lengthy discussion of admiration for these very special people of long ago.

Do you see the difference?

Apologies? Not hardly. Admiration? Absolutely.That would be because you never enslaved nor persecuted someone of color. However - the government did. And the government is the one apologizing.

[Carol25]

That would be because you never enslaved nor persecuted someone of color. However - the government did. And the government is the one apologizing.
I understand your perspective now. Thank you, Details.

[Carol25]

As I said to another poster - reread the OP.

This apology is for slavery and the jim crow laws that went on for a near century after slavery - people directly affected by this ARE still alive today - the passing of the civil rights act was a mere 50 years ago, those who endured the protests and reaction are still here, those who lived under jim crow laws are still here. Slavery didn't just end with the end of the civil war - the former slaves were treated to a variety of different mistreatment at the hands of our varying levels of government. Some of it amounted to letting the slaveowners continue to keep them in near slavery, other bits 'merely' treated them as non-citizens without the same rights as the rest of us.

You really think if someone whipped your grandmother, and the people who did it never said it was wrong, you wouldn't think an apology was due - to her memory, to tell you that it wouldn't happen again, to you, would be in order? And it's cheap - unless, of course, you don't mean it. An apology is just that - recognition of a truth - simple - unless of course it's not the truth.
I can't help but think the apologies from someone who was not involved to people who were not harmed is cheap. Saying we are ashamed of our past makes more sense. Giving a tribute to those who endured the inhumanity makes more sense. And making sure all of America and especially their descendants can stand proud for who came before them makes sense.

And the histroy. Those, who after the slaves were freed decided to stay here and make America their home survived racism and hardship all their life. Those who wanted to return to Africa were shipped to Liberia and ended up feeling superior and enslaved the native Africans after living there a short time!

We had the true American black people here with us building America! And a proud hard working group they were. Seldom do we see a group of people that deserve a tribute like the our first black Americans. I still feel if my grandmother was looking down and she had been whipped, she might better smile at a Tribute than an apology.

[baltoman99]

What about BO's former pal, Wright? Was that any way to talk about white people?:confused:

The things he said were not even a joke. He meant it.

IMO.

LMAO!!!!

Hey, did you report yourself? I mean, you have no problems telling others to stay on topic and when they don't you run whining so I'm guessing you went and told on yourself right?

How sad that you can't speak out against the blatant racism shown in the post by Mercedes. Nah, you just do what the right seems to do best and thats pass the buck and change the subject. :rolleyes:

[Lynden1000]

I don't think the souls of deceased slaves are overcome with joy because they received an apology from people they never met and who never tormented them, on behalf of the people who *did* torment them but weren't the least bit sorry.

These kinds of apologies just ring hollow to me. We all have ancestors who did horrible things at some point in history. If they died without feeling remorse for what they did, it's not my job to make amends for their long-past behavior.

[knot]

{Bolding Mine}

I was not only NOT "out to lunch", I stood in line for 3 hours to vote for My President. And it pleases me no end to know that you are displeased.

Who me displeased! I think not. I have made mine during the 70's thru 90's. Just hate to see the writing on the wall for this and future generations. Get back to me in 2 years and let me know how that "change" is working out for you.

[LisaM22]

I would like to see an apology to the American people for the last 8 years ;)

[terri1]

Hi, I'm a Black American, but I have always wondered why Africans, who are the most guilty of SELLING their people into slavery, never asked to apologize. Also, I would like to know why everyone calls Obama a black man. I thought he was half white.

[Details]

Hi, I'm a Black American, but I have always wondered why Africans, who are the most guilty of SELLING their people into slavery, never asked to apologize. Also, I would like to know why everyone calls Obama a black man. I thought he was half white.Really? You're black, and you lump all of the people on the African continent together as just Africans? And you don't know it was random tribes in a few areas selling their opponents as slaves - not a government that exists today that could apologize? There are many different people there - as different as blaming all Europeans for what only the French did.

And Obama is considered black for the usual reason - his appearance fits the common view of what a black man looks like sufficiently that anyone prejudiced against black people would be prejudiced against him. Thus - for our culture, he is black. He's half white - and if I believed in race meaning anything, I'd be proud of that - he's a remarkable man. And he's a marker in American culture - the first time someone who looked black was able to be elected as President in our country.

If we were a country that had only ever elected pure 100% black people - and Obama was the first person with a White parent to get elected, no doubt he'd be referred to as the first white President.

[doctor_J]

I've spent several days mulling this over. I'm in the deep South so it might hit a little closer to home. I don't agree with it. I feel it just keeps ripping open racial wounds, continuing to lay a blanket of guilt on the white man and a sense of entitlement to some blacks (key word "some").

My ancestors in Mississippi didn't own slaves. They toiled along side them in cotton fields but at the end of the long day did not have a meal assured or even assurance of a roof over their heads. They were poor sharecroppers and if the crops failed, they starved. The slaves were of more value to the "masters". They had their freedom, on paper, but in reality were wearing similar chains.

Many, many white people fought and gave their lives to free the slaves. If that is not apology enough, I fall back onto what a black friend told me yesterday. He said, on this topic, "I consider living as a citizen of America today, versus being in Africa with all it's civil wars and famine, to be apology enough".

[Carol25]

Realistically, how many of us are 100% anything? Check back in your genealogy and you may be surprised, lol!

All of us came from immgrants. If we all thought about it, regardless how our forefathers were treated initially, we should all be grateful for what they endured for our citizenship and living here in the US now. Regardless of the color of our skins, we have people in the lower socio economic and the higher socioeconomic levels, the loer and higher IQ levels, every career , every positon in those careers. There is absolutely no difference between the races that I know of.

Yet there is still racism. And no one can give a sound reason why.

The only observance from that is that you can make is that racism is an assumption that is baseless and without reason. That would lead us to it is a decision made be a person with a low functioning intelligence.

Then again, continuing to apologize every so many years seems duplicative as well. How many times to do apologize for a mistake?
Do they just put it on their agenda every three years? How much meaning is there in that? Just wondering. Is it like the first 6 apologies weren't really sincere?

[Details]

...
Then again, continuing to apologize every so many years seems duplicative as well. How many times to do apologize for a mistake?
Do they just put it on their agenda every three years? How much meaning is there in that? Just wondering. Is it like the first 6 apologies weren't really sincere?This is the first and only apology given. Up until now, any concept of an apology was totally rejected.

Is apologizing once OK? Can we just once say that this was wrong? Or shall we keep defiantly saying we've nothing to apologize for - even with only 45 years passed since we finally got around to saying that they were indeed equal, less time still since those laws really started taking hold.

[terri1]

And you don't know it was random tribes in a few areas selling their opponents as slaves - not a government that exists today that could apologize?

You are, sadly mistaken. The Africans were bringing other Africans to the White man and it was a very large scale operation. They had slave factories in Africa where Africans brought other Africans to the White slave traders. Where do you think the terms "Slave trader/Slave trade" comes from? The Africans played a huge part in the slave trade, so you are way off base when you say a "few".

In fact, the American slave-trade would never have been possible without the help of the Africans!!!! The White men were terrified of the jungles. Read African history books, not American ones that focus only on the American involvement in the "SLAVE TRADE."

1. Africa-A biography of the continent
2. History of Africa
3. Africa since 1800
4. Dreams of Africa in Alabama
5. Dear Master (This book is about the first Africans sent back to Liberia, West Africa where my husband is from) who begged to come back to America to be slaves again because they had never been treated as harshly by whites as they were by the native Africans, who were killing them like flies. These letters written by the former slaves were saved and are kept in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

There is also another book, written by a slave trader who tells, in detail what the slave trade was like. I can't remember the title of the book, but I will check with the library and let you know later. There is no better book on slavery. I think you, like most Americans only know the American side.

Please take time to educate yourself about Africans (especially Western and Central Africans) as I have done over the last 5 years.

I repeat we need an apology from Africans!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Details]

...I repeat we need an apology from Africans!!!!!!!!!!!!And I repeat - what Africans? The American government apologized - because it was the same government that originally allowed slavery and allowed jim crow laws to continue for nearly a century - the same entity.

But there is no one alive there who ran slave camps, trafficked in slaves. And we are not responsible for the crimes of our ancestors. There is no government that did this, that could say anything about what they did, that still exists from back then. So then - what Africans? Should we blame the entire continent, everyone of a particular color for this? Should a government that never had a thing to do with slavery be apologizing?

[Tracian]

I have no problem with an official apology; I do however think it is less about an official apology, and more about PC.

Many different nationalities were abused by the US government.

Indentured servants from poor European families, Irish immigrants, Chinese immigrants, Trail of Tears, Salem Witch trials, Jewish immigrants, the internment camps in WWII...

The list of those abused by those in power here in American and all over the world would keep everyone apologising for a very long time.

I tend to think that this once again will serve to separate us as Americans in the long run, than actually bring any closure to wounds none of us alive today inflicted or suffered.

[doctor_J]

You are, sadly mistaken. The Africans were bringing other Africans to the White man and it was a very large scale operation. They had slave factories in Africa where Africans brought other Africans to the White slave traders. Where do you think the terms "Slave trader/Slave trade" comes from? The Africans played a huge part in the slave trade, so you are way off base when you say a "few".

In fact, the American slave-trade would never have been possible without the help of the Africans!!!! The White men were terrified of the jungles. Read African history books, not American ones that focus only on the American involvement in the "SLAVE TRADE."

1. Africa-A biography of the continent
2. History of Africa
3. Africa since 1800
4. Dreams of Africa in Alabama
5. Dear Master (This book is about the first Africans sent back to Liberia, West Africa where my husband is from) who begged to come back to America to be slaves again because they had never been treated as harshly by whites as they were by the native Africans, who were killing them like flies. These letters written by the former slaves were saved and are kept in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

There is also another book, written by a slave trader who tells, in detail what the slave trade was like. I can't remember the title of the book, but I will check with the library and let you know later. There is no better book on slavery. I think you, like most Americans only know the American side.

Please take time to educate yourself about Africans (especially Western and Central Africans) as I have done over the last 5 years.

I repeat we need an apology from Africans!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know from my own research you are correct. However, as Americans, we have no control over Africa's acknowledgement, much less their apologizing, for their part in the slave trade. I believe they are preoccupied with killing each other still. That's why my friend said being in America, because his ancestors were probably slaves, was apology enough. He's just glad he doesn't have to raise his new son there. I agree.

[Tracian]

I know from my own research you are correct. However, as Americans, we have no control over Africa's acknowledgement, much less their apologizing, for their part in the slave trade. I believe they are preoccupied with killing each other still. That's why my friend said being in America, because his ancestors were probably slaves, was apology enough. He's just glad he doesn't have to raise his new son there. I agree.

There is a great deal about slavery that is ignored in at the very least High School history classes.

It is my experience that the mere attempt to acknowledge such things, especially on message boards discussing such issues, becomes quickly a name calling fest.

[terri1]

I believe they are preoccupied with killing each other still. That's why my friend said being in America, because his ancestors were probably slaves, was apology enough. He's just glad he doesn't have to raise his new son there. I agree.

Thank you. I still want an apology from Africans. Ghana offered an official apology to all Black Americans and even went further to offer automatic citizenship to any Black American who wanted to live there, without having to apply for citizenship.

It's time for the other African countries to offer an official apology. Forget the apology from white Americans. Slavery was made possible by black Africans, period. Whites have apologized enough.

And the killing needs to stop. Over a million killed in Rwanda, 500,000 in Liberia, etc, etc, etc..... I don't understand how the person I originally addressed my comments to can say that Americans need to apologize, but Africans don't. That's just plain weird.

[doctor_J]

I can see how you would feel that way, Terri. Sadly, I can't see it happening anytime soon. I have often wondered why all the prominent black Americans that travel to Africa and tout their loyalty to the "motherland", dress in something colorfully tribal, and talk about what a "redemptive" experience being there was, never think to suggest this important issue? I hope my saying that is not offensive, that certainly not my intention. You said you were black and I've never had a chance to discuss this with an African American. Black Americans deserve accountability.

The killing definitely needs to stop.

[Carol25]

Thank you. I still want an apology from Africans. Ghana offered an official apology to all Black Americans and even went further to offer automatic citizenship to any Black American who wanted to live there, without having to apply for citizenship.

It's time for the other African countries to offer an official apology. Forget the apology from white Americans. Slavery was made possible by black Africans, period. Whites have apologized enough.

And the killing needs to stop. Over a million killed in Rwanda, 500,000 in Liberia, etc, etc, etc..... I don't understand how the person I originally addressed my comments to can say that Americans need to apologize, but Africans don't. That's just plain weird.
Terri, thank you for sharing your knowledge. We need more people sharing their expertise in history. Much appreciated!

I had read that American slaves that went to Liberia set up an Constitution similar to ours and then enslaved some of the natives there. Was this before or after what you were talking about, or in a different locale?

[terri1]

I had read that American slaves that went to Liberia set up an Constitution similar to ours and then enslaved some of the natives there. Was this before or after what you were talking about, or in a different locale?

That's untrue. No Black Americans ever enslaved Africans. But the natives did voluntarily sell their children to the Americos. The Americos enrolled these children in schools, but required them to do household chores. They were never slaves.

[Tracian]

That's untrue. No Black Americans ever enslaved Africans. But the natives did voluntarily sell their children to the Americos. The Americos enrolled these children in schools, but required them to do household chores. They were never slaves.

In our own countries history, many Africans were indentured servants and were released after a period of time. They were owners of land, and some of them even slave owners.

[Carol25]

That's untrue. No Black Americans ever enslaved Africans. But the natives did voluntarily sell their children to the Americos. The Americos enrolled these children in schools, but required them to do household chores. They were never slaves.
Thank you. I think I got it from wikipedia...should have doubted it.

[Calla]

I would like to see an apology to the American people for the last 8 years ;)

:thumbsup:

One thing I can totally agree with.
I'll be holding out for that resolution

[LisaM22]

many black and white ancestors were slave owners, were also the ones to fight for equal rights and were just everyday working class folks like the rest of us, our blood is mixed, there is very few if any pure bloods of any race left in this country, that is why they call America the big melting pot