Over nine years ago, June 2009, the Government (Senate and House of Representatives) passed a resolution to apologize for slavery and the subsequent Jim Crow laws that deprived African Americans of the freedom granted to others under the law. Rep. Steven Cohen, D-TN, stated in his speech that slavery existed in one form or another up until World War II through chattel slavery and convict leasing. He referenced the book “Slavery by Another Name” by Douglass Blackman which details how the cotton and mining industries in the Deep South made money with the cheap convict labor. The State of Alabama gained considerable wealth through leasing out their convicts many of which were arrest for unpaid debts, loitering, and misdemeanor offenses. The Jim Crow segregation laws continued to steal the lives of Africa Americans until at least 1965 with the passage of the Civil Rights Legislation.
The U.S. has apologized five times for their actions:
1. Harboring a Nazi War Criminal. Top U.S. Army officials kept the location of the Barber of Lyon (Klaus Barbie) in secret. The Government of France filed charges against the U.S. and his location was discovered. The U.S. apologized in 1983 for illegal action.
2. Interment of Japanese Americans during World War II. President Ronald Regan wrote a formal apology to each person interned in the internment camp during World War III and also made reparations of $20,000 for each in 1988.
3. The Kingdom of Hawaii. In 1893, several American Born businessmen plot with the help of the U.S. Marines to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii in an effort to make the land ripe to become a U.S. territory. The Government apologized for their role in the takeover in 1993.
4. Tuskegee Experiment. The Nazis are not the only ones to perform unethical experiments on people. Starting in 1932, doctors working at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama experiment with men infected with syphilis without their knowledge and permission. The experiments lasted for 40 years when they were intended to be only six months. During this time, the men received food, medical treatment, and a free funeral for their participation. Each man thought he was receiving treatment for the disease but was instead being watch for the effects of long term syphilis infection. President Bill Clinton apologized for the Governments part in the project in 1997 and paid a total of $10 million in reparations.
5. Slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws. The U.S. Government apologized for slavery and Jim Crow segregation. Earlier, the Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Alabama, Maryland, and North Carolina have also expressed remorse for slavery through legislative review.
a. Was this apology enough?
b. Does this start the conversation on reparations?
c. Why did it take so long to get an apology?
d. Do you think that the effects of slavery is in the past?