Saturday, February 10, 2007

Missouri Lawmaker proposes apology for slavery

We read:

"The state would formally apologize for permitting more than 140 years of slavery under a proposal that would make Missouri one of the first in the country to make such a move.

The resolution, which details the history of Missouri slavery, states that "an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot ease the past, but confession of the wrongs can speed racial healing and reconciliation."

Rep. Talibdin El-Amin said Missouri should be one of the first states to apologize for slavery because the Dred Scott case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court cited the Constitution in a ruling that upheld slavery, originated in Missouri.

Source

How can anybody apologize for something they did not do? Maybe under the Soviet system you sometimes had to but under a Western legal system I am not responsible for anything my grandfather did nor is anybody else. One can of course express regret about what others do or did but that is not an apology. An apology assumes that I myself did something wrong. What did the present inhabitants of Missouri do wrong?

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