As we've been studying about Jamestown, the place where African slavery began in America, I know a lot of you have been thinking about slavery, what it would be like to have no freedom, to be unable to decide what to do from minute to minute.
I have a big question for you: Should the US government offer an official apology for slavery?
Steps:
- Read at least two of the articles below (articles #1, #2, and #3 should be moderate; article #4 is challenging)
- Write a comment of at least four full, formally-written sentences
- Proofread your comment (you could also ask a classmate to proofread)
- Post your comment
You will be graded on:
- Writing a comment that thoughtfully addresses the question
- Your grammar and spelling
- Using the words and ideas from the readings below
- Using the words and ideas of your classmates who have already posted
You will receive extra credit for:
- Posting a follow-up question to keep discussion going
- Posting more than one thoughtful comment
- Using information that you learned in class
- Reading the fourth article and using it in a comment
Article #1) Slavery in Colonial America: 1619-1787
Twenty Africans accompanied the Europeans who landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. These people were not slaves but indentured servants, and upon completing their contracts they were free to enjoy the liberties and privileges of the "free laboring class." By 1650 there were about three hundred Africans in the American colonies, most of whom were indentured servants and some of whom eventually became property holders and active citizens. The first African American born in the colonies, William Tucker, shared with the other settlers the common birthright of freedom. The slave Anthony Johnson apparently became free about 1622 and had by 1651 amassed enough wealth to import five servants of his own, for which he obtained two hundred and fifty acres from the colonial government; the African American carpenter Richard Johnson imported two white servants in 1654 and received one hundred acres.
It is unclear when the first African slaves arrived in the North American colonies. From the 1640s Africans were increasingly regarded as chattel (or persons regarded as fixed items of personal property). In 1641 Massachusetts became the first state to make perpetual bondage legal, and the institution gradually spread among the original thirteen colonies. Rhode Island had an anti-slavery ordinance, but this was openly violated, and only Pennsylvania maintained a sustained opposition to slavery. By the 1650s Africans were commonly sold for life, and in 1661 the Virginia House of Burgesses formally recognized the institution of black slavery. The erosion of African indentured servitude in Maryland was finalized with the slave law of 1663, which stated specifically that "All negroes or other slaves within the province, [and] all negroes to be hereafter imported, shall serve [for their whole lives]."
As white indentured servitude gradually disappeared from the colonial labor market, the flow of African labor into the colonies was accelerated, and planters rigidly institutionalized the perpetual servitude of Africans. One practical reason for this system was that slaves of African origin could be more easily detected than whites should they escape. And among the common rationalizations for the enslavement of Africans was reference to their non-Christian status; it was asserted that Africans were primitive and savage, and fit for nothing better than a life of unbroken labor. Even after African Americans became Christianized, their slave status was not altered; in 1667 the Virginia legislature enacted a statute which proclaimed that "baptism doth not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom."
Article #2) Apology for slavery? 'White America has already paid that bill'
Author(s):Eric Deggans.
Source:Ebony 62.10 (August 2007): p77(1). (661 words)
On matters of race, it is the one itch we cannot scratch; the stone in our shoe that does not go away, no matter how much we shake.
Slavery. And the debt it brings Black people from White people. I'm not one of those who shrugs off the value of apologies--even for social injustice. One look at South Africa and Ireland shows the value of a well-placed "I'm sorry," even after decades of conflict.
Anyone who has betrayed a loved one knows why. No one can really move on until the betrayal is admitted, explained and atoned for. It's why a jilted girlfriend or cuckolded husband insists on hearing the reason why--even when they already know.
But when it comes to slavery, I think White America has already paid that bill as much as it ever will. And insisting on more seems less about healing or progress and more about Black people basking in White folks' guilt and shame.
Will a slavery apology pull more young Black men from prison, or get more of them through high school and college? Will it curb the alarming tide of AIDS in Black communities or bring Black fathers back into their children's lives?
Will it pull an ounce of trash from a rundown, Black neighborhood or create a single, well-paying, working-class job?
We have seen institutions apologize for past inequities connected to slavery and Jim Crow--from insurance companies which profited from policies on slaves to newspapers which undercovered and miscovered the Civil Rights Movement. Did any of those apologies bring new initiatives for covering people of color or insuring underinsured Black neighborhoods? Of course not. Because in America, action often stops at the apology.
Unfortunately, such opinions can put you in some question able company. There are those who resist the idea of an apology for slavery for much different reasons. They say Black people have already received apologies for slavery through affirmative action programs and welfare--two initiatives that historically benefit White women more than Black people.
They say White Americans today bear no responsibility for a system of slavery abolished more than a century ago--even though many White-owned companies and wealthy families can trace their prosperity back through generations to the time when Black people were treated as chattel.
None of these arguments make much sense. Instead, I suggest we simply look at some institutions that have already apologized for their part in the centuries-long enslavement of Black people.
As I write this, four states have passed resolutions apologizing for their role in slavery: Alabama, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. But Alabama continues to house some of the poorest people in the nation--in part because it is part of a region called the Black Belt, which is predominantly African-American and boasts a population with hall the median income, twice the unemployment and an infant mortality rate 50 percent higher than national averages.
Similarly, 2000 Census figures showed the median Black income in Maryland was 21 percent lower than the general average and 30 percent lower in Virginia. Income is just one way to measure progress, bur it seems a sad fact that apologies in these states didn't bring a rush of new legislation to lift long-suffering Black families out of poverty.
What those apologies did generate was loads of press coverage; poetically written stories about the stirring speeches given by contrite White politicians and strident Black legislators.
No doubt, these apology initiatives were undertaken with the best of intentions. But these apologies, passed without a substantial discussion of the White privilege or Black poverty they enabled, were incomplete--like a thief apologizing for stealing your wallet while using your cash to buy his next meal.
Unless an apology for slavery comes with a comprehensive agenda of initiatives aimed at erasing the historic inequities it created, White America can keep it. As any cuckolded spouse will tell you, an apology doesn't mean much if you don't right the wrong you caused in the first place.
Article #3
BUSH CONDEMNS SLAVERY AS ONE OF `GREATEST CRIMES'
SPEECH AT SOURCE OF AFRICAN TRADE GIVES NO APOLOGY
John Donnelly, Globe Staff. Boston Globe. Boston, Mass.: Jul 9, 2003. pg. A.1
Copyright New York Times Company Jul 9, 2003
GOREE ISLAND, Senegal - Standing on ground where "liberty and life were stolen and sold," President Bush yesterday started his five-day tour of Africa by calling slavery "one of the greatest crimes of history."
The forceful speech, delivered on an island where hundreds of thousands of Africans in chains began a torturous and often deadly voyage across the Atlantic, stopped short of an apology that some civil rights leaders have demanded. Instead, Bush, in somber prose, detailed the centuries-long travesty by citing spare facts and then interpreting it through a religious lens.
"At this place . . . human beings were delivered, and sorted, and weighed, and branded with the marks of commercial enterprises, and loaded as cargo on a voyage without return," Bush said in a nearly 15-minute speech on the island's edge as waves crashed against rocks below. "One of the largest migrations of history was also one of the greatest crimes of history."
Bush also gave his strongest signal yet that the United States was prepared to send peacekeeping troops to nearby Liberia, a country founded in 1822 by freed American slaves.
Following a meeting with the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, he said the United States would participate with the group in overseeing a stable transition once Liberian President Charles Taylor leaves the country to end a bloody civil conflict.
On Goree Island, Bush stepped onto a nearly empty beach, with all shop windows shuttered and residents moved farther inland because of security concerns. The scene contrasted with President Bill Clinton's visit in 1998, when throngs of villagers greeted him with cheers, and where a bigger crowd turned out to hear him speak of slavery's grim mark on history.
Bush, shedding his coat and tie under a warm sun, immediately turned on to a narrow path toward the nearby Slave House, a peach- colored structure built by the Dutch in 1776. Inside, he and his wife, Laura, walked toward a tunnel-like stone hallway that opened to the sea.
"That's the point of no return," Bush said as they moved toward the infamous "Door of No Return," through which multitudes of African slaves passed to board ships.
During a tour of the house, Bush said nothing, only nodding throughout. A half-hour later, he spoke about the legacy of what began here.
"For 250 years, the captives endured an assault on their culture and their dignity," he said. "The spirit of Africans in America did not break. Yet the spirit of their captors was corrupted. . . . . Christian men and women became blind to the clearest commands of their faith and added hypocrisy to injustice. A republic founded on equality for all became a prison for millions."
Bush said the prevailing views of the time were no excuse for what happened.
"In every time, there were men and women who clearly saw this sin and called it by name," he said.
He said many American leaders, as well as the descendants of slaves, helped change the course of the nation.
"By a plan known only to Providence, the stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America," he said. "The very people traded into slavery helped to set America free."
The struggle for justice continues in the United States, he said, just as it continues today in Africa.
"Africans have overcome the arrogance of colonial powers, overturned the cruelties of apartheid, and made it clear that dictatorship is not the future of any nation on this continent," he said.
Many African "heroes of liberation" have used political and economic freedom to "lift whole nations and put forth bold plans for Africa's development," he said.
One of those visionary leaders cited by Bush was his host, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, which won its independence from France in 1960 and has a strong democracy and thriving civil society. It also has perhaps the strongest record in sub-Saharan Africa of fighting AIDS, keeping the HIV rate below 2 percent.
Wade, too, addressed the legacy of slavery, saying the "descendants of those who were subjected to it have the duty to bring it back to memory."
In the handpicked audience of about 200 people, Moulaye Jobe, 37, an English teacher at Lycee Moderne de Rufisque in Dakar, listened intently.
Before the speech, he said that he hoped Bush would apologize for America's role in slavery.
"Bush is not responsible," he said, "but those who are responsible are no longer here, and it's still the same America."
Afterward, Jobe said that even without an apology, he appreciated the speech because Bush "said what needed to be said a long time ago - all the cruelty the slaves were subjected to, all the trials and tribulations that black people have been through."
But he wanted more than a speech.
"I just hope that there will be follow-up in America's involvement in alleviating the suffering of African people," he said. "Given the crucible we have been through, a lot needs to be done by the American government. In a way, the economic conditions here are still affected by slavery. African leaders must also take their share of the blame, but the legacy of slavery is still with us."
Bush arrived in South Africa last night and will make stops in Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria.
John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com
Article #4)The Root of the Problem
Author(s):Orlando Patterson.
Source:Time 169.19 (May 7, 2007): p58. (887 words)
Jamestown gave birth to a contradiction--a democracy that was committed to slavery
Less than a dozen years after the founding of Jamestown, about 20 Africans from what is now Angola were sold to settlers of the fledgling colony. They found themselves in a raw, chaotic frontier society in which the English settlers were still trying to figure out the best way to survive and turn a profit.
In this unsettled, formative phase, the Africans worked side by side with white indentured servants whose physical hardships and treatment were largely similar to their own. Too much has been made of the fact that manumission, the formal emancipation from slavery, was open to the most resourceful of them, that a few of the manumitted prospered and that blacks and laboring whites interacted on intimate terms. This was typical of nearly all new multiethnic settlements in the Americas. The colony's elite remained committed to indentured white servitude as the backbone of the labor force until at least the middle of the 17th century because indentures were cheaper than African slaves. And since the elite viewed their indentured servants as lazy "salvages"--the very scum of English society not above cannibalism during periods of need and the women little better than prostitutes --it is hardly surprising that no one was especially bothered by the occasional mixed unions.
By the 1660s, the labor equation changed: increased supplies made it cheaper to buy African slaves than white indentures, and the former were also considered less rebellious. The turn toward black slavery did not reduce the inflow of white immigrants, as happened in the sugar islands. Instead, a large white population developed of small and even midsize farmers who relied on their own or nonslave white labor. As the black population grew and increasingly became the labor force of elite whites, both attitudes and laws changed. By 1662 the children of all slave women were declared slaves in perpetuity. Five years later, Christianity ceased to be an obstacle to enslavement, and by 1669 a master could legitimately kill his slave while inflicting punishment. At the same time, the distinction between slave status and indentured servitude was more sharply defined.
But there were two peculiar features of Jamestown's, and more broadly Virginia's, transition to a fully functioning slave society that were to have fateful consequences for black Americans. One was the presumption, by the end of the 17th century, that a black person was a slave. The second was the hostility toward manumission and freed blacks generally, leading to laws requiring freed persons to leave the colony. In all the other slave societies of the hemisphere, including those of the French and British, manumission was not uncommon and resulted in the growth of significant freed nonwhite populations, some of them quite prosperous. Why did Virginia move away from this pattern, especially after its early similarity to other emerging slave regimes?
One reason was the distinctive demographic pattern that began to take shape by the last quarter of the 17th century. Virginia and the other Southern states were the only large-scale slave regimes in which white settlers, committed to the creation of a new social order, remained in the majority and thus had no incentive to create alliances with free blacks or mixed populations. The second reason is offered by Yale historian Edmund Morgan in his celebrated study of Virginia: the elite, fearful of an insurrectionary union of white servants and slaves, actively promoted racism and a racially exclusive popular democracy as a way of dividing and ruling black and white workers. By glorifying whiteness and restricting the electorate to whites, a bond of racial solidarity emerged between all classes of whites predicated on the permanent exclusion of blacks.
So emerged one of the great contradictions in the growth of American democracy. The region with the most vibrant democracy, and the largest electorate, was deeply committed to large-scale slavery and the strong conviction that there was no inconsistency between liberty and slavery. For black Americans the consequences were tragic and lasting. Jamestown's creation instilled in the broader culture the belief that African Americans, even though they were among the earliest arrivals, did not belong to the body politic and were to be permanently excluded from all basic rights of citizenship.
The great achievement of the civil rights revolution was the dismantling of what the inheritors of Jamestown had instituted. Today a black woman fills one of the most powerful political offices after the presidency, and a black man holds serious promise of becoming the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. Whatever the persisting problems of black Americans--many of which, like a fragile family life and the lack of inheritance, also originated in slavery--it is now incontestable that they belong to America as America belongs to them. In this, America stands far above all other multiethnic Western nations. Nonetheless, it cannot, and should never, be forgotten that the racial tragedy that began in Jamestown took more than 350 years to overcome.
85 comments:
I did slavery in Colonial America. I learned that there was many many African slaves that were brought by the Europeans to Jameston, Virginia. They were forced to work as servants to the people of the town to take care of there land etc. They were free to enjoy the liberties and privileges of the "free laboring class." This states that they were free to do anything but they had to work as servants.
I did BUSH CONDEMNS SLAVERY AS ONE OF `GREATEST CRIMES'. This article was about bush stating that slavery was one of the worst crimes ever. He said that "At this place . . . human beings were delivered, and sorted, and weighed, and branded with the marks of commercial enterprises, and loaded as cargo on a voyage without return,". "One of the largest migrations of history was also one of the greatest crimes of history." He rates a good point slavery was not the greatest crime in the worl it would brutal and uncalled for.
I think that America should apologize for African-American slavery. However, there are also good reasons not to apologize. It would be kind of insulting to apologize hundreds of years after it happened. It would be showing African-Americans that we didn't care much about it until recently. But also there are good reasons America should apologize. White Europeans were extremely racist at the time if the first interaction they had with Africans was to enslave them. It was one of the first settlements in the American Colonies and even then we treated them as animals. I think that America should apologize to African slavery in the past because they have never gotten one and it's basically like hurting someone for no apparent reason and never apologizing for doing it.
I chose article #1, Slavery in Colonial America because it had information on where the slaves came from, and where they went. Many went to James Town, VA.
I believe we should apologize for slavery, and all the hurtful things we did to Africans. Yes, there was the Underground Railroad, and that saved some, but not many.
"By the 1650s Africans were commonly sold for life." I don't think that was right because we shouldn't do bad things to people because they're a different race than us. We are all human, and should be treated with respect from everyone.
As Maddie D. said, "Not everyone is going to take this apology as 'forgiving and forgetting,'" but i think we should try to apologize to all the people we hurt. I will personally say, I am sorry.
I am commenting on Article 2. I agree that apologis can do a wonder, but I agree with the author on how this wont do any good. It might settle feelings a little, but how much? The black people who want the apology will be like, "O.K. Good, that is what I wanted to hear. I guess things can be let go." Some black people wont think it is enough. But how much can we give them? And then there will be people who are like, "O.K. Fine, whatever." and carry on with normal life. However, the white people who still believe blacks should be slaves will have a fit if the government officially apologize. This is a wound that is just started to heal. I don't think we should rip it open again and bring oon a flood of problems. Let it be. It is in the past, people will get over it. That is what I think we should do. It is the past, leave it in the past, get over it, but don't forget it.
I read artical #3. I Agree with President Bush how slavery was "The Worst Crime in History". But i have a question why does everybody live in the past? People should worry about whats happening now or what might happen in the future. Yes President Bush should appologize but why is everybody bringing it up now.
I am now commenting on Article 3. I agree with Bush that this was an awful thing. People were treated horribly by other poeple. People that where very much blind and deaf to the voice and face of reason in front of them. I understand what Bush is saying about this being a HUGE crime and a horrible thing, and I agree, but like I said on my last comment, "This is a wound that is just started to heal. I don't think we should rip it open again and bring on a flood of problems. Let it be. It is in the past, people will get over it. That is what I think we should do. It is the past, leave it in the past, get over it, but don't forget it."
I think the first article about colonial America is talking about how the black servants could eventually be free. But we were tought any one who was sould was a slave. So are they slaves or servants? The second article is about how the author thinks that we all ready "had payed the bill" and how if we apolige that it wont bring back a black guy back from jail.
I have read the first 2 articles and I think an apology wouldn't hurt. Yes, white people have down a lot to pay their dues for what they did to the african american commuinty in the past, but no mater what the whites due they can't bring back the people who were lost. They also can't go back and time and fix what they have done. Alot of people's lifes were ruined during the time of slavery and the least the whites can due is simiply apoloigize.
In article #2 they say they think the whites have payed their dues, and there is no reason to apologize for something they have already made up for. I storngly disagree with this I think no matter what we do we can never fully pay are dues for slavery. Even if we did fully made up for what the whites did saying sorry won't hurt.
I agree with Trevor. That is the same question I have. And so I ask you, Nikki, and the people who agree with her, "What about everyone else?" If we apologize for slavery, how will you follow through? Will an "i'm sorry" cut it?
Comment On Article Two:
Apoligies can do wonderous things.
I definately don't agree with when the writer said, "I think White American has already paid that bill as much as it ever will." Because in retrospect, we haven't done all that much to help out the ancestors of people that slaves decades ago. Without them having been slaves, it might be that the Black people would be living the lives we live, and that we would be living the lives they live now, with not much money. In Africa, many people, not only of the Black race, have barely enough money to survive, let alone have clothes they want. "White Americans today bear no responsibility for a sysstem of slavery abolished more than a century ago--even though many White-owned companies and wealthy families can trace their prosperity back through generations to the time when Black people were treated as chattel." I understnad how some people would feel that way. I mean, it was many decades ago, so even with an apology, it wouldn't be apolgizing directly to the people who were slaves. As Eddie said "But honesly is the black community would like a simple I'm sorry then by all means give it to them." Even though it wouldn't be apologizing to the unlucky people to be called slaves back, a long time ago, if the people in the Black community today want an apology, then I don't see why America can't just apologize.
As Cody said, "He rates a good point slavery was not the greatest crime in the worl it would brutal and uncalled for." We have had a whole lot of crimes in the world, but it is not one of the greatest, but it is up there. It is true that is very brutal, and very uncalled for, but that's still no reason to have it happen.
Comment on Article Three:
I agree with how Trevor said, " But i have a question why does everybody live in the past? People should worry about whats happening now or what might happen in the future. Yes President Bush should appologize but why is everybody bringing it up now." Why didn't it come up to apologize for these horrible actions a long time ago? It's more than 400 years later now, and we just now are debating apologizing? That's horrible.
Comment On Article Four:
What Maddie said earlier was right on. " not everyone is going to take this apology as "forgiving and forgetting"." Because even if / when we do apologize, not everyone is going to accept the apology. Because, in American History, there's always issues with as Maddie said, "forgiving and forgetting."
"By 1669 a master could legitimately kill his slave while inflicting punishment."
Wow. There's definately no way to apologize for that. If all of these slaves weren't ever killed, there would be so many more people of the Black race. And if In the first place they hadn't been made slaves, we would all be basically equal in wealth.
"Nonetheless, it cannot, and should never, be forgotten that the racial tragedy that began in Jamestown took more than 350 years to overcome." Even for people who think that America shouldn't apologize for the slavery that happened in the 1600s, they can't deny that we shouldn't forget all that's happened, and that we shouldn't in the least bit feel bad about it.
I think that the African Americans were treated unfairly and were disrespected. I also agree that the Europeans should apologize to the Africans. Article 1 stated, "There were about three hundred Africans in the American colonies, most of whom were indentured servants and some of whom eventually became property holders and active citizens". Which this statement means, is that African Americans worked as slaves for Europeans for some time and then some Africans became property holders. I think that if you’re a different race from others, it doesn’t give you the right to treat people unfairly. In Article 2 it stated, that the Europeans brought pain to the Africans, from slavery. In conclusion, I think that Europeans should apologize to the Africans because the Europeans didn’t have to go through the pain and suffer that the Africans felt.
I read the first 2 articles and thought that America should apologize for slavery because America personally hurt the Africans. Many people feel that America should not apologize for what we did because it would be strange to apologize almost 100 years afterward. Article 1 stated, "And among the common rationalizations for the enslavement of Africans was reference to their non-Christian status; it was asserted that Africans were primitive and savage, and fit for nothing better than a life of unbroken labor." I believe that slavery is wrong and to make Africans live their lives as slaves and be treated this way is unnecessary. Africans may be different than we are, but it doesn’t give us the right to mistreat them. Article 2 stated, “They say Black people have already received apologies for slavery through affirmative action programs and welfare--two initiatives that historically benefit White women more than Black people.” I think everyone should apologize because we didn’t have to go through the pain and suffering that they did.
Bush had a point about "one of the greatest crimes of history." He also said that "One of the largest migrations of history was also one of the greatest crimes of history." It is sad that people were shipped out of their homes only to be treated as dogs and forced to do what they were told. I think that Bush had a point and we should apologize.
Bush had a point about "one of the greatest crimes of history." He also said that "One of the largest migrations of history was also one of the greatest crimes of history." It is sad that people were shipped out of their homes only to be treated as dogs and forced to do what they were told. I think that Bush had a point and we should apologize.
I also beleve that in general are bigger problems. There are Fathers, Sons, Brothers and uncles,even sisters dieing every day fighting for us then you have rising taxes and rising gas prices and america is worring about the past. The african- american race should be some what thankful for the english, otherwise they wouldn't be living in america or at least until recent. So there are many cons and very little pros but stillsome pros the people should be thankful for. No one ever thinks about how life is better.
I read article 2 and 3. I think that if people keep thinking about what our ansestors did 200 years ago that we can't worry about what is happening now like global warming, crazy high gas prices and the war that is getting more deadly by the week. so if we just thik what happend befor our time we are just ruining our future. what is done is done and there isn't any thing we can do about it but give all slave decendandents millions of dollers but that would be suicide.
I read articles #1 and #2. After reading these I have mixed thoughts about the apology to the slaves. I do think that we owe them an apology, but I also think that it has been so long since the actual slavery act happened, that it wouldn't be worth anything if we did apologize. Apologizing may just make situations worse. They didn't actually witness the Slave Act but their ancestors may have. By us saying sorry to them will it really mean anything to them.....? Will they really think that we mean what we say? Will they just find more fault in us? If it was closer to the date when it really happened it may be worth saying sorry to them..... But actions speak louder than words. If we did something to help them in their sate now that may take the difference of our ethnic background and make them not so much of a problem to be difference that would majorly help us. We don't have the problem of slavery now, and I hope we don't have it at any point now! Now that we do have a working class, we don't have someone who is so much, doing the work for the others, we are more the same. This does help the fact, but some people who per say are not “White” feel that there is some racism. With certain jobs, some people think that they are not taken for the job because of their race, but it is because of different reasons, some people to me now a day are over reacting.
I read article #1, #2, #4. After reading these I understand what the dilemma is. Whites don't want to apologize because they think that blacks don't need an apology. This generation of blacks weren't in the slave trade and had nothing to do with slavery. But blacks think they deserve an apology because their ancestors were treated harshly and poorly and because of that they don't have much land or nice places to live. I don't believe that either of these is true, but there is one sentence that I do think is true. At the very end of article #4 it says "Nonetheless, it cannot, and should never, be forgotten that the racial tragedy that began in Jamestown took more than 350 years to overcome." We should never forget it but apologizing wouldn't solve the poverty that some blacks are facing right now. Nothing the white people of America will do for the blacks will be accepted as enough. White people can try but nothing is going to solve their problems. In article #2 it says, "As any cuckolded spouse will tell you, an apology doesn't mean much if you don't right the wrong you caused in the first place." Except for the cuckolded spouse part this is exactly what is going on in the US.
So, I believe that the white's should apologize for slavery but in a different way than just saying, "I'm sorry." White America should make better schools in inner cities and make more job opportunities for those who might have done some wrong things in the past and can change what they did.
I read 3 and 4 of the articles. I think that bush had a great point that slavery was one of the greatists crimes. I also think it was good for him to take a trip to goree island i also think his quote about what happend at that place was very meaningfull. In the 4th article i found it quite amazing that the first succusesful english settlement we started bringing in slaves.
I don't think that the U.S. government should apologize for slavery. It would be a nice thing to do but a simple "We are sorry" wouldn't do much to help anything. Instead the government should take action to make things better for black people and promote stopping racism. Anyways the majority of the black people in America now don't know what it was like being a slave because they didn't go through that time period. So what is an apology going to do? It is horrible that something like slavery happened but I think the government should spend their time trying to make things better instead of just saying sorry.
I read articles 1,4.
I think that there is absolutly nothing wrong with apologising to the country for slavery. I can see that the first 20 africans came in 1619, but they were not slaves. They were just indentured servants that were basically free people that were poor laboring class. People dont realize that slavery didn't start until about 1650. Most people didn't even buy slaves because it was cheaper to pay the white europeans. In article 4 it says that James town was the first to start slavery. And in the 1660's slaves beca me much cheaper and much popular. At that time they weren't any better than the canibals because they weren't christian. A yale historian actually promoted racism and the thought of ruling over the blacks to the american white workers.
I know that this was all very wrong to do and very mean and is worth an apolligy.
I read the articles on eand two and the first article states that the first african americans brought to the country were only brought to the country so they could work and improve the town. But after a while of being in America the black slaves started to have babies and the first American born African American was William Tuckerit started to create controversy.
Also talking about article 2 we cannot live in regret we have to be able to forgive each other and ourselves so yes a simple hey I’m sorry could put a tiny bit back in the big hole we have dug
I read articles 1 and 4 I think that we should apologize for slavery so that we can get forgiveness from all Africans. I am surprised that the first Africans weren't slaves for their whole life. i wonder why they made them into slaves. I didn't relive that slavery started until 1650 and that most people didn't have them because it was cheaper to get laborers. In my next article it said slavery really started in 1669 they were allowed to kill there slaves for stupid reasons. I agree with Ava when she said "Nonetheless, it cannot, and should never, be forgotten that the racial tragedy that began in Jamestown took more than 350 years to overcome."
I read articles #1 and #2. I think apologizing for slavery would be a good thing to do, but because it was so long ago they might not take the apology serious. In the second article it says, “On matters of race, it is the one itch we cannot scratch; the stone in our shoe that does not go away, no matter how much we shake." I think that means it doesn’t how much we mean we are sorry for what happens and how much people may apologize for what happened it will never clear the air. I agree with Mathi when she says white people have not payed their dues. She says that even if we did make up for what the whites have done it doesn’t hurt to say sorry. You cannot go back in time and stop what has happened but we can make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Cody your article is awesome, I agree with what you say but just not "as you would say" ur spelling and yes I believe we should not be living in the past and be focused on what’s in front of us.
In article two was about how finally white people thought they should start apolagizing about slavery that happened over 400 years ago. I think that starting ti apolagizing right now was the wrong thing to do because if it happened along time ago and they just now decide to start aapologizing I think it would affend the black people very much because of all the heartache they had to go through just to live in a land were u were free. I just dont agree with the article.
As Trevor said I have a question why does everybody live in the past? Everyone shouldn’t live in the past they should pay attention to what’s in front of them then what’s behind them life shouldn’t always be about apologies focus on your life how you’re going to live it and just live it. Trevor made a really good point.
I read articles 1 and 2.I read article 1 and I learned that the slaves were indentured servents. I don't know what that means. I found it all interesting to read. I did not know any of this infomation. I read article 2 and it talks about saying I'm sorry for slavery. I agree with this article because in the article it states "One look at South Africa and Ireland shows the value of a well-placed "I'm sorry," even after decades of conflict.
I read articles three and four. In article three, it discusses how president Bush went to the point of no return in Africa and came very close to apologising for slavery. Any apology In my opinion, is better than none. Apologising for something that his ancestors might or might not have done is nothing to be ashamed of.President Bush should (with all do respect to him) just spit it out. But as Eddie said, an apology might not cut it.
I read article one and two, and when I read the second article there is no way to take back what we have done what we had put them through there is no way to apologize for something that bad. It’s worth a try to say sorry but it happened so long ago what make you want to bring it up now. When I read the first article when those Europeans just go to Africa like that and take people from their homes just because they don’t have the same colored skin? What they put them through is horrible it’s just like slapping them all in the face. What if they came to our homes and took our family and friends how would we feel. But as I said about the second article, there is no way to apologize for what we have done
I read the first 2 articles, and agree that a simple “I’m sorry” could not hurt anybody, but also you must take in consideration that apologizing for just that might not do it. America it’s self without even knowing it is very segregating. Like it said in article 2 there are areas all over that are heavily populated with African Americans. These parts are not the richest parts and often don’t have as high quality resources. So apologizing for what our ancestors did 400 years ago will not cover it. In order to really apologize to African Americans we would have to change our entire country, and I think that would be difficult. But honestly is the black community would like a simple “I'm sorry” then by all means give it to them.
Hi Guys! I'm on my lunch break at my workshop and I was just reading a few of your comments. Great job! Keep it up and remember to proofread the best you can.
After reading articles one and two I do not think that the US government should apologize because it was not a nationwide problem. Slavery was not nationwide making the government not be a part of it. I think that it would be the right thing to apologize only if everyone and every state were involved but since that was not the case I don't think that they should apologize for what was not involved in this whole nation. I think things happen for a reason so then what had happened in the past had taught us and others that everybody is equal and equal in their own ways. So then I believe that slavery has taught us something that we cannot fix what happened in the past but we should focus on what happened in the present. We should not apologize for something we did not do or taken part in. The government should not sympathize for others actions in the past.
I read article number one. I think that what the Europeans did to the african americans was terrible. They treated them like property and like they were not human. If you are "buying" people and treating them like dogs because of the color of their skin you are a very ignorant and should have what you do to others done to you. I do not understand why the Europeans acted like they were supurior. They were not superior mentally or phisically they just believed they were. When you discriminate against another person you must put yourself in their position and imagine what you would feel like in their shoes.
I read article #1. I think that it was wrong to believe that the Africans are less than us and have little or no rights. I don't understand even today why people thought blacks were no good and were like a belonging and it was all up to the whites to decide what to do with them, also I don’t know why they are racist by skin color no one is too light or too dark or no one is perfectly white, how did they feel about us. In the article it states that "by the 1650's Africans were commonly sold for life" and what I don't understand is how skin color has something to do with the persons standards and what their life is going to be like.
I also read article #2. I think that if we were to apologize it wouldn’t be the right thing. I think that since the government and the people are having difficulty deciding what to do if they should apologize or not, and because of this I think that if they did apologize they wouldn’t really mean it and that would offend the black people and make it harder for the angry ones to forgive us creating just another problem for us to apologize and make this just a bigger mess. Also I believe that if they were to apologize for segregation it would put more racism upon them and they might take it offensive because you are taking pity upon them and they might feel of a lesser person. “On matters of race, it is the one itch we cannot scratch; the stone in our shoe that does not go away, no matter how much we shake.
Slavery.” I chose this quote because the things that our ancestors have done to the Africans ancestors can never be erased and there are no words that we can say to make to=hem forgive us and to tell them how much we wish it never happened because it was already done and nothing can be changed with the way they think of us.
I read articles two and three. For article three, I believe that when Jobe said that it is still the sane America, It literally is, but it isn't. America has become a better country since slavery. The country learned that it is wrong. I also think that Bush wants to apologize now so he will get more support from the African American part of the country. For article two, I believe that when the article asks if an apology will pull more black people out of jail, I think that it wouldn't. The apology wouldn't really change anything. It also asks if it will turn a black run down neighborhood into a working middle-class town, I think it wouldn't do that either. It is just something that someone says and not something that is being done. An apology will not stop people from doing bad things. I don't think we should apologize.
I read both articles 1 and 2. The articles mentioned apologizing for slavery, and how the four states of Alabama, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina have already apologized. Everyone is fully aware that slavery took place a long time ago, how horrible it was, and that it is illegal and no longer remains in the United States. In my opinion, apologizing for slavery would not be enough. African Americans have faced segregation and discrimination ever since they arrived in the United States. Slavery, which probably takes up most of the problem, still does not include all the other ways which blacks have been treated. Many people put African Americans in groups, or stereotypes, believing that all of them will commit a crime, or murder someone. Imagine being an innocent person with darker skin walking down a street to see women staring you down, holding their possessions near her and seeing store owners keeping a close eye on you. That is why I think apologizing just for slavery isn't enough, and that we should apologize for all the segregation, and discrimination, and ways that we have been treating African Americans and stop treating them the way we have been.
I read the first and the second article, after reading the articles i have different ideas about apologizing. I still believe that an apology would be nice, but it'd be nicer if we could go back and apologize to the actual people would be meaning much more then to the people today. No matter what slavery is wrong and we should apologize and regret what we did, today African-Americans are still probably upset about what happened and have to deal with racism still up to today.
I read the second article. "On matters of race, it is the one itch we cannot scratch; the stone in our shoe that does not go away, no matter how much we shake." I think that is a very strong quote from article 2. It's practically saying if we say that if we apologize for the slavery it’s still not going to go away. The black people are excepting for something. For example, they could be expecting some extra money to help pay for all the segregated schools that need extra money. There’s really nothing we can do to take back all the problems we have caused for the African Americans and all the slaves.
I also read article one. I don’t understand why people were being sold just by the color of their skin. Now a day that would be preposterous. Still today African Americans are treated different just because of their skin color. They aren’t ay worse than the white people. Many people say more black people are under WANTED and criminals. I feel that's because more people feel the need to watch black people than white people, so that means the black people get caught in the crime and the white people can get await so easily.
I don't think we need an apology and I agree with article 2. It talks about how White America has already apologized enough. If we apologize, blacks will just think that we feel sorry for them, or that we are just saying sorry to get the load of guilt off our backs. In the article, the author states that apologizing will not get more young Black men out of prison, or get more of them through college. An important statement in this article that really stood out to me was "action stops at the apology" which followed the fact that insitutions, such as insurance companies that profited form the policies on slaves and newspapers which undercovered and miscovered the Civil Rights Movement, have apologized already for their past inequities connected to slavery and Jim Crow. We have already apologized enough for our part. An apology will not help suffering blacks in any physical way. This article says it all. An apology would be pointless. As said in the article " And insisting on more seems less about healing or progress and more about Black people basking in White folk's guilt and shame." I do think that slavey was a horendous and cruel time of Blacks suffering and laboring for no reason at all, just that Whites were full of themselves and selfish. But that is all in the past, and what may be happening to Blacks isn't exactly from the past incident, but from their lack of care or financial problems, etc. Even some of today's Whites are having problems, and their descendents weren't even enslaved. We need to help those Blacks in need (not that they're the only ones), but an apology will not do any good. Bye!!!!!!!
Comment on article 1:
This article was very informing.
This article said that that the first African Americans in Virginia were not slaves but servants, they were free to rome around as they pleased and some of them even got to own thier own land, houses and some even had servents of thier own. Before I read this article I thought that the first African Americans in Virginia were all slaves. So this article taught me alot.
I read the first one and I think that it will do nothing to what's happening now and not back when they had slaves. the people who can trace slavery because just some money and a sorry does not get rid of racism and the fact that most people in the African race would not want money or a sorry to what was happened to them.
September 28, 2007 12:43 PM
I thought it was sad how the Africans were shipped out of their homes just be treated badly. I think that they were treated like dogs or treated like horses. I was wondering about when it said in article one that they had to work for as long as the contract said. I wanted to know if some of them had a choice because it said that they had to work by their contracts. In a way I think an apology would work and sometimes I think it wouldn’t work. I think it wouldn’t work because how bad they were treated and there was no reason for it only because a man didn’t want to do his work. In some ways it would be ok if u treated them right and paid them and didn’t whip them and just treated them right.
Every ones comments are great
articles 1 &2
Saying that you are sorry for slavery isn't going to change what happened in the past. What is done is done. To take people that have different colored skin away from their families, to become slaves is cruel. What we have done is permanent its done and it was terrifying. All of those poor african americans suffered, and an apology would be like wip lash all over again. It would be like someone pushing someone infront of a moving vehicle and saying sorry for it. Its really just making matters worse!
Comment on Article 2 :
This article made me think a lot about whether or not we should apologize for slavery.
should the US government apologize for slavery? :
Reading these articles makes me think that the government should apologize for slavery. But I don’t get why we are apologizing for it now and not when it was actually going on? I'm split between these two reasons, and I can’t make up my mind.
I read the first and second article, and I do not believe we should apologize, we could but it wouldn’t make much sense to. I think that we have taken too long to apologize in the first place, so there's really no point to do it now. If we could go back in time and apologize it would mean much more to them, but now it probably wouldn’t mean as much to them now. What’s done is done, there’s nothing we can do about it now. Although it was sad, frightening, torturous, and crude, sadly we can’t do anything to stop people out there that are still racist, the only thing we can do is talk, and hope they’ll listen.
I feel that what Carson said was true and I’m think that what u said made sense and what eddie said made a lot of sense to
Marissa awesome comment I totally agree with you we did take too long to apologize. Its too late now. whats done is done!
~alexa~
I read articles # 1 and 2. I found it surprising that Africans were sold for life by the 1950s. I agree with Eddie that a simple” I am sorry” would make a difference. Even though there probably would be some people who would be angry they would only start apologizing now instead of when it ended.
I also agree with Vince. If the Europeans did not treat the Africans so horribly the entire slavery point in history. They might won’t to give them something with their I’m sorry for all that they did.
I read the first 2 articles, and agree that saying “I’m sorry” could not hurt anybody, but also you must take into consideration that apologizing is just a couple of simple words. I don't think apologizing for slavery would be enough. African Americans have faced segregation and discrimination ever since they arrived in the United States. Honestly, if the black community would like a simple “I'm sorry” then we should give it to them.
Wow ava long comment but i agree with you :D
I think that we do not need to apoligize any more than we have. We can't change what we have done in the past and we can't change racism in the world. I think that it was bad what we did in the past but we can't change that, so I think that we do not need to apoligize becasuae we have apoligized enough.
Slavery was a wrong doing done by white people; it's as simple as that. So why haven't we apologized as a nation for this blasphemy. What exactly is the holdup? What could possibly stop people from apologizing? Well some people think they're not responsible and there right. But there great grandma or grandpa are and Ever think that some descendants of slaves don’t care who apologizes for who, they might just want an apology. The government was a big part of slavery, making it legal and all, so why should the government not apologize officially. Basically, it happened, its true and people are literally debating if we should APOLOGIZE. If I’m the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous that we can’t just apologize and get it over with I would like to hear some reasons. We don’t have to pay them for the past right away we could offer it over time. Ever think that some of them just want an apology? HOw can you possibly apologize enough for more than 100 years of slavery. how can you even think that america has even come close to apologizing fully. Is there even any way America has apologized? Even if an apology was not due, who would be stuck up enough to refuse to apologize and just end this.
I read article #1. I learned that first slaves were brought to James Town as servants. They weren’t slaves but indentured servants. By 1650 there were more than 300 colonies of Africans. I think that nobody should think that African Americans are any less important than us. I also read #2. I don’t agree with this article. I think that it would help a lot of people feel better about America and maybe feel better about themselves. It might not pull more young black men from prison, or get more of them through high school and college but it could help a lot of people. I understand that on certain occasions some people might feel like all they get is an apology I do agree with them that they should get more but an apology is a step in the right direction.
Alexas is very true. She stated alot of right points in what she said, " what we have done is perminate, its done and it was terrifying."
Marissa your comment is so true, I totally agree with you! :D
I think apologizing is not necessary like article 2 suggests. To some it would not faze them. They would not even think of accepting it because white people think they can make up for four hundred year of mistreatment and we think we can apologize in one apology. To make up for it maybe we should be slaves and get back what we dished out. As article 2 stated one person will always have there opinions. Basically I am saying it is too late for word. What will really buy the back totally is action.
Brendan Welsh
I read the first 2 articles There’s really nothing we can do to take back all the problems we have caused for the African Americans and all the slaves.
An apology is not need because it to late. It was a long time ago and apologies should have been given a long time ago; not today. Slavery shouldn't have happened at all. Skin color should not matter; a person is a person and people have feelings.
After reading articles one and two I was torn both ways. Article one made me say, “Well of course we should apologize, what our ancestors did was awful.” However after reading article two there is a major point proven. Apologizing isn’t going to change Black’s lives. It will not “pull more young Black men from prison, or get more of them through high school and college,” it won’t “curb the alarming tide of AIDS in Black communities or bring Black fathers back into their children's lives.”
After reading article one I felt that the U.S. government shouldn’t apologize because it wasn’t their fault there was slavery. I thought that the U.S. as a whole should apologize; and not only with words but with actions. We take credit for what our ancestors did, but we won’t take the blame for what they did, and that is what bothers me. We can take credit, and benefit from what our relatives before us did, but we can’t take the blame, and apologize for all the agony and conflict that was inflicted upon blacks during the time of our ancestors. The words from article one that support my opinion are: “From the 1640s Africans were increasingly regarded as chattel (or persons regarded as fixed items of personal property).” I don’t think that anyone should be property of another. We are all human, and we all know what it’s like to be forced to do things against our will, and to be talked down to a bossed around occasionally, but we don’t know what it was like to have to do everything you were told to every second of your life. Slaves didn’t know what it was like to have the opportunity to actually do something for themselves, they were living the labor of someone else. Another passage from article one that supports my opinion is: “The erosion of African indentured servitude in Maryland was finalized with the slave law of 1663, which stated specifically that "All negroes or other slaves within the province, [and] all negroes to be hereafter imported, shall serve [for their whole lives]." Can you imagine if we had a law forcing everyone to spend their whole life serving someone else? I can’t imagine being forced to live in the shadow of someone else as their slave, and being treated like I was dirt. I think that slavery in general was awful, but after reading one reason that slavery was considered practical from article one I was completely disgusted and was blow away at the racism. The passage read: “One practical reason for this system was that slaves of African origin could be more easily detected than whites should they escape.” Another racist belief about Africans that I think is the same belief of those who are racist against blacks today is from Article one. It says: It was asserted that Africans were primitive and savage, and fit for nothing better than a life of unbroken labor.
After reading Article two however, I felt that the intention to apologize was a good one, but it wouldn’t help the world come together, and move on. As said in article two, “In America action stops at the apology.” I believe this to be true and that is why I believe that an apology wouldn’t benefit anyone. So considering the articles that I read I believe the words “I’m sorry.” don’t truly mean anything. Actions speak louder than words, and if we are truly sorry then we will do something to prove that we support our apology, and are ready to help those affected by slavery. And so I believe that these words from article two sum up what I think “An apology doesn't mean much if you don't right the wrong you caused in the first place.” If we apologize, then we have to follow up that apology with actions. Just think if your life was affected by slavery what would you want? Maybe if everyone asks their selves that question we can right the wrongs and start of new.
This is a revised comment. I didn't know how to delete my other one.
After reading articles one and two I was torn both ways. Article one made me say, “Well of course we should apologize, what our ancestors did was awful.” However after reading article two there is a major point proven. Apologizing isn’t going to change Black’s lives. It will not “pull more young Black men from prison, or get more of them through high school and college,” it won’t “curb the alarming tide of AIDS in Black communities or bring Black fathers back into their children's lives.”
After reading article one I felt that the U.S. government shouldn’t apologize because it wasn’t their fault there was slavery. I thought that the U.S. as a whole should apologize; and not only with words but with actions. We take credit for what our ancestors did, but we won’t take the blame for what they did, and that is what bothers me. We can take credit, and benefit from what our relatives before us did, but we can’t take the blame, and apologize for all the agony and conflict that was inflicted upon blacks during the time of our ancestors. The words from article one that support my opinion are: “From the 1640s Africans were increasingly regarded as chattel (or persons regarded as fixed items of personal property).” I don’t think that anyone should be property of another. We are all human, and we all know what it’s like to be forced to do things against our will, and to be talked down to and bossed around occasionally, but we don’t know what it was like to have to do everything you were told to every second of your life. Slaves didn’t know what it was like to have the opportunity to actually do something for themselves, they were living the labor of someone else. Another passage from article one that supports my opinion is: “The erosion of African indentured servitude in Maryland was finalized with the slave law of 1663, which stated specifically that "All negroes or other slaves within the province, [and] all negroes to be hereafter imported, shall serve [for their whole lives]." Can you imagine if we had a law forcing everyone to spend their whole life serving someone else? I can’t imagine being forced to live in the shadow of someone else as their slave, and being treated like I was dirt. I think that slavery in general was awful, but after reading one reason that slavery was considered practical from article one I was completely disgusted and was blow away at the racism. The passage read: “One practical reason for this system was that slaves of African origin could be more easily detected than whites should they escape.” Another racist belief about Africans that I think is the same belief of those who are racist against blacks today is from Article one. It says: It was asserted that Africans were primitive and savage, and fit for nothing better than a life of unbroken labor.
After reading Article two however, I felt that the intention to apologize was a good one, but it wouldn’t help the world come together, and move on. As said in article two, “In America action stops at the apology.” I believe this to be true and that is why I believe that an apology wouldn’t benefit anyone. So considering the articles that I read I believe the words “I’m sorry.” don’t truly mean anything. Actions speak louder than words, and if we are truly sorry then we will do something to prove that we support our apology, and are ready to help those affected by slavery. And so I believe that these words from article two sum up what I think “An apology doesn't mean much if you don't right the wrong you caused in the first place.” If we apologize, then we have to follow up that apology with actions. Just think if your life was affected by slavery what would you want? Maybe if everyone asks themselves that question we can right the wrongs and start of new.
Article number four, The Root of the Problem, had a lot of information about the time of the Civil War & times when salves were common in US households.
My stand in this question is that everyone is being discriminated against, even if it's not about race. When the U.S. Government apologizes about slavery- if they decide to -not everyone is going to agree, and not everyone is going to take this apology as "forgiving and forgetting". Apologizing is the right thing to do when you do something wrong. But doing something this wrong deserves more than an apology. Saying sorry is definitely the right thing to do, no matter who agrees & who doesn`t, and who doesn’t forget, because we know no one will.
No one is going to forget, because no matter how many years after this apology- if we decide to do so -no one is going to ever have a time when they don't know there were slaves in the US mroe than 300 years ago, as this article states "Nonetheless, it cannot, and should never, be forgotten that the racial tragedy that began in Jamestown took more than 350 years to overcome.", as Alexander and Ava had agreed on, too.
When I read article two, An Apology of Slavery, I disagreed when they had said, “But when it comes to slavery, I think White America has already paid that bill as much as it ever will. And insisting on more seems less about healing or progress and more about Black people basking in White folks' guilt and shame.” I agreed, although, when they had said, “Will a slavery apology pull more young Black men from prison, or get more of them through high school and college? Will it curb the alarming tide of AIDS in Black communities or bring Black fathers back into their children's lives?” Even though that is opposing my position to apologize, they do have a point. Apologizing won’t do anything to help those issuses. However, the U.S government should apologize, because I think that it is always a good thing to apologize when you do something wrong.
I read the first two articles, and agree and disagree that the U.S government should apologize for slavery. For the first article I agree with Nikki that it was wrong to treat people as property and believe that people could sell other people, when everybody is equal. I think it is amazing how there were 300 Africans in the American colonies within 31 years (1619-1650). To me its hard to belive that there were twenty Africans in the American colonies in 1619, then by 1659 there were 300! Also it's even more scary to think that most of those Africans were slaves. In the second article it said, "In America action often stops at an apoligy." I agree and disagree with this statement. I disagree because it may be to late to apolagize, and not all the people will forgive the U.S government. I also agree, becuase i think apolagizing is the right thing to do even if some people dont forgive. But, most of the black people these days werent around back then, and didn't experience slavery, so how could they accept the apology? Also none of the white Americans these days were around when the black people were being enslaved, so how can we speak out for people that made the wrong decision many years ago? I think it would be nice if the U.S could be forgivin, but I also think it's not going to happen any time soon.
In article four, it explains how Jamestown started slavery in the U.S. and how that stayed with us for a long time. Becuase of that first shipload of twenty Africans, so many things went wrong here. Segregation and the civil war were a result of slavery. But even though it was so bad, we have started to recover. Africans Americans have the same rights as the people whose ancestors came here from England hundreds of years ago and they have the same rights as someone who came here from China or maybe Mexico only a few years ago. In my opinion, America can still improve, but we are doing a lot better than we were when slavery started in Jamestown.
I read article #1. I don't think that we should apologize for the wrong of our ancestors. I also think that people shouldn't get all upset with US, because of that. and I think that those people that are mad at us should understand that it was such a poor fault that had happend. I think that the last couple sentences explain alot such as," ...among the common rationalizations for the enslavement of Africans was reference to their non-Christian status; it was asserted that Africans were primitive and savage, and fit for nothing better than a life of unbroken labor. Even after African Americans became Christianized, their slave status was not altered; in 1667 the Virginia legislature enacted a statute which proclaimed that "baptism doth not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom."
-Alana
I read article #2. I do agree that an apology wouldnt hurt but I also think that black people do not really care about the actual apology anymore they just want to hear white people tell them they are sorry. If you apologize once and admit you are wrong what will change the next time you say it. An apology can only do so much, like they said it won't help black people's schools, families or criminals, or bad neighbornoods. Black people and white people need to put the past behind them and get over it. If 5 year olds can do something wrong, apologize and forgive each other why can't grown americans do the same. We will never live in a perfect world or community where everyone gets along but we can try to get along and live like civil people.
In article #4 it says, "Nonetheless, it cannot, and should never, be forgotten that the racial tragedy that began in Jamestown took more than 350 years to overcome." I think that this is a very powerful and meaningful quote. To me, it does not make any sense at all why the blacks would even give a thought in forgiving the whites. I also think that there should be absolutley no controversy between the blacks and whites today since we did not do anything to eachother. We do no have the right to speak out for our ancestors actions and bad decisions. Although, we may think what the whites did was wrong we cannot do anything about becuase what's done is done. I'm not saying that the U.S government shouldn't apologize for slavery, but i think it would be kind of pointless. Saying "I'm sorry," doesn't really mean anything, especially when the people saying it don't even know what they're saying sorry for, since they weren't even there to actually experience what happened.
Articles #1 & #2- I think that apologizing for slavery is pointless. An apology does not do anything to help the black population with its problems. An apology is empty, like the author of article #2 said, "...an apology doesn't mean much if you don't right the wrong you caused in the first place." Also, I feel that many blacks are very bitter about slavery, however, they weren't there being a slave, they don't really know what it is like to be a slave, so why do they need an apology. I think that slavery is a horrible thing, but the people we should really be apologizing to are those who had to live through the horrors that we caused them. Also, no white people today had a hand in doing these things to slaves. It was our ancestors who enslaved the blacks, and no matter how much we would like to erase what our ancestors did, it is not going to happen. I think that no matter what, the horrors of slavery can never be erased or forgotten. Though some blacks blame slavery as the root of the problems they are facing today, I disagree. I think that they are just using that as an excuse, some of them have just decided that they can never get over what was done to their ancestors, so they have made bad decisions. So, the U.S government should have their actions speak louder than words. They shouldn't apologize, but do something to help the blacks.
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