Unprecedented apology

Yeah, Mary I'm surprised it happened too. I also blogged about it at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/free-flow/Reparations_and_Recriminations.html

It's a slippery slope -- demands for reparations have to be coming next, yes? Sadly, that's where the conversation will stop.

Mary,

This why your readers admire you,because you are on the money and asout the issues, and besides what's right is right.

Things understood need not be explain. Stay strong and I pray that you have interns to care your legacy on for generations to come.

Wallace"Gator"Bradley
Urban Translator

It's about time the government at least acknowledged that this country was built on the labor of slaves and it was wrong. Regardless of whether this politician is strictly doing this based on political motives or not, this needs to happen.

If reparations take the form of additional funding for inner city schools and higher education, that's a discussion worth having.
If this is about a handout funded primarily by people who had NOTHING to do with slavery, it's just not gonna happen. Also, didn't the Katrina aftermath give us a glimpse of how reparations would be spent? Somehow I don't think spending money on alcohol, strippers, and electronics is what people had in mind for reparations.

Reparations?? For who? Show me someone who was a slave and i'd be the first to approve. Until then all you are looking for is something for nothing.

Let the Congress do whatever they like. They don't speak, or "apologize" for me. I never owned a slave. I refuse to "apologize" for something I didn't do that happened in the century before last.

Please move on. This "conversation on race" is boring us all to death. We're sick of it.

I don't understand the need for an apology 150 years after the fact. If any former slaves were alive, I still might have a problem. My question, who apologizes for the Africans and Arabs that kidnapped these poor souls from their villages and sold them to the whites for slavery? Who amoung the Civil Rights Leaders will lead the charge to end the slavery of black people in both Africa and the Domican Republic that is occurring today, as we speak? Who will apologize for the Irish that were taken from their homes and sent to this country because their English landlords felt they were a burden. And of course, who will apologize for the Chines who were also brought here to work. Sadly, slavery has been around since the dawn of time, and continues today. It does us no good to apologize for a history that we can not learn from

No apology can repair the "current" damages that are going on. CURRENT.. racism...is CURRENT... as of this second.... Hello. Don't apologize treat us as equals. THAT IS ALL and do it NOW.

Reparations my foot. If that's the case we owe the Chinese and Japanese for sticking them in concentration camps and forcing them to build this nation's railroads during WWII. Next, we better get ready to give back California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas to the Mexicans because these states were theirs long before they became part of the US. And finally, after blacks get a free check from the government - like that's never happened before - they can use it to purchase a ticket back to Africa because on the subject of reparations this country belongs to Native Americans. Let's all get real.

Thanks, Mary, for your interpretation of this Housebill. I agree that it's significant, though long overdue.

I am sick and tired of hearing how America was built on the labor of slaves. Slavery was a terrible tradgedy but it did not contribute to making America wealthy in fact just the opposite. Southern states where slavery was most prevalent for so many years were the poorest states falling far behind the industrial north where people of several European contries were building the nation. Any place in the world where slavery was and still is the means of production remains in poverty.

Can't you guys just move on with your life . . . and wait a minute, what about the loud black woman in front of me at Jewel, talking on her i-phone and paying with her link card.... and then i see her drive away in her new 2008 Impala, who pays for that?? oh ya, PEOPLE WITH JOBS....

If reparations will finally stop blacks from complaining about EVERYTHING I am all for it. I am tired of seeing them walk around in their expensive clothing but will not attempt at getting a full time job nor going to school. Lets take a quick look: Irish were once treated like crap ("Five Points") and they have succeeded; Jews - must I explain their story - are 'til this day looked down on, and they have managed to overcome obstacles; Japanese were put in concentration camps and relocated all over the states for crying out-loud and have fought back; and what can I say about Hispanics? Many of them do not even speak the language and wake up at four or five in the morning to do jobs no one now will do (jobs which before were considered to have been done by Irish, Asians, etc..) and records show that their children are above blacks as a percentage for graduating college. Give me a break. As my grandfather would say; if you are an American citizen and speak the language, there should be no need for complaining. NO ONE ELSE IS!!!!!!!!!

Obama is on record as saying reparations to him are more jobs and education opportunities.

Ok, for all you pro-reparation folks. As we all know, we are a copy-cat society. So everybody will get ideas, also. So here goes:

.....Do you folks approve giving Mexican-Americans reparations? How about you, Mary? You say why: Because our nation, by force, took what is today Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, and Colorado from Mexico. Many of today's Mexican-Americans had ancestors who owned the properties. And had them taken away. So will you mind your taxes be used for compensation to their descendents?

so right scott, so sick of race in your face talk and the entitlement it engenders. EVERY race, creed, gender, and age has had to face the subtle and not so subtle discriminations of culture. the solution for many is hard work and questions put to the self about personal resolve in the midst of available options not hand outs. and besides- are there any living slaves to whom to proffer reparations. once again all this does is incite the issue rather than resolve anything. i suppose if the topic resolves itself some journalists would be out of a job.

The continuing legacy of white privilege is one of the reasons why this is important. Current whites may not have owned slaves but they, without shame, enjoy the benefits, economically and socially, of the past and present inhuman treatment of African people. One can site item for item how whites continue to benefit from slavery but as whole the white community will balk at the truth and say as always " I didn't own slaves and you haven't experienced it" while enjoying Americas white privilege and sipping on a Latti.

As my uncle would say white don't never admit when they rape,rob and play god.

Isn't it something that anyone that may have been a slave is now deceased and anyone who owned a slave is probably also deceased. Those affected are alive and kicking: civil right act of 1964 ( I was alive), Jim Crow laws were in the 1950's and 1960's (many blacks and whites are still alive now). My grandparents were slaves children, can someone say that the population today feels no affect from this legacy of hate?
There is a tear in my eye every time I read that we should just get over it. I have no idea how to trace my family tree, records don't exist for a whole side of my family. There are no inhertitances from old money that was earned on the backs of slaves. My great great grandfather was a slavemaster that raped a married woman who could not be defended by her husband under the threat of death to all.
Someone tell me why it is ok to just get over it?

Good. We got the House. Now all we need is the Senate, the Judiciary and then the President. If we can end this occupation of Iraq, that would be reparations enough.

Scott:

"This "conversation on race" is boring us all to death. We're sick of it."

And yet you still respond.

"They don't speak, or "apologize" for me."

If you are a citizen of this country and you pay taxes, then yes. Congress does speak for you. Be careful who you vote for.

"As my uncle would say white don't never admit when they rape,rob and play god."

As MY uncle would say "some people prefer to ask for handouts rather than go the hard work approach".

The white people on this post have no sense of justice. You can tell by their comments. They never did - that's why this country still resides inside this racial abyss.

If the relatively small compensation of "40 acres and a mule" were paid after emancipation like they should have been and black people regarded and treated as citizens from that point till now, we would not be having this discussion.

What white people seem to ignore is that slavery in this country was a corporate act of the United States done against a particular group (African-Americans), both still exist.

Everyone that points out the fact that slavery has historically existed everywhere are correct. But when the founders of this country put into the Declaration that "all men are created equal" they immediately established a different trajectory for all humankind and that injection allowed us to (eventually) ask the government to address our grievances.

American slavery was of a different type than was practiced previously. This was the first "total slavery" where everything that was even related to us retaining some humanity was stripped from us until we were broken down to nearly nothing. This practice was so effective that we still see the results in today's black people.

Might I add, after slavery - Jim Crow, unprosecuted lynchings, segregation in the military, limited access to public facilities, no full voting rights until 1965 and on and on, after slavery (some of the people that suffered through the worst of the Jim Crow era are still alive).

White folks are something, everyone else can be apologized to and repaired - everyone but the N*****.

This country did pay japenese and chinese for being in concentration camps, All the companies that exist today exist because of slave labor they got rich off of black ancestors back. Share the wealth

"Many said it would never happen"

What? A politician introducing a resolution, apologizing for slavery - just so happens that he's white and running against a black candidate.

Yeah, who would EVER think something like that would happen!

Truth is -

Slavery has nothing to do with the lives of blacks in the ghettos of Chicago is this current age. So many of the replies mention "white privilege" and "white entitlement" but none give any concrete examples. The black lady with the i-phone and new car buying her groceries with a Link card is a concrete example as to why there should be no reparations. My white privilege is working in the west side ghetto everyday and seeing Link, SSI, Section 8, and all other forms of "government assistance" being abused by generations of the "underprivileged". You want reparations? I just mentioned 3 forms that you've been getting for the past 40 years. Enjoy.

The problem with payments to the direct decendents is that not only are the decendents of slaves opressed, but the entire african-american community. Therefore, a MORE REASONABLE solution would be to try and REPAIR the enviornment that exists today rather than try and DECIDE HOW TO ALLOCATE payments to RIGHT PAST WRONGS. The overall problem is the withholding of information
from the poor. Especially in this DIGITAL AGE, where INFORMATION IS KING, it is of the utmost importance to lay a proper educational foundation on which to build. Instead of worrying about funding inequities, we need to concentrate on TEACHING KIDS HOW TO TEACH THEMSELVES. Since every child's thinking patterns are unique, it does not make much sense to try and teach an ENTIRE CLASS the same thing SIMUALTANEOUSLY. Instead of the seats in the classroom arranged in a grid, for example a 6 row by 5 column 30 student classroom could be arranged into 6 five student tables. This would enable students to have a GROUP EXPERIENCE, yet have a bit of disassociation from the rest of the group, because let's face it, NOT EVERYONE IS ABSORBING THE INFORMATION AT THE SAME RATE. See, education and skills are the KEY to REPAIRING the INEQUITIES in our SOCIETY, not another HANDOUT to some and NOT OTHERS. By the way, WHAT ABOUT THE INDIANS? Letting them have CASINO GAMBLING is just not enough. If anyone deserves any dollars it is the INDIANS, so I would just let the payment issue drop and concentrate on REVOLUTIONIZING THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM with a SIMPLE SYSTEM.

What handouts? An apology for slavery is not the same as reparations. Blacks are no richer today than they were last week.

An apology could do wonders for the health of our country. We are all burdened by the legacy of slavery. We all need some healing.
Tony Galati
Lemont

Reparations? More free money?

If that goes down,you won't have the white man to blame for anything anymore, we're out of here. Canada, New Zealand, whatever.

You can have it, it's yours. You win. Then watch what happens when "Whitey" isn't around to pay taxes to subsidize all that free money.......

The nations capital will look like New Orleans after the blacks go wild looking for free stuff.

My real idea however is this-the nation should apologize to blacks for slavery (if that helps)and admit they were wrong to bring people here against there will. Pay them reparations ONLY if they go back to the country they came from, it's the only way to truly make this right.

What do you think of this Mary? Pretty solid idea? I'm sure the answer is NO, you just want free money, going back to your ROOTS would make you have to work.

Just a white man sick of the whining, sniveling black BS.

to "you can't handle the truth": This 'white entitlement' and 'white privilege' excuses are because this political-correctness society has conditioned people's thinking to 'never blame the person in the mirror'. Many people need a scapegoat (white man is it at this moment). Because thats alot easier then to go out and actually make things better for themselves. Self-responsibility no longer exists with many people.

My family came here in late 1800's from Germany and worked hard for their money, we never had slaves or treated a minority unfairly. On the other hand, there are African Americans who think just because someone in their family was a slave 150 years ago deserve money and deserve to abuse the system that WE the people who work for a living and have taxes taken out so the above mentioned can pay $200 in groceries with their Link card and live in free housing while they drive a brand new car with 20 inch rims and the lastest version of an expensive cell phone or blackberry. It just warms the cockles of my heart...nice.

If the Germans paid, and are still paying, for their war crimes, why shouldn't Americans at least apolgize for their inhumane acts Ruby? Blacks just want the full apology; America can keep all of the profits. And can we get some jobs please? We're tired of not getting called back for interviews.

I realize that much of the educational system in this country does not teach accurate accounts of American history and that this is the primary reason for so many of the ignorant comments from the whites on this blog. The racist and hateful statements here are a part of the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Whites justified their inhumane treatment of blacks by judging them to be non-human and by creating horribly racist stereotypes about them. How else can the systemic beatings, lynchings, rapes, lack of equal protection under the law, centuries of free labor, etc. have been justified? In the not so distant past there were lynching parties, where whites attended with their children to watch people of African descent hanged from trees as though they were watching a foot ball game between the Bears and Green Bay Packers. There are many additional examples of the inhumane treatment of blacks in the not so distant past. If you had any concept of history you would know that these conditions for blacks existed for centuries. This legacy continues. The inequalities that exist in American educational systems, housing, employment, health care, etc. disproportionately impact blacks as a direct result of systemic racism. Those who say they had no role in slavery certainly have a role in its horrible and continuing aftermath. Economically, this nation has benefited from the institutions of slavery and Jim Crow and you as white individuals have received unjustified economic benefits that are passed on through your family lines. Black wealth and self-esteem is the negative that it is today as a direct result of slavery, Jim Crow and systemic racism from which whites have directly benefited. Any one who says blacks should just get over the damage that centuries of these horrendous practices have inflicted upon the African American race, should march straight to h*ll where you belong! And notwithstanding many of your racist comments, and despite this horrible history, a significant majority of blacks have survived and thrived without hate for whites in their hearts. Under similar circumstances would whites be able to do the same? I highly doubt it.

"How else can the systemic beatings, lynchings, rapes, lack of equal protection under the law, centuries of free labor, etc. have been justified?"

KCW - how do blacks justify their killing of kids, single parenthood, drug usage and gang activity? It's a race of people with NO respect for ITSELF!

To kcw:

As I stated earlier, no one cares about your theories, give us facts!!!! Here are some FACTS about your so-called inequalities - Housing (section 8 vouchers), Employment (Affirmative Action), Health Care (no free clinics in my neighborhood buddy!).

And why is it if you disagree with someone's comment, that comment must be "racist"?

Stop reading Mary Mitchell's column. It distorts your common sense.

How about paying reparation to all the families that lost a father or son fighting to end slavery in the civil war? That had to be a financial blow and a hardship to thousands of families for several generations. Seems only fair to pay them something for their losses.

Here's a solution:
1.) Form Reparation Committee
2.) Create national holiday for public apology
3.) Total up reparations due
4.) Subtract value of lives lost (see above)
5.) Subract value of public aid for 40 years
6.) Receive a bill for the balance due
7.) Rethink equating reparation to money