Zero
02-25-2007, 07:29 PM
First and foremost, I whole-heartedly agree with Virginia delegate Frank Hargove that "black people need to get over slavery." Not just black people, all people; over a 100 years later it shouldn't be an issue or an excuse for anything. Personally, I will never apologize to anyone for something that I didn't do. I may be sorry in a sense that I regret a situation occurring at all, but I won't be apologetic for something that I personally didn't do, nor do I feel that anyone should.
This current resolution will most certainly be faced with people upset that an apology is being issued on the basis that "We never owned any slaves, so we shouldn't apologize." As stated, I agree and will never personally apologize to a black man for wealthy people of my race owning slaves a hundred years ago. However, I have no problem with a government that legally condoned crimes against humanity in general apologizing for allowing such things to happen. Would an apology from the German government for the mass-murder of six million Jewish people, amongst countless others be rejected?
Slavery was, is, and always will be wrong. Our government allowed this to happen, and the confederacy depended upon slavery for it's economic growth. I do feel strongly that all independent southern states should apologize for slavery.
After all, the United States itself banned slavery and I feel an apology was formally issued at a federal level when our country had a war within itself, whose main cause was the confederacy refusing to release slaves because their economic reliance. The southern states believed strongly in states rights and felt that a state's government was more vital than a national government. The United States of America banned slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation causing our country to split when the confederacy refused to free men. The United States of America fought the confederacy when they proclaimed their independence, refusing to industrialize, which was the only way to economically survive without slavery.
However, I strongly believe that states belonging to the confederacy of the past owe an apology for crimes against humanity, simply put-slavery. Each of those states refused to free slaves, betrayed the United States of America, and had to be forced with war to free innocent men. An apology is certainly justified, and individual states apologizing is the only proper way.
There is absolutely nothing negative about any government admitting wrong-doings that itself allowed by law. I feel that the United States of America itself has already apologized for slavery through drafting the bill that demanded the freeing of slaves, fighting a war with those who refused to free slaves, and continuing to strive for racial equality. The confederate states apologizing is overdue, but what a better place to start than the state where the confederate capitol resided.
P.S. You want your reparations? You already have them:
-Affirmative Action: A racist practice that gives minority races a priority for positions incorporating race as a factor instead of qualifications. This is EXACTLY what Martin Luther King Jr. fought. This isn't judging by "the content of character, and not by skin."
-United Negro College fund: I've never encountered any other college funding organizations that are allowed to discriminate against any race. This is racism in it's most ugly form: legal racism.
The whole idea that you deserve something because someone wronged your ancestors is simply stupid and ridiculous. If I could prove that someone stole a mule from my great-great-great-grandpa because the thief wrote about it in his diary, should I be allowed to make all parties that didn't bring justice pay me for his mule? This is how stupid you sound when crying for reparations.
This current resolution will most certainly be faced with people upset that an apology is being issued on the basis that "We never owned any slaves, so we shouldn't apologize." As stated, I agree and will never personally apologize to a black man for wealthy people of my race owning slaves a hundred years ago. However, I have no problem with a government that legally condoned crimes against humanity in general apologizing for allowing such things to happen. Would an apology from the German government for the mass-murder of six million Jewish people, amongst countless others be rejected?
Slavery was, is, and always will be wrong. Our government allowed this to happen, and the confederacy depended upon slavery for it's economic growth. I do feel strongly that all independent southern states should apologize for slavery.
After all, the United States itself banned slavery and I feel an apology was formally issued at a federal level when our country had a war within itself, whose main cause was the confederacy refusing to release slaves because their economic reliance. The southern states believed strongly in states rights and felt that a state's government was more vital than a national government. The United States of America banned slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation causing our country to split when the confederacy refused to free men. The United States of America fought the confederacy when they proclaimed their independence, refusing to industrialize, which was the only way to economically survive without slavery.
However, I strongly believe that states belonging to the confederacy of the past owe an apology for crimes against humanity, simply put-slavery. Each of those states refused to free slaves, betrayed the United States of America, and had to be forced with war to free innocent men. An apology is certainly justified, and individual states apologizing is the only proper way.
There is absolutely nothing negative about any government admitting wrong-doings that itself allowed by law. I feel that the United States of America itself has already apologized for slavery through drafting the bill that demanded the freeing of slaves, fighting a war with those who refused to free slaves, and continuing to strive for racial equality. The confederate states apologizing is overdue, but what a better place to start than the state where the confederate capitol resided.
P.S. You want your reparations? You already have them:
-Affirmative Action: A racist practice that gives minority races a priority for positions incorporating race as a factor instead of qualifications. This is EXACTLY what Martin Luther King Jr. fought. This isn't judging by "the content of character, and not by skin."
-United Negro College fund: I've never encountered any other college funding organizations that are allowed to discriminate against any race. This is racism in it's most ugly form: legal racism.
The whole idea that you deserve something because someone wronged your ancestors is simply stupid and ridiculous. If I could prove that someone stole a mule from my great-great-great-grandpa because the thief wrote about it in his diary, should I be allowed to make all parties that didn't bring justice pay me for his mule? This is how stupid you sound when crying for reparations.