House formally apologizes for slavery and Jim Crow

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

Was this needed, will it accomplish anything, is this what you do in an election year...your thoughts?

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press WriterTue Jul 29, 7:05 PM ET

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.

The resolution, passed by voice vote, was the work of Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, the only white lawmaker to represent a majority black district. Cohen faces a formidable black challenger in a primary face-off next week.

Congress has issued apologies before — to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching laws.

Five states have issued apologies for slavery, but past proposals in Congress have stalled, partly over concerns that an apology would lead to demands for reparations — payment for damages.

The Cohen resolution does not mention reparations. It does commit the House to rectifying "the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow."

It 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.

The House "apologizes to African-Americans 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."

"Slavery and Jim Crow are stains upon what is the greatest nation on the face of the earth," Cohen said. Part of forming a more perfect union, he said, "is such a resolution as we have before us today where we face up to our mistakes and apologize as anyone should apologize for things that were done in the past that were wrong."

Cohen became the first white to represent the 60 percent black district in Memphis in more than three decades when he captured a 2006 primary where a dozen black candidates split the vote. He has sought to reach out to his black constituents, and early in his term showed interest in joining the Congressional Black Caucus until learning that was against caucus rules.

Another of his first acts as a freshman congressman in early 2007 was to introduce the slavery apology resolution. His office said that the House resolution was brought to the floor only after learning that the Senate would be unable to join in a joint resolution.

More than a dozen of the 42 Congressional Black Caucus members in the House were original co-sponsors of the measure. The caucus has not endorsed either Cohen or his chief rival, attorney Nikki Tinker, in the Memphis primary, although Cohen is backed by several senior members, including Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Tinker is the former campaign manager of Harold Ford, Jr., who held Cohen's seat until he stepped down in an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 2006.

___

The bill is H. Res. 194

On the Net:

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov

Click to read more...

 

[Lingerfelt 10+ year member]

40 acres and a mule > apology //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

40 acres and a mule > apology //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

40 acres and a mule has value....what the hell value does the House formally apologizing have?

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

The only way to make things right is to send all of the African American people back to Africa... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[Slammed 5,000+ posts]

no compensation? lol

Im remembering the Dave Chapelles skit

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

Will we have to wait another 50 years for Congress to apologize for this shit they are doing to our country now? If we make it another 50 years, that is.

 

[tez4life Premium Member]

The only way to make things right is to send all of the African American people back to Africa... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

But I like this country //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[4runnercrazy 10+ year member]

black ppl need to get over slavery, there is nothing we did. all of it is in the past. they are jsut looking for excuses for not being about to read and write

 

[Crimson Boom 10+ year member]

black ppl need to get over slavery, there is nothing we did. all of it is in the past. they are jsut looking for excuses for not being about to read and write

Yet you don't seem adept at writing either.

Now where's my //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif booches

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

seriously, let worry about shit thats happening now. slavery is done, no one living was ever a slave, get over it.

 

[John3000 10+ year member]

black ppl need to get over slavery, there is nothing we did. all of it is in the past. they are jsut looking for excuses for not being about to read and write

WTF?!?!?!

seriously, let worry about shit thats happening now. slavery is done, no one living was ever a slave, get over it.

I could care less about slavery, but Jim Crow laws were a very shitty thing and my parents had to deal with that bullshit so I am pissed about them going through that in their lifetime.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

WTF?!?!?!


I could care less about slavery, but Jim Crow laws were a very shitty thing and my parents had to deal with that bullshit so I am pissed about them going through that in their lifetime.

ok, so why do you care less about slavery then? im sure someone in your family was a slave at some point in history. its a shame people were that simple minded but people marched, fought for their rights and now things are changed. why keep dwelling on it? hell at one point women couldnt vote so should all women walk around pissed off all the time? i dont see the gov apologizing for that.

again, jim crow laws are no more, so why do we have to apologize for them 50 yrs later. our gov should worry about our current issues.

 

[John3000 10+ year member]

ok, so why do you care less about slavery then? im sure someone in your family was a slave at some point in history. its a shame people were that simple minded but people marched, fought for their rights and now things are changed. why keep dwelling on it? hell at one point women couldnt vote so should all women walk around pissed off all the time? i dont see the gov apologizing for that.
again, jim crow laws are no more, so why do we have to apologize for them 50 yrs later. our gov should worry about our current issues.

Nah I dont dwell on it at all, let me clarify that I dont dwell on slavery or Jim Crow laws but it saddens me that people were treated that way back in the day, but I dont go all kill whitey when it is brought up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif . I just think how hard it was for "My Parents" esp my father who lived in Mississippi when that stuff was going on. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

I know those days are gone now so there is no need for me to get my hanes in a bunch when I hear about it.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

Nah I dont dwell on it at all, let me clarify that I dont dwell on slavery or Jim Crow laws but it saddens me that people were treated that way back in the day, but I dont go all kill whitey when it is brought up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif . I just think how hard it was for "My Parents" esp my father who lived in Mississippi when that stuff was going on. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif
I know those days are gone now so there is no need for me to get my hanes in a bunch when I hear about it.

fair enough. what is a shame is that in west tennessee where some of my relatives are from black people still cant go to certain cities. i remember when i was 12 there was a lynching in skull bone tennessee and when watching the news they acted like it was his fault for going to that city. the guys car broke down, he was walking to a gas station and some guys hung him from a tree. that is something i would be ok with being addressed, not stuff thats been taken care of. lets worry about current prejudice and not what happened in the past.

hey if you are a person that wants to hate someone for no reason thats ur perrogative, but to cause harm to someone just because of it now thats just retarded.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

As I said it before, all this will do is let black people say "see? that's why I couldn't do x y and z before"...as though this will change anything.