The Slavery Apology
Some new pretty big developments:
Gov. Jack Markell on Tuesday embraced a call for the Delaware General Assembly to apologize for the state’s role in slavery. […] “The governor … would certainly be inclined to sign it if the Legislature moved forward on it and puts it on his desk,” said Brian Selander, a Markell spokesman.
Well, let me stop right there. “Embracing a call” is not “yeah, he will sign it if it just so happens to get to his desk.” I blame the News Journal for a little overindulgence there. Markell did not personally hold a news conference calling on the General Assembly to pass the measure. Brian Selander just said the Governor would sign it. Big difference there. Ok, digression over…
But in Legislative Hall, a majority of lawmakers interviewed were reluctant to take a stand. Dover City Council, heeding a call from its Human Relations Commission, voted 5-3 Monday to urge the state Legislature to apologize for “the state’s practice of slavery and for the historic wrongs committed against all persons who suffered discrimination and injustice under this dehumanizing system.”
Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere, said she would gladly entertain a debate on the floor of the Senate. “I can’t imagine who would vote against something like that,” Blevins said. “I guess the question is if people want to take time to debate it.”
Well, I can imagine some teabagger conservatives who long for the good ole days of slavery, or at the very least the Jim Crow era, would vote against it. And their opposition almost makes me ardently support an apology, for I hate it when racists win anything. And then there is this sentiment….
Rep. Donald A. Blakey, R-Woodside, who is black, noted that slavery was in the country’s distant past but recognized that “what took place in those days has an effect on what goes on today.”
Well, yes, what happened before does have an affect on what is now. We fought a civil war to end slavery and hundreds of thousands died in that effort. The civil rights movement 100 years later ended overt state discrimination and began the process of ending discrimination in our hearts and minds. And 60 years after that we have elected ourselves our first black President. That is progress. Sure, racism and discrimination still exist and where we find it we should and must end it, but I tend to think righting the wrong is an inherent apology in and of itself. Further, I am a progressive, so I tend to look forward in working to make the country better, rather than backward to what we were before. So that makes me naturally against pursuing something that reopens old wounds, especially when it is clear and obvious to all but the teabagging racists that slavery is and was wrong, and especially when there is just so much other work to do, not only in this state but in this country, and not a lot of time to do it in. An Apology to me is a unnecessary distraction.
I expect this to be a minority opinion on Delaware Liberal, so feel free to lambast me.
Heck DelDem, I’m with you–words are cheap–show me how we’ve apologized, and put this issue to rest. Why continue this into what will turn into some grandstanding, lame PC memorialized politicized stunt? On all sides. It distracts from real work. Do deeds, not declarations!
It’s not logical to apologize now.
It would be like apologizing to your self.
DD is predicably ignorant. Having not bothered to read the document his assumptions say more about him than this simple act. And I would have to guess that DD hasn’t a clue to the deep racism that exists in Delaware today. Hang out in the backwater bars in Kent and Sussex and you will find blatant, extreme racism in some of them.
An act like this can go a long way to put Delaware on notice that it is appropriate to formally denounce intolerance…not DD’s forte.
Here’s the resolution:
“Whereas, human beings were enslaved and forcibly abducted from Africa and other parts of the world to North America, including Delaware;
“Whereas, Delaware legalized slavery and practiced it throughout its colonial period;
“Whereas, Delaware maintained the inhuman and immoral institution of slavery from the time the State ratified the Federal Constitution until slavery was outlawed in 1865 by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which Delaware voted to reject that year;
“Whereas, Delaware continued to discriminate against those of color by approving segregation of education in its 1897 State Constitution, a practice that lasted until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954;
“Whereas, Delaware passed and enforced Jim Crow laws to deny the rights of African American citizens for much of the 20th century;
“Whereas, Delaware today has to deal with the lasting legacy of slavery: an ongoing tension between races;
“Whereas, acknowledgment and apology are the first steps in the healing process;
“Be it Therefore Resolved that the Dover Human Relations Commission urges the Delaware General Assembly to pass a resolution acknowledging and expressing its profound apology for the State’s practice of slavery and for the historic wrongs committed against all persons who suffered discrimination and injustice under this dehumanizing system;
“Be it Further Resolved that the DHRC recommends that the Delaware General Assembly recognize the need to address and educate the citizenry regarding the social stigma, stereotyping, racial bias and discrimination which prevail in the state today as vestiges of the institution of slavery;
“Be it Finally Resolved that the DHRC implores all citizens of the State of Delaware to be tolerant and understanding of one another so as to eliminate all bias, prejudice, and discriminatory behavior.”
And the idiot Nancy thinks that by passing this resolution (which I did read by the way) all the deep racism in the world will simply disappear, by the stroke of a pen. Pull a comb through your hair and perhaps your idealism will wake up to some reality.
I don’t know Nancy…those backwater bars in Kent and Sussex you speak of have proved to be fertile ground for Democrats in those parts–sure you wanna go there?
I have been there Joanne. I am talking from the very sorry experience of it. I can take you into those bars and your cheeks will redden and your ears will explode with the shame of it. It is fact and it is widespread.
That isn’t to say there aren’t bars I can take you into in New Castle County where the same thing is going on. An explicit racist attitude and the active discouragement of blacks from coming in the doors.
“It is fact and it is widespread.”
Do you think an apology will improve the situation you describe? IMHO, these self-proclaimed victims will simply view it as proof of their world view — that white men (they’ll never get around to applying lack of education to the formula) can’t get a break in America today.
Once again the feel good actions of the left will only succeed in dividing people along racial lines.
I don’t get why the left keeps bringing this up.
Because you conservatives still use racism to divide America. Condemn all racists just once and tell them to not vote Republican. Do it FBH.
I didn’t say it would comb away anything, DD. I said that it would help to serve notice to Delawareans and to perhaps, and this is the most important in my mind, it will perhaps stand as a document for our children to read and appreciate. Perhaps Delaware’s children will be the most advantaged by this message of tolerance.
When I grew up, my mother used her father’s overt and terrible racism as a tool to educate her own children how wrong it is to treat people with predjudice and hate. She was our living example and she used her own father as the example of how not to live our lives.
What about children who grow up in a racist environment? That is beyond their control. Can’t this document be a tool? An example? Aren’t we one step further along in our ability to educate kids about intolerance when our own state assembly averred that we stand together for tolerance for all races?
And I don’t get why the right will take the wrong side on that divide.
BTW, I’m kinda agnostic on the apology, but FBH’s comment needed to be addressed because I’m uncomfortable with appeasing racist attitudes – and, no, I’m not calling FBH a racist.
Why not simply apologize and move on? What’s the harm in saying, “yeah that was pretty ducked up. Sorry.”
While I agree with your goals and sentiments, Nancy, how much legislative time are we will to use at the expense of more pressing issues? My point here really is not about the issue itself, but the priority to it. I would rather improve the lives of all Delawareans, white, black, yellow, brown or whatever, alive today than to apologize for a practice that ended over 160 years ago.
This is like gay marriage or Los Angeles. There is no there there.
I agree, Jason. How much debate will there really be? It is definately not a ‘waste’ of time. Both the US Senate and House have passed it. It is a no brainer.
IIRC, segregation in schools remained mandated in state law until the 1990s, when Margaret Rose Henry got elected and said “what the fuck, people?” Or more genteel words to that effect.
Maybe the apology should be issued as a joint statement by the governors of all the former slave states. Now that would be a lot more meaningful, since that is where the modern resistance to an apology is coming from.
For the free states, I think taking 360,000 casualties was one hell of an apology.
Well, if there is only 2 hours of debate, fine. But given the luke warm attitudes of the Speaker and opposition of Lavelle, I wonder if this will not be a protracted issue, and thus a distraction.
If you consider the state an all inclusive institution, who exactly is making this apology ?
Just a reminder:
Don’t miss today’s match between AC Milan and Chelsie.
It should be a cracker.
I meant to say Inter Milan.
sorry
Just a reminder anon, Delaware was a slave state. I thought Congress already did this nationally. It is a nice sentiment, but what is the point? If it makes people feel better, put it on the consent agenda and send it through. Don’t waste time on it. We do have more pressing business.
Delaware Dem, where is the racist plank in the tea party platform? The only significant political force using race as a political weapon is the left. There are just not many people arguing for Jim Crow.
Glad you asked David. Here is the Tea Party FOUNDER.
To be fair, he is only ONE of the founders of the movement.
Notice how the original word on the sign was to be something different, like “slave.” But that wasn’t an offensive enough analogy for the Founder of Teabaggin Goodness. So he taped the “N word” over it. And then proudly is interviewed with the sign.
I don’t care, Geek. He has not been repudiated by ANY teabagger anywhere, founder or not. Thus, that means he has been embraced by every teabagger everywhere.
Silence is consent.
I sort of agree with you DD but I am a little tired of the “repudiation challenge” and the “silence is consent” meme. Just let the picture speak for itself.
What I love is that there also is a possibility that the sign was modified from its correct spelling to a misspelled version because he knew better than the original signmaker.
I am with anon, though. I am not repudiating the left-wing lunatics for a living. I don’t think David needs to repudiate every right-wing racist with a spelling problem. I am certain that David disapproves of the sign and wouldn’t want the guy to come over for dinner (not that the guy would come to dinner at David’s house).
“DHRC recommends that the Delaware General Assembly recognize the need to address and educate the citizenry regarding the social stigma, stereotyping, racial bias and discrimination which prevail in the state today as vestiges of the institution of slavery;”
I’d like proof that this exists AT THE STATE GOVERNMENT LEVEL. Or, are you suggesting that the government takes steps to stamp out private racism? Are you publicly endorsing thought police?
“Hang out in the backwater bars in Kent and Sussex and you will find blatant, extreme racism in some of them. ”
Can be changed to:
Hang out in the backwater bars in ___________ and you will find blatant, extreme ________ in some of them.
And always be true.
“my mother used her father’s overt and terrible racism as a tool to educate her own children how wrong it is to treat people with predjudice and hate.”
“What about children who grow up in a racist environment?” Oh, I don’t know, maybe something like the above happens?
“when our own state assembly averred that we stand together for tolerance for all races?”
Isn’t this already the case? Can you find me a State Government Official willing to go on record as against racial tolerance?
Long post made short. Shouldn’t you be copy and pasting some emails?
You could just as easily say that Silence is Approval.
An apology does not fix many of the world’s ills. If I run over you with my car, and apology fixes little — but an apology to you will certainly requires me to acknowledge the hurt or damage done and to take some responsibility for what I’ve done. (It is also why insurance companies will tell you not to say or admit to anything at a crash scene — it is the insurance co and their lawyers who get to work all of that out).
words are cheap–show me how we’ve apologized, and put this issue to rest.
This is not how we teach our kids to be in the world. Why should your government be this graceless? What amazes me about this persistent resistance to an apology to slavery is that there was precious little of it by the time President Clinton formally apologized for the Japanese internment. But apparently we have not traveled so far if we are still looking at each other as those worthy of an apology and those not.
Hmmm. Are we talking about two different things here? Let me be clear, I think that there is no harm and potentially much good that could come out of an apology for everything from kidnapping, to human bondage, to segregation, jim crow and unequal protection.
I am not in favor of the General Assembly, David Anderson or the Jonas Brothers being required to distance themselves from the crazy-ass mofo pictured above.
What I love is that there also is a possibility that the sign was modified from its correct spelling to a misspelled version because he knew better than the original signmaker.
Maybe he can swap out racial slurs depending on his audience. Perhaps the sign in the picture is configured for teaparties in the South.
Repudiation of attitudes, language and legislative efforts designed to further racist efforts was how the Democratic Party largely purged those elements (and the policies and efforts that accompanied that) from the Party. Making that contingent ripe for the picking by Nixon and his Southern Strategy. A strategy that is still pretty foundational to much of the repub political effort and thinking.
Not repudiating this stuff means that it is welcome among teabaggers and repubs. Which — as I have pointed out often– utterly undermines the bullshit “Dems did it first” response they always want to make their excuse for this atavistic mess persisting in their party. They are free to be the party where racists are welcome, of course, but they are not free to tell me that their embrace of these racists has no meaning.
“…social stigma, stereotyping, racial bias and discrimination which prevail in the state today as vestiges of the institution of slavery…”
A thought: Since the application of social stigma, stereotyping, racial bias and discrimination is not limited to people descended from slaves … as in people of Japanese descent, for example … should we also be apologizing for the racist caricatures, anti-Asian sentiment and internment camps of World War II?
There’s no big upside to this. But there’s no big downside, either. Slavery was bad; vote on it; issue a bland statement; and move on.
Nancy Willing, you cant name one bar in Kent or Sussex that you have ever visited. Im calling BULLSHIT!
Now if the Democrat Party would just offer an apology for slavery (and reparations in the form of all its assets and the resignation of every elected Democrat in every former slave state). . . and African-Americans would offer a big “thank you” to the Republican Party for taking the lead in ending it. . . then we could get the silliness of apologies for the misdeeds of those dead for a century put right where they belong — in the past.
It’s hard for them to thank you when your party is so busy talking about re-instating literacy voting tests and photoshopping a bone in the first black president’s nose or watermelons on the white house lawn RWR.
THANKYOU, V. but remember, that was a “lone wolf” they were using “satire” and of course…. “liberals did the same thing to bush”
Odd — I was not aware of the GOP doing any of those things. Now if you can direct me to the links for each of those actions at GOP.org, I’ll be glad to link to them and condemn them — and even resign my position in the GOP and begin campaigning for Democrats.
BY the way, let’s offer a reminder.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/serr8d/animation/racistnotracist.gif
Just to point out that hypocrisy seems to be a liberal family value.
I had a friend who bought a bay front property in Bowers Beach and I spent the spring there rehabbing and painting it. And then went down weekends for pig roasts and crab boils for a few years running.
This friend was a barfly and we traveled all around creation –including down into Sussex since she had a place at Broadkill too. I was a part of the ‘entourage’. She picked up quite a few locals and we went to their homes and met their friends and from that experience I can pull you into any number of places and tell you my tales.
The very first time I experienced blatant racism from a ‘friend’ though, was on a visit to a fellow Grove Point Girl Scout Camp counselor’s home in Chestertown, MD. I was 16 and this girl was the oldest of seven who lived in a large victorian house on the Main Street. We all piled into a car to go to see the movie Towering Inferno in the next town one day.
On the way, the kids started yelling coons, coons and other nasty things and I realized they were yelling at the carfull of black people behind us. It really whigged me out. What is up with Marylanders?
Later I traveled a lot in Cecil County with my boyfriend –another barfly –that can be one sickeningly evil, prejudiced place. Ever heard of Rising Sun? There are places just outside of Dover that are just as bad.
I certainly found the same attitudes at the Bower’s bar. Blacks who came in got the silent treatment or worse. It was ironic because they did like the one guy who came to play music with a white guy once in a while. They always brought drugs with them, so that must have made it all right.
Anyway, that whole skin-head thing…those can be some scary freakin’ people.
Fact check.
Whereas, Delaware continued to discriminate against those of color by approving segregation of education in its 1897 State Constitution, a practice that lasted until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954
Segregation was alive and weel in Goverment Schools in Delaware. Catholic and private schools were segregated before Brown v. Board of Education.
http://www.hsd.org/Fabulous50s/pic_17_full.htm
“Whereas, human beings were enslaved and forcibly abducted from Africa and other parts of the world to North America, including Delaware;
Slaves in Africa were purchased/traded for, they were not captured by Europeans. They were Slaves before they came to the U.S
….Beginning around 1500 a similar process occurred along the coast of West Africa to supply the transatlantic slave trade. The Africans were captured by other Africans in raids…
…..African rulers, who did not allow the Europeans to move inland, often conducted their wholesale business on the coast….
http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24159
RWR, they are BOTH racist.
galt… “those of color?” what is this 1946?
and as for the rest of your tripe, i shall respond with a big old sarcastic…. OH WELL THAT MAKES IT ALL OK!!!!!
hey, a. price, put the bottle down and take a deeeeeep breath. galt was quoting from the resolution. it uses the phrase “those of color.” nancy quoted it above.
a.price
Those are excerpts from the resolution you moron.
Just want to say something here. I am a school mentor for BBBS program. I am mentoring two little girls this year. One is in 3rd grade and is of mixed races. The other little girl is in 2nd grade and is black. Both are very nice well mannered little girls who just need a little bit of extra attention. They both look forward to seeing me on Wednesday every week and I very much enjoy mentoring them. I get hugs when I get there and when I leave from both. I treat all people the same, I don’t care what color the skin or what party affiliation anyone is. I treat everyone the way I want to be treated. With respect and acceptance. So again, please don’t lump all people you despise into one category when you spout off in your blogs. Again who are any of you to judge others? I was in the third grade in Sussex county when the blacks came to our school. All of us children accepted them, no questions asked. We all played together during recess. My best friend was a black girl and we remained friends. And before that when I was growing up, my grandparents had a black family that lived on the farm. They had their own home that my grandfather and his sons built for them and were paid well for that time. He was able to save up his money and they eventually bought their own home with help from my grandfather and remained friends. Their daughter was my best friend as a child and we played together all the time and stayed with each other eating together at each others homes. This is the way I was brought up in Sussex county. Yes there is prejudice everywhere, but it is by people of all races, back grounds, and political party, so again don’t judge all by some!!!! I brought my daughter up the same way, several of her friends are black and one of her friends in particular stayed with us a lot when they were growing up. She called me her second mom and still does. And I love her because of who she is and the grown lady she has become not because of what she looks like or the color of her skin. Enough already of the continuing condemning of all for some. To me, it makes you worse than the ones you despise.
I condemn Dale Robertson’s foolishness and reckless use of racially charged language. It has no place in our discourse. You forgot to name the guy. I had to research him. The Tea Party movement started with Ron Paul in 2007 in a protest against Bush Chenney not this guy who tossed up one of many websites that went up. The movement got new life with Glenn Beck and Rick Santelli.
It is interesting that a guy puts up a website and claims credit and all of a sudden he is the founder of the movement. Chad Peace, Glenn Beck, Dick Army, and a lot of others would contend on that point. Most people including myself, could not even name Dale Robertson and most people who can seem to wish that he would go away.
Yet even he had this to say about the sign. “I was blessed with a multi-cultural school and never viewed my classmates through the lens of hatred or racism, but look at each other as a brother or sister. It is the wicked who are quick to accuse the innocent. The Tea Party is not about enslaving people, but freeing people. Don’t let seats of powers to polarize any issue, Their purpose is to divide to enslave, my purpose is to unite and free. Division is the polar opposite of unity. I don’t hate black people for being black, nor do I expect a black person hating me because I’m white. I abhor racism in any aspect. This is a political statement about Americans, in particularly myself.” The source is the Daily Kos.
Even whacked Dale professes to abhor racism. I have no clue what he really thinks, but I do know that even someone as radical as he (the man thinks Glenn Beck is a secret tool of the Bilderbergers to hijack the conservative movement) knows that a poltical movement in modern America will not tolerate advocating overt racism. In other words, there is not one mainstream leader in America (even pretty radical ones) who would advocate a return to institutionalized racism. It is a carnard of the left.
I once again have to ask where is there a plank in the tea party platforms for racism? It does not exist. Why do you insist on defaming people who merely want a free economy and putting the breaks on the national debt ride?
I both apologize (as a citizen) and accept the apology (as a descendent of slaves). Now let’s get to work on the economy and education.
Currently here are some of the resolutions before the General Assembly…
HONORING JUDGE EDWARD G. DAVIS OF THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE AS HE RETIRES AFTER THIRTY-SIX YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.
CONGRATULATING THE GIRL SCOUTS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY COUNCIL’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LODGE ON RECEIVING THE FIRST LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN PLATINUM CERTIFICATION IN DELAWARE.
COMMENDING THE KIWANIS CLUB OF DOVER FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY.
RECOGNIZING THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009 AS STAFF APPRECIATION DAY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THE YEAR
ECOGNIZING DR. ROBERT J. ANDRZEJEWSKI ON THE HONOR OF RECEIVING THE JANE MARONEY AWARD.
A RESOLUTION CELEBRATING ARMED FORCES DAY AND HONORING THE 4TH UNITED STATES COLORED INFANTRY REGIMENT.
REQUESTING EACH DELAWARE HIGH SCHOOL TO PROVIDE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITH THE NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF ITS GRADUATING SENIORS.
ESTABLISHING APRIL 28, 2009 AS “EQUAL PAY DAY” IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE
HONORING JUDGE MERRILL C. TRADER FOR HIS DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING MARCH 25, 2009 AS GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
URGING THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY TO CEASE ITS DISCRIMINATION OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE, TO GRANT THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH APPROPRIATE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION, ECCLESASTICAL SUCCESSION AND THE RIGHT TO TRAIN CLERGY OF ALL NATIONALITIES, AND TO RESPECT THE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE.
Obviously those very members objecting to the necessity of any apology for slavery are far too mired down in their own important legislative resolutions being placed upon the docket, to have or give any time or effort to studying that ancient history which happened in this state between 1639 and 1865.
My point wasn’t that there aren’t people in Delaware who think, act and live beyond racial differences. My point was that there are.
Where I grew up in northern NCC the ratio of black people was 1,000:1. There was one black kid in Springer Jr. High. I had one black teacher in HS. So I didn’t know prejudice in my community because it was lily white. I didn’t see it, feel it or think it. That is why it was so horrifying when I finally did get a look at what kinds of hurt prejudiced people immerse themselves in.
Delawareans shouldn’t kid themselves that an apology for slavery is merely about the distant past. It will go a long way to healing the wounds that exist to this day. White flight, desegregation, are all contemporary phenomenon.
I still believe that the children of this state will benefit if the adults man-up and make this proclaimation.
Incredible–decry racism and validate sexism all in the same comment. Where is UI when we need him/her. “Man-up” Nancy really?
See how this can drill down to the ridiculous, when feet move, and move it forward?
I agree to a degree. As I said dump it on the consent agenda uless some one raises objection, with all of the other resolutions.
Seriously Nancy, not to bust on you–heck I know the same two people in NCC to whom you refer; but anyone awaiting this apology to move forward has deeper issues, and is looking for more than an apology.
Where is my apology as a woman denied my first home loan because I was pregnant, and my 11 year income job history was moot? My RETIRED father had to co-sign.
Where is my parents’ apology as having a daughter who was a sports’ phenom (not me BTW), had to finance and chip in for buses to take girls’ teams to games, while the boys teams were part of a school budget?
Where is my brother’s apology as an alternative learning style, probably deemed “shop class”, who now is an established inventor w/ equipment placed from the Mayo Clinic to the Air Force Academy in his original quest to make life easier for kids w/ cerebral palsy?
Where is our current apology to speakers we only bring in during “Black History Month”? And I applaud those educators, and lecturers who say “I’m done with that, you bring me in because you value what I have to say every month”.
The point being, as a society we will continually try to improve on our history to create a richer legacy. A revisit to the past by way of an apology, almost in essence rips out some very colorful, off-setting, story-telling threads that bring us to an incredible tapestry today. Doesn’t an apology today, from a different time and people diminish the impact, spirit, drive and story that propelled people forward? As if to say, case closed? It’s society Nancy, not the neighbor. Neighbors need to work it out, and offer that apology. Society is continually working it out, because they can’t apologize, only sympathize and acknowledge that things have to change–then make that change. And soon, all those back bar congregants you mention, find themselves in the minority and a pariah in a world they won’t be welcomed.
“My point wasn’t that there aren’t people in Delaware who think, act and live beyond racial differences. My point was that there are. ”
Private racism is not illegal. As deplorable as I find it, it is up to those individuals to apologize, if they want. The State of Delaware is not racist. I gave you the opportunity to point to State sanctioned racism, you have failed to do so. I know you understand the difference. You keep on pointing to lingering racism, but somehow think the State should apologize for it, and that somehow, that will change the opinions of the fictitious bar dwellers you made up.
Joanne, I’d venture a guess that SLAVERY was probably a bit worse that the troubles you’ve seen.
Comment of the Day, Mark H.
No doubt Mark, and again point made, we did not see slavery nor continue the practice.
I’d like to point out that the apology isn’t by citizens who kept slavery alive, it’s by the institution of the state for keeping slavery alive. I think it’s pointless, but it’s incorrect to say “I don’t have anything to apologize for.” Nothing in the apology claims you do.
By the way — speaking as someone who lives in the same neck of the woods as Dale Robertson, I can tell you he was ejected from the event where he brought that sign AND that he is not a part of the leadership of any of the local Tea Party groups here in Houston. Indeed, he is anathema to them.
http://houstontps.org/?p=318
http://houstontps.org/?p=1050
And a quick FYI — I’m not affiliated with any Tea Party group, either.
“Comment by Geezer on 25 February 2010 at 9:35 am:
I’d like to point out that the apology isn’t by citizens who kept slavery alive, it’s by the institution of the state for keeping slavery alive. I think it’s pointless, but it’s incorrect to say “I don’t have anything to apologize for.” Nothing in the apology claims you do.”
Nancy keeps saying that the apology must be made because of the racism that is alive and well today. I’m asking her for the 4th time to point to that State sanctioned racism.
I don’t think Dale Robertson was the target of that comment. I believe it was Tom Tancredo who called for re-institution of literacy tests for voters.
Geezer — Dale Robertson’s picture is on the thread with the disgusting sign, hence my comment about him.