Senate Formally Apologises for Ignoring Lynchings.

[Ysobelle]

Hm. So. Overdue, a bit-- especially as none of our current Senators were in any way directly responsible for stalling and ignoring House and Presidential resolutions on lynchings.

Any opinions on it?

[Tapestry MacGillicuddly]

About time... the hypocrisy of the men in control of this nation really bothers me. Yes it beats a lot of other places we could be living. But we still have a long way to go, too.

[Buxom Wench]

Correct me if I'm wrong.

I believe I heard on the news this morning that 20 senators didn't agree with the apology.

[Ysobelle]

I'm not surprised. I don't think it's that they didn't agree with the resolution, but that they thought it'd open the door to the issue of reparations.

Now we get to the tetchy part: one of the issues brought up last night on the Tavis Smiley show was that the government may at some point move to formally apologise for slavery. This baffles me. Wasn't that why we fought a Civil War? Thousands and thousands of men died because they thought-- among other issues-- that slavery was wrong. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. We're STILL divided as a nation. What good does an apology do when we (I'm speaking as a Northerner, I know) did so much, so tragically, 150 years ago? Wouldn't it be better to focus on current race relations? Or is an apology part of that?

[Jeannie Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Ysobelle

Now we get to the tetchy part: one of the issues brought up last night on the Tavis Smiley show was that the government may at some point move to formally apologise for slavery. This baffles me. Wasn't that why we fought a Civil War?

Actually, the American Civil war was fought over southern states leaving the Union over economic issues, cheap labor from slavery being a small part of it. Northern industrialists further fueled the war since it provided a ready market for their munitions and other war related products. The issue over slavery was the excuse used to justify the war.

Until this century, war has always been a great stimulus for the economy. WWI pulled us out of a minor depression. WWII was what pullled us out of the Great Depression, not the New Deal or WPA. Viet Nam was allowed to be a no win war because it fueled the economy.

[Ysobelle]

Oh, I don't dispute that the primary motivation for the war was politics and economics. But neither is it honest to disregard the people who passionately believed that slavery was wrong, and went to war for that reason. Lincoln didn't shirk from addressing the problem, and made sure Americans knew it was one of the reasons for the war.

I think my problems is that apologising for Slavery now is like saying, "What, we had slaves here? In America? Oh, my G-d! No! Are you kidding?" It almost seems to be saying to our thousands of dead that their "Last full measure" just wasn't quite enough.

[daBaroness]

Apologize, don't apologize - what difference does it make? It's all in the past ... hopefully.

What matters is here and now. Frankly, as the parent of mixed-race male children living in redneck America, I'd like to see some of the less obvious bastions of racism and discrimination held up in the light of public scrutiny. Let freakin' Congress do something about racial profiling, inequitable dispensing of justice and the continuing treatment of various racial groups as second-class citizens in this country. Racism is still running rampant in this country - it's just gone underground.

But no, Congress is busy legislating morality and religion according to the right wingers. Issues of same-sex unions take top billing over the tromping of the civil liberties of people of color and women.

I understand how some people might want an apology, but frankly, I think they're past-sighted. Use White guilt to affect a change today - not ask for forgiveness for what cannot be undone.