My full thoughts are here: http://djblackadam.typepad.com/damnitq/2007/04/black_people_we.html

I understand C Stanley, and I agree that there are ways of expressing remorse (or apologizing) that could be counter-productive… but I also think that there are ways to say things that are more all-encompassing.

What kritter says is another aspect of this that seems to get lost in dialogue. In fact, my own post title contributes to the skewed sense of timeline…. because kritter is correct: this really isn’t ancient history. The residual taint of slavery has carried forward far into our own lifetimes, and while I absolutely agree that continuing to work to remove barriers and combat perceptions is where policy should be focused, the “it’s all so long ago” argument is false.

In other words, an apology from the state would actually subvert the intended goal. We need to make it clear that the govt now represents EVERYONE, not just the powerful who used to enslave others. The govt can’t make an apology to the aggrieved without seeming like it is the voice of the oppressors instead of being the representative of both groups (those descended from slaves and those descended from slave owners.)

But if the govt simply takes the position that it does now represent everyone, it will make laws that protect the rights of all and will uphold those laws. That is the proper position for it to take because that’s how it shows that the grievances of the descendents of slaves will not be forgotten, and that the govt is now the voice of all citizens as it should be.

I also disagree with those who think that just because Holocaust survivors are dying out, that its significance will fade. “Never forget” is the phrase that Jewish people use to refer to that atrocity, because to forget is to fail to learn any of the lessons of history and possibly to repeat its mistakes. There are many memorials to the Holocaust, so that no one will forget.

Our past is what it is, and while no one deserves personal blame for slavery, its victims should still be honored with an official apology. It would be a sign that we are capable of admitting a wrong, and moving beyond it.

And the reason Germans are still apologizing over the holocaust is because we still have people who remember, who lived thru that event. When those people are gone, it officially moves into the history books as a lesson and apologies become pointless.

The problem I have with a state sponsored apology is who is really apologizing to whom? As has already been noted, the wrongs were of past generations who aren’t here to apologize any more, and if the state now issues an apology, it is speaking on behalf of all of its citizens (some of whom are the ones we think ought to be apologizing and some are the ones we think are owed the apology.) That makes no sense. In other words, the state of VA now represents whites who are descendents of slave owners, whites who are not descendents of slave owners, blacks who are descended from slaves, blacks not descended from slaves, and even some blacks who are descended from black slaveowners (yes, though not common, free blacks did in some cases own slaves too.) My point is, if the it’s almost a contradiction for the state of VA (or any other govt) to issue an apology because that sort of violates the idea that the voice that is speaking is actually a representative of the ones who should be the recipients of the apology as well as the ones who should be issuing it. That’s almost like saying that the “state” still represents just the oppressors, instead of representing everyone.

So, I think that the best thing we can do is ensure that civil rights laws are enforced properly- that is how the state should apologize for getting it wrong in the past, by getting it right now.

Most ancestors of Americans weren’t in the US at the time of slavery. Of those that were, a fair number lived in the North, and of those that lived in the south, I’d wager most had nothing to do with slavery.

Lynx, this is an interesting, commonly held misconception about the North. In fact, though, the North not only held slaves, some (like New York) were extremely reluctant to emancipate them. Yes, it happened without the Civil War, but it was quite a political battle.

My own ancestors were enslaved in New England — specifically, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Providence, RI and New London (and Norwich), CT were key hubs in the “Golden Triangle”.

Slavery was all over the place…

I don’t think an apology would do much, but if the community wants it, sure, why not. It should be worded in such a way to make sure it’s clear that what is felt is regret, not guilt. I don’t think it’ll change the situation one iota, but one more piece of paper wont kill government.

But if one looks at the country as a whole, and at an apology as coming from all of us as Americans, then I think it transcends the “who was here when” or “but we never held slaves” or “but my family was always free” level of individuality.

Slavery, and the ensuing decades of segregation, Jim Crow laws, etc., are part and parcel of the emotional fabric of this country, and whether one’s family arrived here in the 17th century or the 20th, the history impacts all of us as Americans.

At least, that’s how it seems to me.