Southern Heritage Advancement Preservation and Education (S.H.A. P. E.)

Senate Adopts Slavery Apology Resolution

—

by

gpthelastrebel
in

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20090618/pl_cq_politics/politics3147458_6

Senate Adopts Slavery Apology Resolution

.By Greg Vadala and Edward Epstein, CQ Staff Greg Vadala And Edward Epstein, Cq Staff – Thu Jun 18, 1:54 pm ET

The Senate adopted a resolution Thursday offering a formal apology for slavery and the era of “separate but equal” Jim Crow laws that followed.

After the clerk finished reading the resolution (S Con Res 26) in full, Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, the measure’s sponsor, noted that Congress has never before issued a formal apology for slavery.

“It’s long past due. A national apology by the representative body of the people is a necessary collective response to a past collective injustice,” Harkin said. “So it is both appropriate and imperative that Congress fulfill its moral obligation and officially apologize for slavery and Jim Crow laws.”

The Senate action comes more than 40 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, 146 years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and in the same year Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African-American president.

The non-binding resolution, which does not have the force of law, includes a disclaimer stating that the measure does not authorize or support reparations for the descendants of African slaves brought to the United States before the Civil War.

The inclusion of the disclaimer in the Senate resolution has drawn sharp criticism from members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Soon after the Senate approved the measure on a voice vote, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said the disclaimer is “unnecessary language.”

“If that is what it says, I don’t support it,” Waters said.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., has for years made little headway with his proposals for the federal government to consider some form of reparations.

But Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., who is trying to become the first black governor of his Deep South state, said he was glad about the Senate action, and added that the Congress is overdue in apologizing for slavery.

Alabama approved an apology for slavery two years ago, following similar actions by legislatures in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

If Alabama can do it “it’s probably not such a hard thing for Congress to do it,” Davis said.

Illinois Democratic Sen. Roland W. Burris, the lone African-American senator, took to the floor to praise the resolution.

“Some in the black community will dismiss this resolution. Some will say that words don’t matter — that the actions of our forefathers cannot be undone,” Burris said. “But words do matter. They matter a great deal.”

Burris acknowledged that the reparations disclaimer concerned him. “I want to go on record making sure that that disclaimer in no way would eliminate future actions that may be brought before this body that may deal with reparations,” he said.

Rep. Steve Cohen D-Tenn., a white Democrat from Tennessee who represents a black majority district, sponsored a slavery apology resolution that was adopted by the House last year.

Cohen, whose resolution was silent on reparations, said the House might act again this year.

“The House may do a resolution similar to the Senate or just rest on the one we passed last year,” said Cohen.

“I think it’s historic that the Senate passed a resolution,” he said, adding that the Senate would not have acted if the House had not adopted his earlier resolution last year. Cohen said he would prefer a resolution that was silent on reparations, but said he understood why the disclaimer was needed for Senate passage.

“I prefer my language but I am not a member of the Senate,” said Cohen.

Now that both chambers have acted, plans are in the works for a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda on July 7 to commemorate the action, he said.

It isn’t often that Congress offers a formal apology. In the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (PL 100-383), Congress apologized to the Japanese who were forced to live in internment camps during World War II. During a debate on an Indian health bill last year, the Senate adopted an amendment apologizing for the U.S. legacy of brutality against Native Americans. And in 2005, the Senate adopted a resolution apologizing for its history of filibustering legislation designed to combat lynching of African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Bennett Roth contributed to this story.

Comments

5 responses to “Senate Adopts Slavery Apology Resolution”

  1. gpthelastrebel Avatar
    gpthelastrebel

    Better by far that they should apologize for being a bunch of mealy-mouthed liars, crooks, poltroons and parasites. Frankly, slavery arose far from these shores and was quite legal for centuries (millennia?). The blacks who were brought to these shores by whites (mostly from Britain and the North) were lucky. Some 80% of those who were shipped west went to places other than the “colonies” or the united States. The death rate for slaves shipped by Europeans and Americans was 20%; the death rate for slaves of the Muslims was 80%. Black captives who were sold into slavery survived; black captives who were not were killed. So the blacks whining and moaning today about slavery should give thanks to Almighty God that the institution was in place or they wouldn’t be in America or Africa; they’d be nowhere today.

    Better by far that they should apologize for being a bunch of mealy-mouthed liars, crooks, poltroons and parasites. Frankly, slavery arose far from these shores and was quite legal for centuries (millennia?). The blacks who were brought to these shores by whites (mostly from Britain and the North) were lucky. Some 80% of those who were shipped west went to places other than the “colonies” or the united States. The death rate for slaves shipped by Europeans and Americans was 20%; the death rate for slaves of the Muslims was 80%. Black captives who were sold into slavery survived; black captives who were not were killed. So the blacks whining and moaning today about slavery should give thanks to Almighty God that the institution was in place or they wouldn’t be in America or Africa; they’d be nowhere today.

    Val

    Reply
  2. gpthelastrebel Avatar
    gpthelastrebel

    While all of this is true, what they really want is money.

    GP

    Reply
  3. gpthelastrebel Avatar
    gpthelastrebel

    Correction! What they really want is more money! With all that’s been spent supporting, housing, caring for, “educating” and imprisoning them, we could have bought a country in Africa and sent them all there to live. It would have been cheap at twice the price.0

    Val

    Reply
  4. gpthelastrebel Avatar
    gpthelastrebel

    The full resolution–

    I had thought this may be for the complete institution of slavery, but I see it is only for a select group. I think I’ll write my Congressman and complain.

    GP
    ***************************************************

    “SCON 26 RFH
    111th CONGRESS

    1st Session

    S. CON. RES. 26

    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    June 18, 2009

    Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

    ——————————————————————————–
    CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

    Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.

    Whereas during the history of the Nation, the United States has grown into a symbol of democracy and freedom around the world;

    Whereas the legacy of African-Americans is interwoven with the very fabric of the democracy and freedom of the United States;

    Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;

    Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;

    Whereas many enslaved families were torn apart after family members were sold separately;

    Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against people of African descent upon which it depended became enmeshed in the social fabric of the United States;

    Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the ratification of the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1865, after the end of the Civil War;

    Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;

    Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as ‘Jim Crow’, which arose in certain parts of the United States after the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for Whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against people of African descent that was engendered by slavery;

    Whereas the system of Jim Crow laws officially existed until the 1960s–a century after the official end of slavery in the United States–until Congress took action to end it, but the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day;

    Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws–long after both systems were formally abolished–through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty;

    Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of the history of the United States;

    Whereas those African-Americans who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws, and their descendants, exemplify the strength of the human character and provide a model of courage, commitment, and perseverance;

    Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged the continuing legacy of slavery in life in the United States and the need to confront that legacy, when he stated that slavery ‘was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.’;

    Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery, when he initiated a national dialogue about race;

    Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but 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;

    Whereas the legislatures of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the States of Alabama, Florida, Maryland, and North Carolina have taken the lead in adopting resolutions officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery, and other State legislatures are considering similar resolutions; and

    Whereas it is important for the people of the United States, who legally recognized slavery through the Constitution and the laws of the United States, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so they can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the sense of the Congress is the following:

    (1) APOLOGY FOR THE ENSLAVEMENT AND SEGREGATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS- The Congress–

    (A) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws;

    (B) apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws; and

    (C) expresses its recommitment to the principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and calls on all people of the United States to work toward eliminating racial prejudices, injustices, and discrimination from our society.

    (2) 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.

    Passed the Senate June 18, 2009.

    Attest:

    NANCY ERICKSON,

    Secretary.”

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=sc111-26

    Reply
  5. gpthelastrebel Avatar
    gpthelastrebel

    God! Now if they would apologize for being Yankees and scalawags and thieves (a/k/a Congress), we might be getting somewhere. What a bunch of losers and whiners and know nothings. Our Founding Fathers would be (are?) ashamed.

    Val

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *