The U.S. Senate approved a resolution on Thursday apologizing for slavery and segregation of African-Americans, almost five months after Barack Obama was sworn in as the first black U.S. president.
While the Senate resolution acknowledged that an apology for centuries of wrongdoing could not erase the past, it said a “confession of the wrongs committed and a formal apology to African-Americans will help bind the wounds of the nation that are rooted in slavery, and can speed racial healing and reconciliation, and help the people of the United States understand the past and honor the history of all people of the United States.”
In an unusual step, the three-page resolution was read in its entirety in the chamber, where the first black senator, Hiram Revels of Mississippi, stepped onto the Senate floor about 139 years ago.
However, the resolution is not without controversy. Some are upset by the last lines of the resolution that include a disclaimer: “Nothing in this resolution — A) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or B) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States.”
Democratic Senator Roland Burris, the lone African-American in the Senate, argued that the disclaimer should not prohibit future congressional action on the issue of reparations. Despite the concern, the resolution passed the Senate by voice vote.
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin noted that the Senate adopted resolutions apologizing to Native Americans, for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and for not enacting anti-lynching legislation — but never slavery.
“A national apology by the representative body of the people is a necessary collective response to a past collective injustice,” Harkin said on the Senate floor.
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- Photo credit: Reuters/Finbarr O’Reilly (a man is silhouetted in the “Door of No Return” at Goree Island in Senegal where African slaves were shipped out.)
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Eric, I appreciate that you know that slavery was not a primary cause of the Civil War. This isn’t something, however, that most Americans understand. Just read the comment from Mike in NYC: he insists that black Americans should be grateful that their ancestors were ever freed from slavery, and thank the descendants of those who died for other reasons, and in the process happened to bring about abolition.
You ask me, “Are you suggesting that it is OK for one group of people to benefit from the enslavement and oppression of a another group? That whites should look back at history and say ‘Thank God those black people were slaves, it really helped my ancestors get ahead in life.’?”
Of course that’s not what I’m saying. I said that people should be aware of the benefits their families have received, even after the fact, from slavery and discrimination.
However, I’m puzzled by your comment. Are you saying that you’re in favor of reparations for slavery? What else do you mean by saying that it would be racist to believe that it’s okay for white people today to benefit from slavery and oppression?
- Posted by JamesPersonally, I hope they don’t go for reparations. The first black person to blow their money on something stupid will be plastered all over the six o’clock news. White folk will be looking for something like that.
- Posted by TommyProud Americans, regardless of race,gender,color and religion are truly ready to move on. We all saw this in the election of the country’s first Black President.
We have too much work to do as a Nation in trying to bring about peace in the world, surviving changes in the climate/natural resources and world wide hunger.
We have seen this country come together at a grass root level during Katrina, no one cared who was standing there with an outreached hand–they simply looked up and grab it.
As the saying goes, “this is America” and we are a unique and funny kind of peoples. First steps are lasting steps. This resolution is just one of many/already lasting steps.
- Posted by Sarah Elizabeth[...] While the Senate resolution acknowledged that an apology for centuries of wrongdoing could not erase the past, it said a “confession of the wrongs committed and a formal apology to African-Americans will help bind the wounds of the nation that are rooted in slavery, and can speed raciaRead more at http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2009/0 6/18/us-senate-approves-resolution-apolo gizing-for-slavery/ [...]
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