In your opinion, should African Americans forgive America for slavery? (vote, world)

[marmac]

should African Americans forgive America for slavery?

That decision should be left up to the African Americans who were slaves.

Any of them still alive today ?

[Bennie Flowers]

I know this has already been said because here are 12 pages worth of comments. Although, I will say this once again..


Black Americans are STILL effected by slavery today. Even if slavery was hundreds of years ago, the effects are still apparent. This is not deniable. I'm not saying Black Americans should hold a grude but I don't think slavery is something people could 'truly' forgive. Who they aren't forgiving is the American country hundreds of years ago, not the America today. Like I said before, sure people understand the severity of slavery that the United States of America commited, but I don't think they realize the debilitating effects of what it has continously caused.

[Bennie Flowers]

I saw a glimmer of another poster's comment. I agree, we could go all the way back to the "Cave Ages" to see how many apologies people around the world owe to eachother. It's something people need to move on from but there are still effects from the cruelty amongst people around the world that still show up today. So, I can completely understand how there still are inferiority vs superiority tensions across the board. For example, look at the Aborigines in Australia. People tried to 'wash' their ethnicity, culture and lifestyle out and have them literally mate with White Australians to get them into the ideal "White" culture. Although Australia doesn't practice these kinds of 'genocide' now, the Australian Aborigines are still isolated from the rest of society, they have no education, they are thought of with low expectations and the alcoholic addictions are overwhelmingly and disproportionately high. Sadly, this situation can be compared to the situations Native Americans have to deal with today within the USA.

[Huckleberry3911948]

you cant forgive someone who did not harm you. unless you were born in 1862 or know somebody that did you wrong with that DOB, there is nothing to forgive.

[sanrene]

In your opinion, should African Americans forgive America for slavery?

Shouldn't their own leaders who sold them as slaves be the first to be forgiven?

How bout the rest of the world, who engaged in an accepted practice at the time?

Besides, if they want forgiveness they need to track down the descendants of those who owned slaves. That would eliminate about 99.9% of the nation.

[rxpwas]

I sure ain't apologizing for something I didn't do any more that I don't expect any present day Arab apologizing to me for kidnapping a white Irish girl off the Irish coast (I'm part Irish and Scots-Irish) or a present day white person apologizing to me for a soldier 170 plus years ago forcing a Cherokee ancestor of mine to walk the Trail of Tears (I'm part Cherokee, also). So there, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, David Duke, etc., etc.

[tinman01]

I don't think that there is a race that didn't endure slavery at some point in time.
Done is done and we are never going to go back to slavery. Not one slave is alive today. So the question of slavery is a bit moot.
Now if the question is Racism and blatant discrimination then that is a valid question because there are surviving victims of such behavior. And no I don't think anyone should forgive someone who has discriminated against them. By someone I do mean the individual not society or an entire race. Because the entire race is not guilty, nor is the nation as a whole.
If the question is should Black Americans forgive slavery then it should follow should Black Americans express gratitude towards the descendants of Union soldiers? After all it was Union soldiers who fought and died to win their freedom.

[Heaveno]

Oh Ye People of Little Minds!! Let us never engage in this dialogue again!!! For what does it accomplish talking about forgetting or forgiving slavery?? Absolutely nothing on CD!!

[chattypatty]

I wouldn't frame the issue in terms of forgiveness. As others have pointed out, the perps and the victims are both dead, making forgiveness irrelevant, but the victim's descendents certainly should not "forget" what happened to their people. It's important to understand one's history, but it is way past time to move on from hostility and victimhood and be a credit to all those slaves and freedom fighters who fought so that blacks today can be free and equal.

[ILUVOBAMA]

When did America ask for forgiveness?