It's About Time...Good for Virginia!! (Condi Rice, Colin Powell, spokesman, statistics)

[virginia farm girl]

Virginia apologizes for slavery.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070225/ap_on_re_us/slavery_apology_15: (broken link))

[macbunny]

why should they appologize. Slavery was manifested by the African nations themselves who sold their brothers for money. Indentured servants were just as poorly off. Slavery still goes on in the world. Man against man always has been seems to always be.

[awakenthesun22]

Too little, too late. The blacks who were slaves in the U.S. are long gone. It's like Ireland appologizing to me for the potato famine.

[saganista]

It's clearly too late to redress in any sense the long-past grievances of anyone. That doesn't mean that an expression of profound regret doesn't have any significance within the ethos of today. I am glad to see this finally occur, and applaud as well the recognition of exploitation of Native Americans and calls for celebration of Juneteenth, not because they can change anthing in the past, but because they may help to change things in the future. We'll all be moving there, after all...

[seanpecor]

Hey, as a Native American tribe spokesman said recently, days after his tribe bought the Hard Rock Cafe and Casinos for > $1B, "We're buying back Manhattan, one hamburger at a time"

My mom was born on Burnt Church reserve in N.B. Canada. I'm not interested in Manhattan but I've grabbed 128 acres so far in the outlying Roanoke metro area. It's a good start

A little known fact is that Virginia's first white settlers shipped off thousands upon thousands of indians to the Caribbean as slaves. You can see that genetic heritage in the faces of many in the caribbean; or at least I can when I'm down there.

Sean

[Upstate Dave]

It's all well and good to feel nice about this apology.... but our culture does not pass the sins of the fathers to the sons. Highlighting the negative in our past focuses thoughts and actions on the negative today. While that's not to suggest forgetting the past, wouldn't it be more important to recognize the past for what it was, the past. The vast majority of us today do not condone those actions and we have, mostly, learned to get along nicely. Question... how many African states have officially apologized? I truly do not know. And does that have the same effect as the Commonwealth of Virginia apologizing?

I have met many a person that searched for the real source of pain in their past in attempts to find peace today, only to hang on to those hurts and grievances tightly. Letting go of the pain means facing a future where one is responsible for their own feelings... and sometimes we are taught that we are not really responsible for ourselves, (there's a clue).

If I am not to live by the rule to forgive and forget.... then I have many scores to settle and a whole bunch of apologies are due to me.

[jballa]

I am a believer of advancement of society as a whole and EQUAL treatment of all. I'd vote for Colin Powell or Condi Rice for Pres if the opportunity presented itself in a heartbeat. An apology by any state for slavery is in reality a futile attempt to wash the hands of previous legislatures but if the General Assembly feels it necessary, then so be it.

However, I like to compare things as equals and do you think that in the future the black community will apologize for its overbearing on our economy and crime with as much money going to social services as defence? Watching BET yesterday, hearing the people cry about Katrina that "Blacks are on our own in this country" led me to think, "isn't everyone?" Not trying to be stereotypical but look at statistics, then try to argue. Blame the problem on anything, but it's still fact.

My point is that regardless of a formal apology or free money for decades or special treatment there is nothing that will ever satisfy for the past.

[Rhett_Butler]

I thought this was nothing more than a black State Legislature dredging up the issue of slavery, once again, for pure political purposes.

Proof is in the pudding: Senator Henry Marsh, the black legislator who proposed this "resolution" was upset that it was expanded to apologize for the treatment of Native Americans and all of the state's generally racist past. In his own words it, "Diluted the purpose of the bill..."

So what does that mean exactly??? That this was supposed to be about blacks, not about slavery. That it was supposed to focus on the black man, not on racism. By acknowledging in the bill that blacks weren't the only one who were treated unfairly in Virginia's past it diffused any political ooomph that Sen Marsh was hoping to get from this bill and his disappointment in it being all inclusive in it's apology highlights this.....

Yes, "Good for Virginia" for realizing what was going on here and for getting all of it's "necessary" apologizing out of the way in one resolution so it can move on to more important things.....

[Ridgerunner]

The Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians for 430 years. Is an apology in order?

[Amaznjohn]

If this would put the slavery issue behind us once and for all, I would support it. But, this won't happen because slavery is too convenient an excuse. The best thing to do would be to forget about it and move on, helping everyone to conform to the American culture, thereby reducing tensions.