Do you think that former slave states should apologize for slavery?

Question

How is an apology going to justify those who had relatives that were slaves and were brutally tortured? I don't even think reparations can do justice for the cruelties of slavery.

Answer 1

I believe that the more ethical thing to do would be to apologize to the Indians from which their country was stolen. Now they live in a Killling field of a Dump place. There's some people out there that I hope this makes really mad, too.

Answer 2

Most of them wouldn't really mean it. But you see, many Americans, even politicians are discovering that they have Black blood in them, or that some of their forefathers had slaves. It's disturbing really. Further, even if reparations were paid, who would they be paid to? There are millions of bi-racials nation-wide. Then there are those who are still, even in this day and age, still"passing". We don't know who these people are. And most importantly, there is the issue of the mixing of races (Black and white) also nationwide, Everywhere we look we find a plethora of mixed children. I could apologize for slavery, in fact I will do it today, but then if I do, someone will ask a question as to whether Germans will apologize to Jewish people, etc. etc. .and the beat goes on. Slavery happened. People were brutalized, beaten and killed. And yet Blacks helped build this country. We should be THANKING them.

(ah..to the poster below, check your history big boy. Blacks fought for the Union just like your forefathers. In fact their leaders had to ask Congress to let them enlist. In 1862, with no end in sight to the war, tens of thousands of Africans signed up. They fought for the Union just like your grandpop. They fiormed their own regiments of artillary, calvalry, infantry and engineers. In addition to this, they were given poor equipment and often ran out of supplies.. To top that off, Confederate soldiers said that they would make it a point to enslave or klll any Black soldiers they captured. So you see, they fought against many odds grandpop. And as it turned out they were fighting for YOUR freedom moreso than their own, because they STILL faced prejudice, ill treatment and slavery, long after the Civil War was over.
So know what you are talking about before taking credit for something you obviously know nothing about,,. Oh and yes you need to be thanking them, rather than the other way around).

Answer 3

In this day in age an apology isn't going to anything for anyone. The fact is that the era of slavery was horrible and atrocious, but the theres also the fact that I never did anything to anyone. I personally am sick of hearing about slavery. There is nothing that we can do about it now, and I'm not going to apologize to anyone, simply because I never enslaved anyone, neither has anyone that I know, therefore an apology from me would be an act of futility. Its not that I don't think that it was horrible, but why does the black community not ask for an apology from the Tribal Leaders of Africa who sold their own people to the "white devil"? Why does the black community ask for an apology from the African government for damn near facilitating the whole thing? I don't have anything against anyone, I don't hate blacks or brown, or even oranges, so I don't want to hear it. I didn't do anything to anyone, nor was any black person alive today enslaved at anytime in their lives. I think its time to move onward.

-J.

Answer 4

Do you mean States or actual decedents of Slaves?

I'm thinking States probably did not own that many slaves. (I could be wrong) The always had prison labor as a resource for menial labor.

How about old Southern Plantation Families like Al Gore. Does he owe anyone an apology?

I live in an area where the biggest slave owner was a Black man. He had a huge hay business. with many slaves cutting and baling hay. In the 1800's hay was the fuel for horses. Like today's gas business.

Do the decedents of that Black slave owner owe an apology to themselves for being confused with a modern take on a intangible problem.

Go big Red Go

Answer 5

It's impractical, considering the United States was built on the back of slavery and conquest. How would you apologise to the Native Americans for stealing a continent?

America is the biggest stolen item in history.

Answer 6

And the beat goes on, haven't we all apologized enough?..I think a lot of programs like affirmative action keep on alpologizing and I for one, think it has been said enough. I didn't have slaves and neither did anyone else alive.
And since you asked, it is the native americans who we really have ignored, oh yes, we thow a useless parcel of land their was from time to time, but that hardly is enough to compensate them for what the white man to them.

Answer 7

their apology is in the form of many things . They are allowed to be racist without anybody saying anything , such as the black panthers and the ***** college fund . They are allowed special treatment when applying for anything , that box on an application that asks your race is there for a reason . If they are treated badly as a person in society they get to blame it on race and call the aclu to sue . they recieved affirmative action which forces employers to hire them regardless of job performance .

Answer 8

how the hell is a god damn aplogy going to fix anything. an apology is not going to reverse time. Black people should just get over it, too bad, weep weep, but now we are in the 21st century
i know i sound kinda harsh, but without slavery we would just have been another 3rd world country

Answer 9

the people that were alive at that time are no longer alive. Should wife beaters apologize to their wives? yes-because that is a current issue. Develop a more current system of guilt. Feel guilty about something you can change.

Answer 10

You're right, they should enslave us for equal reparations. Or maybe they can throw us into a volcano or something.