Senator Brownback : US Should Apologize For Slavery

[Love As Arson]

Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican trying to inject new life into his beleaguered presidential campaign, plans to offer a resolution this week for Congress to apologize for slavery and segregation.
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Brownback, of Kansas, told The Boston Globe's editorial board yesterday he will join an unnamed Democrat in sponsoring the proposal. He said he expects a tough fight on the resolution, even though it will not include any call for reparations.

"They were federal policies," he said. "They were wrong. The only way for us to move forward . . . is at the end of day acknowledging those, taking ownership for it, and asking for forgiveness."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/10/16/brownback_to_pitch_proposal_apologi zing_for_slavery/

[gloriousmuse]

were any of the current Congress members on Congress when segregation happened? If not, then an apology wouldn't make the previous members actions forgiven. Racism is still around the U.S. Recently, it's been in the media because of Jena 6, and a few weeks ago a black College professor found a noose on her office door. Racism is still here. An apology, unfortunately, won't erase it from history.

[kshtoinks12]

I'm assuming this is Jerry Brownback, or Henry Brownback, Sam's distant cousins.

[Love As Arson]

were any of the current Congress members on Congress when segregation happened? If not, then an apology wouldn't make the previous members actions forgiven. Racism is still around the U.S. Recently, it's been in the media because of Jena 6, and a few weeks ago a black College professor found a noose on her office door. Racism is still here. An apology, unfortunately, won't erase it from history.
It will not erase racism, however, it would acknowledge our past and would work as a symbol to help move forward as far as race in America. The US has apologized, and given reparations to, the Japanese-Americans for the camps during World War II. It has also given Native Americans privileges for the genocide committed against them. African-Americans are distinctly left out of these efforts of reconciliation.
As to reparations, it should not be the government's responsibility, but rather that of the corporations that benefited from slavery.

[asmolitor]

it's really just... dumb, for lack of a better term. apologizing for something that was incredibly, horribly wrong 150 years later? what good does a "formal" apology... do? looks to me as if it's just playing politics... maybe brownback/kucinich trying to play to black voters to revive struggling campaigns? there's no other truly obvious reason.

[Love As Arson]

it's really just... dumb, for lack of a better term. apologizing for something that was incredibly, horribly wrong 150 years later?
African-Americans were only granted full human rights forty years ago.
what good does a "formal" apology... do?
A symbolic gesture that can help race relations.
looks to me as if it's just playing politics... maybe brownback/kucinich trying to play to black voters to revive struggling campaigns?
Their motivations aside, the government should be responsible and acknowledge that its institutionalization of the slave trade was wrong.
there's no other truly obvious reason.
African-Americans think there should be a formal apology, since many other groups have received gestures by the government that acknowledge past mistakes.

[lauren<3s music]

oh the irony. brownback one of the biggest hypocrites in this 'race' is doing something to honor a minority. the same man who doesn't believe other minorities are entitled to basic human rights. really this man (if he is in fact human) makes my skin crawl

[SubrosaSeductiv]

"Looook, we did some shit. Ah fuck, we're sorry. We cool? What you're trying to tell me that saying we're sorry for whipping the fuck out of your past relatives and intentionally making your grandparents go to fucked up segregated public facilities, just because they were a darker skin color, can't be resolved with a simple apology? Damn."

[kshtoinks12]

I don't see it improving race relations really. "But they apologized" has never made me feel better about anything ever.
America's accepted their mistake, a lot of other countries haven't. I've heard that German history books for their high school have a small gap where the 40's should be.

[asmolitor]

African-Americans were only granted full human rights forty years ago.

women's suffrage didn't become official until 1920. we've been terrible to numerous groups. an apology doesn't necessarily smooth anything over, nor start to.

A symbolic gesture that can help race relations.

symbolic gestures are pointless. an apology wouldn't stop any sort of racism in the country, nor would it make any african-americans vindicated.

Their motivations aside, the government should be responsible and acknowledge that its institutionalization of the slave trade was wrong.

i don't think an acknowledgment of something that's blatantly obvious is necessary.

African-Americans think there should be a formal apology, since many other groups have received gestures by the government that acknowledge past mistakes.

and how many groups have said, "you know what? oooo-kay!" to symbolic gestures? i stick by my original conviction, a shameless ploy for politics in a heated race where everyone still (sort of) has a fair shot. and considering brownback, is, well, behind the times with equality... this makes perfect sense to "clear his name" in a sense. and really, this isn't the first time brownback's done this. he did with native americans too.

[Justin_stacy]

Apologies are just words, if he sees some value in this so be it as long as it stays just words and doesn’t dive into the volatile issue of "reparations".

[guywithstik]

I think that it's a step in the right direction. It's largely symbolic, but it does represent at least the beginning of some type of atonement (I wonder for who, though... I have a strange feeling this is so affluent white people like Sam Brownback can pat themselves on the shoulder and feel better about slavery.) A member made a very good point when he/she said that it was only forty years ago that african americans weren't even allowed to vote. We talk as if slavery is some distant and archaic term, and it bothers me because it ignores the fundamental point that it isn't.

I don't see it improving race relations really. "But they apologized" has never made me feel better about anything ever.
America's accepted their mistake, a lot of other countries haven't. I've heard that German history books for their high school have a small gap where the 40's should be.

I think Germany is farther along than we are. They are pretty staunchly anti-war, and I've read that it is precisely because the scars of WWII and the Holocaust are still so fresh in their minds. I doubt it's the fundamental reason, although I've read books that have made that argument. I believe they have definitely internalized their mistakes and it reflects in their policy decisions. I don't think we, as a nation, have done the same.

[asmolitor]

abBuvWMFhPE

[kshtoinks12]

Firstly it would be both the 1930's and 40's and secondly this couldn't be futher from the truth. No country on earth has faced up to what they did in the war, especially to the Jews and minorities as much as Germany. They are a long, long way ahead of America, France, Poland, Russia, Britain, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Holland and so on in terms of recognising very dark moments in their history and accepting fault. Germany continues to pay holocaust reperations to this day to survivors and backed Israel for a long time before the USA decided it wanted Israel in the union.

Don't make such ridiculous claims of the back off what you've "heard".
Relax, I never stated it as a fact, just as what I've heard, so take it as that.

And I wasn't attacking Germany at all, I'm merely saying that an apology won't mean anything to anyone without reparations, and no one is getting reps.

[Love As Arson]

women's suffrage didn't become official until 1920. we've been terrible to numerous groups.
The government should apologize to them as well.

an apology doesn't necessarily smooth anything over, nor start to.
Ignoring the issue will not help ease tension either.

symbolic gestures are pointless. an apology wouldn't stop any sort of racism in the country, nor would it make any african-americans vindicated.
I never said it would stop racism, however, it does open the door to reconciliation, which would be an ongoing process, rather than a one-time effort.

i don't think an acknowledgment of something that's blatantly obvious is necessary.
It is blatantly obvious that it is bad, but that does not address the complicity of the government.

and how many groups have said, "you know what? oooo-kay!" to symbolic gestures?
The US has only made formal apologies to a few groups, as I recall; however, if the apology is coupled with a genuine process in which race is dealt with, I do not think one would be faced with the problem you've described.

i stick by my original conviction, a shameless ploy for politics in a heated race where everyone still (sort of) has a fair shot. and considering brownback, is, well, behind the times with equality... this makes perfect sense to "clear his name" in a sense. and really, this isn't the first time brownback's done this. he did with native americans too.
As I said, their motivations are irrelevant, so long as the issue is brought up and passed by Congress.