Washington, D.c. — The United States Congress has for the first time in its 230-year history issued a formal apology for slavery and segregation, describing the dark period of that country as inhuman.
The apology issued by Senators on Capitol Hill on Thursday, however, did not agree to the payment of reparations, but it condemned centuries of injustice caused by slavery.
In a strongly worded document, the Congress unanimously voted to acknowledge the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws."
It stated that the US Congress "apologises on behalf of the people of the United States for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws."
According to Wikipedia, Jim Crow laws were local and state laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the US, mandating segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "equal but separate" status for black Americans.
If the House of Repres-entatives pass a similar measure as expected next week, it will mark the highest effort to apologise for the wrongs of the past.
A similar effort failed to make it to the Senate in 2008 after it was passed in the lower chamber.
The resolution affirmed the "principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and calls on all people of the United States to work towards eliminating racial prejudices, injustices and discrimination from our society."
Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, was quoted as saying that "no one pretends that a mere apology or any words can right the wrongs of the past, but it represents our recognition of the past and our commitment to fully live up to our nation's promise."
The sponsor of the resolution, Senator Tom Harkin noted that slavery "is an enduring national shame" for the country.
He added: "slavery and Jim Crow and their continuing consequences are not the historical baggage of one state, one region or one company."
Harkin said the resolution was long over due. He warned that more work lies ahead as the latest move would not wipe out all injustices automatically.
Reacting, some African-Americans said the apology was not enough but is a first step.
Former President Bill Clinton while in office had expressed regret for the act while George W. Bush described it as "one of the greatest crimes of history. But they stopped short of a proper apology.
Some states in the country have also previously adopted resolutions expressing regret for slavery, but no formal bill at the national level was officially passed.
Jim Crow laws were enshrined in the US Constitution to segregate blacks and whites.
The resolution also fell on June 19, being the celebration of the freedom of African-Americans at the end of the Civil War in 1865.
A ceremony to mark the passage of the new resolution is expected next month.
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The Americans have apologised what about the Arabs, and the Persians who saw it as a profitable business along with the Europeans who jumped on the band wagon to make money.. In addition, what about those African kings that sold their own for mirrors and tobacco are they also going to apologise for their part in the atrocity?
Slavery is one of the most egregious of all crimes, yet some still try to make it out as a daily occurrence in the Western world, or in the very least, that they are responsible for it all, and they want it to return; utter foolishness. It would be good if those who perpetrate such nonsense to spend some time in study. For openers, slavery itself was just recently outlawed in Africa. For just one example, how about Kony & his LRA (?) who have been 20 odd years in the bush, and to this day, are grabbing innocent children to carry their goods, cook their meals, and perform whatever sex act they want, whenever oh, did I mention wonton slaughtering and maiming of other innocents? Is not a true face of slavery? In this article yet another government apologized for what happened generations earlier, and that country has matured. Those who truly want their peoples and countries to succeed would do well to realize that in the real world people learn from history, especially the mistakes . And the good ones (and their countries) go forward. To hold on to the past, to talk about the Berlin Conference or the Boers, is a wonderful thing for education, but if you can not go forward, youre either stuck or sliding back. Learn from history, so while going forward, youll know a basis of not only What to do or Why Not to do it, but Why. Be Blessed.
We will believe the "apology" is sincere when we see an end to modern-day slavery in Africa like the ones perpetrated by western enterprises (plantation owners) like Shell and Chevron, in collaboration with their plantation slave drivers (Hausa/Fulani govt) killing innocent women and children in the Niger Delta to get the locals to comply with the cabals brazen exploitation. Words are cheap if not backed up by action.
I agree with your sentiment. Slavery is a grievous and painful fact, but only one aspect of European nations acting in concert for some 500 years to main instability and to desocialize African cultures. The colonial boundaries are a continuing legacy, for example, of the mischief perpetrated by colonial powers.
The wise thing for Europeans and the legacy colonial governments to do is assist African societies urgently to develop deep and diverse economies and to develop meaningful power grids and telecommunications infrastructures. Today, China seems to be beating them to that initiative, and the West is loosing legitimate influence in Africa.
This is good for the morale of the black people, and the same America has made the black man the most powerful person on earth today. How about Nigerian elites apologising to the masses for raping the nation of its resources about 50 years after independence. And bring in social rights and social security in our constitution as God all equal and there should be equal opportunity for all Nigerians.
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