(AP) The House on Tuesday issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws.
"Today represents a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past," said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Source
I realize that the issue of Slavery is of great importance to many citizens of this Nation, and that this gesture somehow placates their feelings of Guilt, or even possibly self loathing as concerns our past. Those who are actual descendants of slaves must now feel better about their plight such as it is......
I personally, know not of a single person with whom I have dealt with the worldwide that condones or finds slavery pleasing or acceptable. It is one of the greatest of wrongs, to place another human being into bondage, against their will, or even with their assent. This is self evident and needs no further elaboration.
But, what I believe is just as distasteful, if not as hideous as slavery itself, is the fact that many today, 140 years later actually claim to feel the effects and pains of that most troubling of times in American History.
According to the CBS article above the resolution says; that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation.
How so? By what stretch of imagining does a person living in the 21st Century claim to suffer from the effects of the Slave trade? I daresay that any who claim such are either delusional or attempting to establish themselves as Victims. Victim hood has it's benefits as we can see evidenced by " Political Correctness" and its empowerment of those who claim victim status through censorship.
"Today represents a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past," said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Source
I realize that the issue of Slavery is of great importance to many citizens of this Nation, and that this gesture somehow placates their feelings of Guilt, or even possibly self loathing as concerns our past. Those who are actual descendants of slaves must now feel better about their plight such as it is......
I personally, know not of a single person with whom I have dealt with the worldwide that condones or finds slavery pleasing or acceptable. It is one of the greatest of wrongs, to place another human being into bondage, against their will, or even with their assent. This is self evident and needs no further elaboration.
But, what I believe is just as distasteful, if not as hideous as slavery itself, is the fact that many today, 140 years later actually claim to feel the effects and pains of that most troubling of times in American History.
According to the CBS article above the resolution says; that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation.
How so? By what stretch of imagining does a person living in the 21st Century claim to suffer from the effects of the Slave trade? I daresay that any who claim such are either delusional or attempting to establish themselves as Victims. Victim hood has it's benefits as we can see evidenced by " Political Correctness" and its empowerment of those who claim victim status through censorship.
Read my Article Thomas Paine Speaks Still for a more thorough explanation on Political correctness.
So to what end does this latest of House Resolutions serve? The dismissal of some misguided guilt perhaps? The implication in the Apology is that I must somehow feel remorse for the actions of my forebears generations long past. So to whom should I focus such apologies and regretful remonstrances on? May hap there is a list somewhere that can show me those persons who are the actual descendants of the Slave one " Negro Bob" that my family once owned in the 1790's. Perhaps, I should apologize to the people of Virginia, and Georgia for my Great Great Great Grandfather's role in the Civil war that brought ruin and deprivation to those states, through his service in the Union armies. Maybe the Government should apologize to my father's side of the family for the mistreatment received on these shores by Irish Immigrants fleeing the famine in the 1840's. The list can go on and on.
My point is that none of us can be held accountable for the actions of others hundreds of years in the past, nor can we claim some sort of special status, i.e. " Victim hood" either. We can learn and evolve socially, through time, and through the reading and understanding of history. This I believe has been done, and continues to happen each and every day.
Ask your self this question: Is this Apology going to make one bit of difference in our society?
For those of you lacking wit I'll answer for you, NO.
What this latest PC resolution did accomplish, was that it took up valuable time in the Legislature that could have been used to address, what I feel, a more pressing issue, ohhhh...
like Off shore Drilling perhaps? The economy?
I'd like an apology now too.
Slainte'
Blighter
The photo is of Tennesee Democrat Steve Cohen who sponsored the Apology
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