Apologies for racism...
Quote from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the Senate's only black member:
"I do hope that this chamber also spends some time ... doing something concrete and tangible to heal the long shadow of slavery and the legacy of discrimination so that 100 years from now we can look back and be proud and not have to apologize once again."
Excerpted quotes from the Black Commentator on the apology.
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column:
"The desire for acknowledgements of injustice is universal among peoples who have had no redress for wrongs committed against them. In recent years appeals have been made for apologies not only for American slavery and lynchings but also for the Irish potato famine, the Japanese army’s rape of Nanking, China and numerous other examples of humanity’s ability to inflict cruelty on their fellow humans whenever they see fit.
The request for an apology is always followed by wails of consternation from the descendants of the evildoers. They complain that the wrong occurred a long time ago, that they had nothing to do with it, or that other groups were just as evil."
BlackCommentator.com Co-Publishers Glen Ford and Peter Gamble's cover story:
"The vast bulk of black Americans see the 'apology' for what it is -- a scam, with no substantial benefits, and less good faith."
"We will not forgive, or accept an apology that does not come with a change in power relationships."
Quote from Earl Ofari Hutchinson:
"If they were still alive, NAACP executive directors James Weldon Johnson, Walter White and Roy Wilkins would smile at the Senate's apology for lynching, which passed with a nonbinding resolution Monday.
But their smiles would be faint because Congress still refuses to pass an expanded hate-crimes law."
"I do hope that this chamber also spends some time ... doing something concrete and tangible to heal the long shadow of slavery and the legacy of discrimination so that 100 years from now we can look back and be proud and not have to apologize once again."
Excerpted quotes from the Black Commentator on the apology.
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column:
"The desire for acknowledgements of injustice is universal among peoples who have had no redress for wrongs committed against them. In recent years appeals have been made for apologies not only for American slavery and lynchings but also for the Irish potato famine, the Japanese army’s rape of Nanking, China and numerous other examples of humanity’s ability to inflict cruelty on their fellow humans whenever they see fit.
The request for an apology is always followed by wails of consternation from the descendants of the evildoers. They complain that the wrong occurred a long time ago, that they had nothing to do with it, or that other groups were just as evil."
BlackCommentator.com Co-Publishers Glen Ford and Peter Gamble's cover story:
"The vast bulk of black Americans see the 'apology' for what it is -- a scam, with no substantial benefits, and less good faith."
"We will not forgive, or accept an apology that does not come with a change in power relationships."
Quote from Earl Ofari Hutchinson:
"If they were still alive, NAACP executive directors James Weldon Johnson, Walter White and Roy Wilkins would smile at the Senate's apology for lynching, which passed with a nonbinding resolution Monday.
But their smiles would be faint because Congress still refuses to pass an expanded hate-crimes law."
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