Mr. E's Forum: 2006-2007 -> Multicultural Studies -> News #1: Apology for Slavery
Post Info TOPIC: News #1: Apology for Slavery
mre

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News #1: Apology for Slavery
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The United States at one point enslaved over four million people.  For hundreds of years, African Americans were kept as property and forced to work in humiliating conditions.   What are your thoughts?  Should the US govenment issue a formal apology for slavery?  How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?  What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world?  Let's begin an online conversation by researching and taking a look at the issues, the positions, the people, the history, the media and more.  Answer the questions above [80 points] with your own words, thoughts and feelings in detail.  Ask a question to another student [10 points] and respond to another student's post with your own comments [10 points]. 

Virginia slave apology debate raises tensions

By DIONNE WALKER, Associated Press WriterTue Jan 30, 2:09 PM ET

When an 80-year-old white Virginia legislator recently came out against a resolution apologizing for slavery because blacks, he said, should "get over it," he ignited a storm of protests from black leaders.

The furor has illustrated once more that when the issue is race, the past is never far from the surface in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy and a city where one of the main boulevards is lined with grand statues of Southern heroes such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart.

Two black legislators — Sen. Henry L. Marsh III and Delegate Donald McEachin — have proposed that the General Assembly "acknowledge with contrition" the state's role in slavery. McEachin said an apology would promote healing and ease the sadness felt by many descendants of slaves.

The resolution has yet to be put to a vote. But Delegate Frank Hargrove, the white Republican who spoke out against an apology, said there is no point in issuing one, because no slaves or slave owners are alive today.

Black leaders exchanged heated words with Hargrove. In a confrontation in Hargrove's office, King Salim Khalfani, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Virginia, told the legislator his comments were insensitive "when you haven't walked in our shoes."

"You're damned right they owe an apology," Khalfani said in an interview later. "They need to repair the damage."

Debates over whether to celebrate or suppress Virginia's history continue divide a state where about a fifth of the residents are black.

In 1999, blacks complained that murals newly put up along the Richmond floodwall depicted Lee and other whites but no black leaders. Three years earlier, the city was split by plans to add a statue of black Richmond-born tennis star Arthur Ashe along Monument Avenue, near statues of Confederate figures.

Ultimately, murals of black leaders were added to the floodwall and the Ashe statue went up.

At the same time, Virginia has made considerable political progress.

Voters made Democrat L. Douglas Wilder the nation's first elected black governor in 1989, and in 2004, elected him mayor of Richmond, a majority-black city.

The 140-member state legislature has 17 black members; the state recently created a scholarship program for blacks denied an education in the 1950s when some Virginia school systems closed down rather than integrate. The state also plans to build a civil rights memorial near the Capitol.

Some blacks link pressing community ills like low graduation rates to a defeatist mentality born during slavery and perpetuated by segregation.

"As a result of all of these things, African-Americans were set back," said Wilder, whose grandparents were slaves. "They still have not caught up."

Wilder said he supports an apology but does not believe it would do much to solve economic and educational disparities.

It is not a new idea. Former Ohio Rep. Tony Hall, who is white, proposed a federal slavery apology in 1997 and again in 2000.

"I got a tremendous amount of hate mail, but at the same time, I also got a lot of mail and people stopping me that were really, really thankful," said Hall, a Democrat. "There's still a lot of discrimination in our country. We need to be about healing it."

Frank Earnest, head of the Virginia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, agreed with Hargrove that modern whites have no reason to apologize.

"It worsens the tensions," he said. "Not every black person in this country is a descendant of slaves. Not every white person in this country is a descendant of people who owned slaves."

Michael Massie of the National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives questioned the need for an apology given by people who never owned slaves, to people who never were slaves. And he said an apology would not cure poverty or broken families.

"We see black leaders on every level," Massie said. "America has apologized."



-- Edited by mre at 15:21, 2007-02-14

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mre

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What do some of you think?  Should the South apologize for slavery?  Should the federal government apologize for not enacting anti-lynching legislation?  You can read an article on it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062300465.html and learn more about slavery here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ and about lynching (viewers discretion is advised) here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States.

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Jamie DIas

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Yes , i do think the U.S should issue a formal apology for slavery because what they did to the slaves we're wrong and I think that there families deserve an apology. I think the issue of slavery is fine the way its being  taught in school if people want to know more about slavery they should try to make a special class just for people to learn more about it.Slavery in the modern world should be stopped I think because no person should suffer that much because of there color or race .

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a days

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The United States at one point enslaved over four million people.  For hundreds of years, African Americans were kept as property and forced to work in humiliating conditions.  
What are your thoughts?      ....Should the US govenment issue a formal apology for slavery?  How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?  What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world?  Let's begin an online conversation by researching and taking a look at the issues, the positions, the people, the history, the media and more.  Answer the questions above [80 points] with your own words, thoughts and feelings in detail.  Ask a question to another student [10 points] and respond to another student's post with your own comments [10 points].



ANSWER:

 i think that the slavery in the modern world should be stopped right away. i think that the counrties should form together and make the countries stop the slavery,. and free all the slaves. the U.S govenment should apologies to the familes of the enslaved. i think that they should right an apology and have all the schools learn about slavery  and know excally what happend to them, they should tellthem the truth even if it makes the US gover. look bad.... every one makes mistakes and i dont think that they should be ashamed of it and i think that the next generation should learn from it.



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Jamie DIAS

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a days wrote:

The United States at one point enslaved over four million people.  For hundreds of years, African Americans were kept as property and forced to work in humiliating conditions.  
What are your thoughts?      ....Should the US govenment issue a formal apology for slavery?  How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?  What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world?  Let's begin an online conversation by researching and taking a look at the issues, the positions, the people, the history, the media and more.  Answer the questions above [80 points] with your own words, thoughts and feelings in detail.  Ask a question to another student [10 points] and respond to another student's post with your own comments [10 points].



ANSWER:

 i think that the slavery in the modern world should be stopped right away. i think that the counrties should form together and make the countries stop the slavery,. and free all the slaves. the U.S govenment should apologies to the familes of the enslaved. i think that they should right an apology and have all the schools learn about slavery  and know excally what happend to them, they should tellthem the truth even if it makes the US gover. look bad.... every one makes mistakes and i dont think that they should be ashamed of it and i think that the next generation should learn from it.



GOOOOOD JOB ASH they probably should get all the countries to form together and stop slavery good idea but i dont think it would ever happen cause yeah



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Leslie

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Should the US Government Issue a formal apology for slavery?  How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?  What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world? Should the South apologize for slavery?  Should the federal government apologize for not enacting anti-lynching legislation?   I do think that the Government should issue a formal apology for the slavery that went on. Even though it is true that slaves and slave owners are no longer around, their descendents are still around and would appreciate an apology for what their ancestors had to go through.  I think slavery should be taught in a way that shows exactly what the slaves had to go through.  I also think that teachers and those who are teaching about slavery should point out that even though our world has come a long way, there is still a long way to go and there is still slavery going around in the world.  A lot of people are blind to that and think that just because the world has come a long way it’s no longer around and that’s not true.  I honestly think that if people were more informed, they would be a lot more for the idea of a public apology.  Slavery in the modern world needs to be given more attention to and paid a lot more attention to.  We tend to focus and dwell on things that are in most ways pointless when there is so much more hatred and mistreatment going around the world.  The south should especially apologize for the slavery that went on because they were the ones who wanted slavery.  A lot of times we see how people are mistreated and we just can’t believe how even though slavery is in some way not around people still discriminate against people of color.  It’s hard to believe that people still have the mind-set that people of color are still not capable of being on top. A lot of people think that they can’t be leaders, they need to be followers.  The federal government should also apologize for not enacting any anti-lynching legislation.  I think that even though it’s true that apologizing won’t necessarily solve anything, I think it would be a good way of people knowing that the government is really trying to tie all the loose ends. If this was to happen, I really think people’s minds would change on the whole idea of slavery.  People still need to know that it is still around and something has to be done to stop it!!

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lexie wetzel

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1. I believe that the U.S. government and the South should indeed issue a formal apology for slavery because if slavery was never born, then people from, different backgrounds may not have ever discrimnated against.
2. The issue of slavery should be taught the way it is now being taught in schools. Textbooks and hands on learning in the classroom and computer labs given students a broader knowledge of slavery. The teacher should also tell students of how slavery came about and when and how it came to an end.
3. Slavery in the modern world should be forbidden it's despicable to even read that children are shackled and held at gunpoint.

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kevin

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Should we apologize for slavery? first of all it happened 200 years ago and we are apologizing for it? we need to move into the furture there are no slaves in america anymore we are all equal we as a nation are beating a dead horse yes it was wrong but why do we still have to talk about it and bring up something so terrible. what are they supposed to say "ohh yea sorry about that whole slavery thing, friends right"?  They deffinatly should have passed the hate crime law a while ago there should be severwe punishment for anyine who would dare do such a inttolerable act.

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nessaA

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i understand that at one point the United States enslaved over four million people.  i don't think it was right for people to own people and i don't think that it should have ever started.  i don't think that the US government should issue a formal apology for slavery though.  i don't think so because there are no people alive today that were slaves, know slave, or own slaves.  slavery is against the law and it isn't practices.  i know that some people are decendents of slaves and slave owners but how realistic is this "i'm so sorry that a couple of hundereds of years ago, my ancestor (in which i don't know, never met, never seen, and was dead before i was even thought of), owned your ancestor."  i don't think the US government should apologize to people who weren't slaves.  if there was still slavery and the people who participated were still alive then i would be all for the apology, but an apology isn't going to fix anything. 
i think that the issue of slavery is taught fine the way it is, but maybe there should be more teaching of how the life of the slave was and how they felt about there situation.
i don't think there should be any slavery in the modern world.  when the slaves who are enslaved in the world right now are freed, i think they are entitled to a formal apology from their government.

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Leslie

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Jamie DIas wrote:

Yes , i do think the U.S should issue a formal apology for slavery because what they did to the slaves we're wrong and I think that there families deserve an apology. I think the issue of slavery is fine the way its being  taught in school if people want to know more about slavery they should try to make a special class just for people to learn more about it.Slavery in the modern world should be stopped I think because no person should suffer that much because of there color or race .

That's true!! But don't you think that even though slavery is being taught they should talk more about how it's still around? I do agree that there should be a separate class but i think that in history or wherever we talk about slavery, they should also talk about the fact that it's still around because a lot of people think slavery isn't around anymore!! But good job!!

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adays

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Jamie DIas wrote:

Yes , i do think the U.S should issue a formal apology for slavery because what they did to the slaves we're wrong and I think that there families deserve an apology. I think the issue of slavery is fine the way its being  taught in school if people want to know more about slavery they should try to make a special class just for people to learn more about it.Slavery in the modern world should be stopped I think because no person should suffer that much because of there color or race .
i agree that the race should be stopped now. i think that the US govern. shouldnt have to apologize in some sence because they didnt have anything to do with the slavery hundreds of years ago. the old US govern. that slavery was ruled under has long gone died and new people for the u/s govern.


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adays

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MY QUESTION
 do you think that the US Government that we are under TODAY should apologize for something that happend under a diff group of people in the US govern hundred of years ago? why ?

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Sabrina

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  1. I think the U.S. government should issue a formal apology for slavery because it was a very tragic situation that has never been apologized for.  It was wrong what they did to the Native Americans, and they made a formal apology, so why are the African Americans any different. 
  2. The issue of slavery should be taught in schools the same way it is taught now.  They should recognize everyone involved in trying to abolish slavery.  One thing they should do more of is teach the whole struggle.  When I say whole struggle I mean to talk about everyone that went through slavery, not just the main people like Rosa Parks and Dr. Marin Luther King.
  3. There should be no slavery in the modern world today.  However, since there is still slavery today, anyone who has been found guilty of having slaves should be prosecuted for committing a crime.  Slavery to me is a crime and we can’t rise as a nation or as a whole if people are still being discriminated against.


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Jenna Marie

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I think for starters, they (the white) should apologize, but we(the black) deserve more then an apology. For years my ancestors and great ancestors were beat down by the white people.

 

“But Delegate Frank Hargrove, the white Republican who spoke out against an apology, said there is no point in issuing one, because no slaves or slave owners are alive today.” –Just because their not alive doesn’t mean that we (the black) don’t deserve an apology. They didn’t apology then so I think that they (the white) should make it right and apology now.



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JAIMIE

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I FEEL AS THOUGH A FORMAL APOLOGY WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH IT WOULD NOT CHANGE HOW SOME WHITE PEOPLE ARE TO BLACK PEOPLE IN CERTIAN AREAS I FEEL AS THOUGH IT WOULD MAKE IT WORSE  BECAUSE THE WHITE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL DISCRIMINITIVE TOWARD MINORITIES WOULD BE MAD ABOUT THE APOLOGY AND BE MEANER TO THEM. I THYNK IT SHOULD BE TAUGHT THROUGH THE TRUTH AND NOT BEING COVERED UP AND I THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE SOME WHO IS BLACK PUT THERE FEELINGS TOWARD THE CHILDREN TO GET A BETTER AND NOTHER PERSPECTIVE OF IT. i THINK IT SHOULD ALSO BE TAUGHT IN 7TH GRADE AND UP.

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Jerome Hardy

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I believe that this should not have started and if today's government has something to do with slavery then they should issue a formal apology for it. The government should try to stop slavery all over the world especially since it could prevent wars in the future. If they think they could save Iraq then they should take a better step and stop slavery. The issue of slavery should be taught in schools as it happened. How it happened and why it happened should be explained the way it happened and it may so happen to never happen in the happenings of the happening world we happen to live in today.

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Mason.

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I think that the government should apologize for slavery, but I don't think that they should have to pay reperation because the people that are around now-a-days weren't the ones who were enslaved, it was their ancestors.  Also, how would you be able to tell who was and wasn't an ancestor of someone who was enslaved.  I think that slavery should be taught in school as being something that is terrible to do and that teachers should let students know that there are still some forms of slavery around today.  I think the the United Nations should try to crack down on some of the countries that do not ban slavery and they should try to abolish it world wide.

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JAIMIE

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I DISSAGREE ON WHY WE SHOUDN'T APOLOGIZE. I THINK IT WOULD NEVER BE ENOUGH

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Sabrina

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I agree with you Ashley, I also believe in the statements you gave!!!!

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Michael Depina

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To make a long story short, we were all placed here on earth to treated equally, slavery must end, it should have never existed, an apology is the least that should be done.

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Jerome Hardy

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If none of the slave owners or slaves are alive then there is no need for an apology. We didnt have to suffer back then so why should we get an apology?

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Jenna Marie

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Mason. wrote:

I think that the government should apologize for slavery, but I don't think that they should have to pay reperation because the people that are around now-a-days weren't the ones who were enslaved, it was their ancestors.  Also, how would you be able to tell who was and wasn't an ancestor of someone who was enslaved.  I think that slavery should be taught in school as being something that is terrible to do and that teachers should let students know that there are still some forms of slavery around today.  I think the the United Nations should try to crack down on some of the countries that do not ban slavery and they should try to abolish it world wide.

I strongly disagree with you. I believe that they should pay reperation just because my ancestors aren’t alive now; it’s just the principles of everything.



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Heather Roy

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I do not feel that the US government should apologize for slavery. Slavery was horrible, but fortunately America doesn't have slavery anymore. Apologizing for something that happened a long time ago-something that nobody alive now experienced-and something out of our control wouldn't really help anything. Instead schools should be more focused on slavery. Students should be taught more about slavery, watch more videos, read books and things on the internet. Students should recognize the difference between slavery then and now in the US. Because there is no more slavery and because of how long ago it happened I don't feel the apology would be truely real.

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shallyn

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 I do think the U.S shouldn't apologize for slavery because as vanessa explained I never owned a slave  nor has my parents or grandparents for that matter, so what do we have to
apologize for? and why apologize now after so many years? no offense it won't mean anything. I think  slavery should be taught in schools only because its a history issue.
and we should learn about what happened in history. I think slavery now in modern time is wrong only because we should already realize that this is wrong.

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Heather Roy

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nessaA wrote:

i understand that at one point the United States enslaved over four million people.  i don't think it was right for people to own people and i don't think that it should have ever started.  i don't think that the US government should issue a formal apology for slavery though.  i don't think so because there are no people alive today that were slaves, know slave, or own slaves.  slavery is against the law and it isn't practices.  i know that some people are decendents of slaves and slave owners but how realistic is this "i'm so sorry that a couple of hundereds of years ago, my ancestor (in which i don't know, never met, never seen, and was dead before i was even thought of), owned your ancestor."  i don't think the US government should apologize to people who weren't slaves.  if there was still slavery and the people who participated were still alive then i would be all for the apology, but an apology isn't going to fix anything. 
i think that the issue of slavery is taught fine the way it is, but maybe there should be more teaching of how the life of the slave was and how they felt about there situation.
i don't think there should be any slavery in the modern world.  when the slaves who are enslaved in the world right now are freed, i think they are entitled to a formal apology from their government.
I agree with you. I think there should be way more teachings about slavery today. You made good points



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Jenna Marie

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Mason. wrote:

I think that the government should apologize for slavery, but I don't think that they should have to pay reperation because the people that are around now-a-days weren't the ones who were enslaved, it was their ancestors.  Also, how would you be able to tell who was and wasn't an ancestor of someone who was enslaved.  I think that slavery should be taught in school as being something that is terrible to do and that teachers should let students know that there are still some forms of slavery around today.  I think the the United Nations should try to crack down on some of the countries that do not ban slavery and they should try to abolish it world wide

Let’s flip the script mason, say if the blacks were the slave owners and the whites were the slaves and those were your ancestors, wouldn’t you want some sense of closer???



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Valdir

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I feel that an apology for slavery wouldn’t necessarily fulfill the meaning behind it, which is to heal the damages done to the African-American people by the injustices hundreds of years ago. There is obviously a feeling of shame for the events by society, and most individuals don’t condone what was done, so I don’t exactly feel people who had no part in the prejudices should have to pay for things that they loathe. Money isn’t needed to compensate for what occurred. Just looking at our society today is a reminder of the great strides the country has taken to wipe out slavery. At present, "We see black leaders on every level." I’m not sure if reparations are necessary, but a formal apology like this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery#Apologies, would definitely help to ease the bitterness still felt by the black community regarding slavery. In school, slavery should be seen as a tragedy, one that was allowed to flourish under our nation for a great deal of time. Americans (Southerners) should be seen as the oppressors and slaves as the victims. At the time, Southerners tried to portray the image of a happy slave, and the feeling of slavery being a fine, life-long, bond between a slave and its master. A bond it was, but it wasn’t anything near fine or excellent. It shouldn’t be taught in this light, it should be taught the way it happened; a great prejudice. After the Holocaust in 1945, the UN and other prominent countries promised an incident of such proportions would never be tolerated again on the face of this planet. After the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, similar remarks were cast. Slavery was also said to be defunct some time ago, but in this day in age slavery is captivating over 20 million lives around the globe. Concerning this, I believe the US should stray from fighting ambiguous wars (Iraq) and begin to fight slavery in any way possible. This week, America urged African nations to step up to the plate, and donate soldiers and goods to the conflict in Darfur. Why again are we not taking a direct stand against obvious violations of civil liberties and instead redirecting our focus to other global issues. Slavery is something that should be long gone, we should take a greater stand against it, and other catastrophes taking place every day.  

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Kate Snell!

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I think an appology for slavery would be great, but i dont think it would cure anything.  It won't change the fact that slavery happened.  It almost seems like the white people are trying to bribe the black community in order to "pretend" it never happened.  If an appology were issued, it should be from the families of the white slave owners to the families of the slaves. 
However, an appology for not releasing an "anti-lynching" law should be given. Again, it wouldn't cure anything, but i think that an appology for not taking action for slavery would do more good than appologizing for slavery in general.



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Winnie Z.

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What are your thoughts?

Should the US government issue a formal apology for slavery?
I think that the U.S government should issue a formal apology for slavery. Although the government today is not responsible for the actions of those before them, it is necessary for them though to undo what has been done. Even though a formal apology isn’t going to do much for those descendants of those former slaves, it will at least relieve, if just a bit, of that racial tension between the two.

How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?
The issue of slavery that should be taught in schools is the whole deal of it. It should be looked at through both perspectives and not have anything left out unless it is really necessary to do so for the sake of educational purposes. Even though those times have made a bad portion of the United States’ history, it should be taught and hopefully never repeated. By addressing those issues and passing down the knowledge of our country’s history, we can be rest assured that that horrible past isn’t in the future plans of the nation.

What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world?
I think that slavery in the modern world is an atrocity. This shouldn’t be allowed to continue as well as other things like sweat shops and such. These things are going on in the world daily and needs to be dealt with. The country’s government and the like should abolish these things and not turn a blind eye to it.

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lexie wetzel

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Kate Snell! wrote:

I think an appology for slavery would be great, but i dont think it would cure anything.  It won't change the fact that slavery happened.  It almost seems like the white people are trying to bribe the black community in order to "pretend" it never happened.  If an appology were issued, it should be from the families of the white slave owners to the families of the slaves. 
However, an appology for not releasing an "anti-lynching" law should be given. Again, it wouldn't cure anything, but i think that an appology for not taking action for slavery would do more good than appologizing for slavery in general.



Definitely :) even though we could apologize for several things an apology means nothing if it's not said to the people whom were affected.



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nathan

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Yes. I think the U.S should issue a formal apology for slavery, because what the slaves went  through was wrong and I think that there families deserve an apology for having to see there family members go through what they did. I think the issue of slavery is not being treated the right ways in school because people are still going around saying racial comments towards people due to there race and color, the schools should try to make a slavery class just for people to learn more about it. I think that slavery in our world should be stopped, it is not fair that somebody has to suffer what they go through to due to the color of their skin and the race that their from.

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Kate Snell!

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Heather Roy wrote:

nessaA wrote:

i understand that at one point the United States enslaved over four million people.  i don't think it was right for people to own people and i don't think that it should have ever started.  i don't think that the US government should issue a formal apology for slavery though.  i don't think so because there are no people alive today that were slaves, know slave, or own slaves.  slavery is against the law and it isn't practices.  i know that some people are decendents of slaves and slave owners but how realistic is this "i'm so sorry that a couple of hundereds of years ago, my ancestor (in which i don't know, never met, never seen, and was dead before i was even thought of), owned your ancestor."  i don't think the US government should apologize to people who weren't slaves.  if there was still slavery and the people who participated were still alive then i would be all for the apology, but an apology isn't going to fix anything. 
i think that the issue of slavery is taught fine the way it is, but maybe there should be more teaching of how the life of the slave was and how they felt about there situation.
i don't think there should be any slavery in the modern world.  when the slaves who are enslaved in the world right now are freed, i think they are entitled to a formal apology from their government.
I agree with you. I think there should be way more teachings about slavery today. You made good points


wow. you took the words right out of my mouth. appologizing for slavery won't help the fact that is happened.


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Winnie Z.

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Heather Roy wrote:

I do not feel that the US government should apologize for slavery. Slavery was horrible, but fortunately America doesn't have slavery anymore. Apologizing for something that happened a long time ago-something that nobody alive now experienced-and something out of our control wouldn't really help anything. Instead schools should be more focused on slavery. Students should be taught more about slavery, watch more videos, read books and things on the internet. Students should recognize the difference between slavery then and now in the US. Because there is no more slavery and because of how long ago it happened I don't feel the apology would be truely real.
I disagree with you on your first point in that although slavery isn't around anymore, it had indeed happened and those families of the former slaves should have at least some due justice. I agree with the rest of your thoughts though. You're right in that slavery should be taught and focused on in more details even if it does tarnish the U.S government's reputation.


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Kate Snell!

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Heather Roy wrote:

I do not feel that the US government should apologize for slavery. Slavery was horrible, but fortunately America doesn't have slavery anymore. Apologizing for something that happened a long time ago-something that nobody alive now experienced-and something out of our control wouldn't really help anything. Instead schools should be more focused on slavery. Students should be taught more about slavery, watch more videos, read books and things on the internet. Students should recognize the difference between slavery then and now in the US. Because there is no more slavery and because of how long ago it happened I don't feel the apology would be truely real.
absolutely. if there isnt anyone alive today that experienced slavery, what good will the appology do? 


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Mason.

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Kate Snell! wrote:

Heather Roy wrote:

I do not feel that the US government should apologize for slavery. Slavery was horrible, but fortunately America doesn't have slavery anymore. Apologizing for something that happened a long time ago-something that nobody alive now experienced-and something out of our control wouldn't really help anything. Instead schools should be more focused on slavery. Students should be taught more about slavery, watch more videos, read books and things on the internet. Students should recognize the difference between slavery then and now in the US. Because there is no more slavery and because of how long ago it happened I don't feel the apology would be truely real.
absolutely. if there isnt anyone alive today that experienced slavery, what good will the appology do? 

It might make some people feel a little better about their government really feeling sorry for what it did to their ancestors..



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Amanda

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I think that the government should issue a formal apology for slavery. I don’t think anyone should “get over it,” you can’t ignore slavery, it happened and it was terrible and now I think our government should admit it was horrible and apologize for it. I think slavery should be taught honestly, the atrocities of slavery should not be hidden from students. I don’t think that American history books should omit the parts of our history that would reflect badly on the United States, as they sometimes do. I think more needs to be done to protect human rights around the world. I think the government needs to get more involved to end slavery in foreign countries. It’s not just in foreign countries either, recently there was even a case of an American citizen keeping slaves in their own home. The government and United Nations needs to get more involved in these issues of human rights because slavery shouldn’t exist anywhere.

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Valdir

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shallyn wrote:

 I do think the U.S shouldn't apologize for slavery because as vanessa explained I never owned a slave  nor has my parents or grandparents for that matter, so what do we have to
apologize for? and why apologize now after so many years? no offense it won't mean anything. I think  slavery should be taught in schools only because its a history issue.
and we should learn about what happened in history. I think slavery now in modern time is wrong only because we should already realize that this is wrong.

What kind of logic are you using when you say an apology is meaningless simply because for one, there are no slaves around today, and second, there are no slaveholders? An apology is personal, and it wouldn’t place culpability on any specific race or gender, America as a nation would apologize for condoning slavery for hundreds of years, and for the tracks of prejudice and discrimination it has laid for generations of African Americans. As Derrick Jackson puts it brilliantly:  “[an apology] would officially recognize that European-Americans, whether they come from a long line of American citizens or whether their parents came over dirt poor from Europe in the 20th century, continue to benefit from a white privilege that allowed them to move up the ladder into the suburbs. Meanwhile, slavery's replacement, segregation, blocked generations of African-Americans from building up wealth because of redlining, intellectual capital through inferior public schools, and political capital through disenfranchisement.” The white wealth this nation is built on, the fact that an entire people have been - and to a certain extent still are – crippled is all a cause of slavery. The repercussions of ordeal are still living today and an apology is deserved for this fact. Other nations have already apologized for their past prejudices, and by doing so took another step in protecting minority rights. Why can’t the US do the same?    


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mre

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Valdir wrote:

shallyn wrote:

 I do think the U.S shouldn't apologize for slavery because as vanessa explained I never owned a slave  nor has my parents or grandparents for that matter, so what do we have to
apologize for? and why apologize now after so many years? no offense it won't mean anything. I think  slavery should be taught in schools only because its a history issue.
and we should learn about what happened in history. I think slavery now in modern time is wrong only because we should already realize that this is wrong.

What kind of logic are you using when you say an apology is meaningless simply because for one, there are no slaves around today, and second, there are no slaveholders? An apology is personal, and it wouldn’t place culpability on any specific race or gender, America as a nation would apologize for condoning slavery for hundreds of years, and for the tracks of prejudice and discrimination it has laid for generations of African Americans. As Derrick Jackson puts it brilliantly:  “[an apology] would officially recognize that European-Americans, whether they come from a long line of American citizens or whether their parents came over dirt poor from Europe in the 20th century, continue to benefit from a white privilege that allowed them to move up the ladder into the suburbs. Meanwhile, slavery's replacement, segregation, blocked generations of African-Americans from building up wealth because of redlining, intellectual capital through inferior public schools, and political capital through disenfranchisement.” The white wealth this nation is built on, the fact that an entire people have been - and to a certain extent still are – crippled is all a cause of slavery. The repercussions of ordeal are still living today and an apology is deserved for this fact. Other nations have already apologized for their past prejudices, and by doing so took another step in protecting minority rights. Why can’t the US do the same?    

Valdir, thanks.  You bring up a very interesting point concerning white privledge, which is something we are going to get into a bit later, when we cover 'power and authority' as issues affecting diverse groups around the US and the world (after 'identity and community').  I thought you would find this article interesting: http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/emc598ge/Unpacking.html.  If you want, let me know what you think. 



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mre

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In a follow up to the original article, I found this story today in the news: 

Va. lawmakers pass slavery apology

By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 31 minutes ago

Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.

Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such a measure. The resolution does not carry the weight of law but sends an important symbolic message, supporters said.

"This session will be remembered for a lot of things, but 20 years hence I suspect one of those things will be the fact that we came together and passed this resolution," said Delegate A. Donald McEachin, a Democrat who sponsored it in the House of Delegates.

The resolution passed the House 96-0 and cleared the 40-member Senate on a unanimous voice vote. It does not require Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's approval.

The measure also expressed regret for "the exploitation of Native Americans."

The resolution was introduced as Virginia begins its celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, where the first Africans arrived in 1619. Richmond, home to a popular boulevard lined with statues of Confederate heroes, later became another point of arrival for Africans and a slave-trade hub.

The resolution says government-sanctioned slavery "ranks as the most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and violations of our founding ideals in our nation's history, and the abolition of slavery was followed by systematic discrimination, enforced segregation, and other insidious institutions and practices toward Americans of African descent that were rooted in racism, racial bias, and racial misunderstanding."

In Virginia, black voter turnout was suppressed with a poll tax and literacy tests before those practices were struck down by federal courts, and state leaders responded to federally ordered school desegregation with a "Massive Resistance" movement in the 1950s and early '60s. Some communities created exclusive whites-only schools.

The apology is the latest in a series of strides Virginia has made in overcoming its segregationist past. Virginia was the first state to elect a black governor — L. Douglas Wilder in 1989 — and the Legislature took a step toward atoning for Massive Resistance in 2004 by creating a scholarship fund for blacks whose schools were shut down between 1954 and 1964.

Among those voting for the measure was Delegate Frank D. Hargrove, an 80-year-old Republican who infuriated black leaders last month by saying "black citizens should get over" slavery.

After enduring a barrage of criticism, Hargrove successfully co-sponsored a resolution calling on Virginia to celebrate "Juneteenth," a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.



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Tiffany

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hey ashley,



    i think your absoulty right about slavery i do agree completly with you null

 



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Tiffany

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hey shay ,



 that right no affence to the slaves that  once exsited but  i think know it is to late for the u.s government to apoliaze  now after so many years but i do belive that the way slavery is thought in school is thought right.

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Tiff

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thats right i think that now if we apoligize it wont mean anything because its a different gerneration the slaves exsited a long time ago yes we understand what they went threw but we cant sy sorry now because it wont meant a thing

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tiff

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jamie

i disagree with you because what good does it make now if there families get an appoligy after many years i don t think it would make a difference now

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Catherine

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Should the US govenment issue a formal apology for slavery?  How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?  What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world?

I think that they should apologies but it happened in the past and we are trying to make it right now and we have a day for martin luther king jr because of what he did so theres nothing really really can do now to apologies. The issue with slavery being thought in school i think that they should want more movies about what happened back then and i thing we should have live speckers to teach tell use what they went through and how know one else should go through it. In the modern world i think that more white should of helped because if more whites help and more people spoke up it would of stoped sooner because know one deserves to be treated like they did specaly the white folkes so that what i think would of helped a lil in the modern world. 

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catherine

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Amanda wrote:

I think that the government should issue a formal apology for slavery. I don’t think anyone should “get over it,” you can’t ignore slavery, it happened and it was terrible and now I think our government should admit it was horrible and apologize for it. I think slavery should be taught honestly, the atrocities of slavery should not be hidden from students. I don’t think that American history books should omit the parts of our history that would reflect badly on the United States, as they sometimes do. I think more needs to be done to protect human rights around the world. I think the government needs to get more involved to end slavery in foreign countries. It’s not just in foreign countries either, recently there was even a case of an American citizen keeping slaves in their own home. The government and United Nations needs to get more involved in these issues of human rights because slavery shouldn’t exist anywhere.
I agree with you i think it would make the world a better place if people all over started to care about slavery.



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Catherine

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Tiff wrote:

thats right i think that now if we apoligize it wont mean anything because its a different gerneration the slaves exsited a long time ago yes we understand what they went threw but we cant sy sorry now because it wont meant a thing
So you think we still dont have slavery around and that they dont need an apology?



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mre

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Grades updated - March 3rd

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Donald Venerable

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The United States at one point enslaved over four million people.  For hundreds of years, African Americans were kept as property and forced to work in humiliating conditions.   What are your thoughts?  Should the US govenment issue a formal apology for slavery?  How should the issue of slavery be taught in schools?  What do you think should be done about slavery in the modern world?  Let's begin an online conversation by researching and taking a look at the issues, the positions, the people, the history, the media and more.  Answer the questions above [80 points] with your own words, thoughts and feelings in detail.  Ask a question to another student [10 points] and respond to another student's post with your own comments [10 points]. 

My thoughts on the issue of slavery in the U.S. are that slavery is bad and all minority people should be apoligized to by the powers that be because our goverment is ran by mostly whites. I do think they should teach it in school because kids should know about what happened. I think slavery should not be allowed in the modern world because its wrong.

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donald

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tiff,
I think your right but it would be making a statement if they did apoligize.

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Nicholai

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the united states in my opinion should not apologize for slavery. I have no problem with admitting the shame of doing that to another human-being or saying that it shouldn't have happened or anything to that nature, but if apologize for this then the government will have to apologize for everything that has occurred that someone can argue that it is wrong or has effected their community or ethnicity or race.  I think that the issue of slavery should be discussed everywhere not just in schools but anywhere there are alot of parents because parents should show their kids at an early stage in life that what happens in this world isn't always right and there are monsters in this world, but not the giant green ones that live in their closets but the ones that enslave people and do horrible things to other human-beings.  We as the only super power in the world today we should try to stop what is going on with this issue.

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