Florida apologizes for its role in slavery

Wow, this is amazing I bet this will rile up Pat Buchanan and his ilk that say that the descendants should be grateful for the way their ancestors were treated and hauled here and that this is the land of golden opportunities where the color of you skin is not nor hasn't been an issue since slavery was abolished. I wonder how this went down along party lines? Since the GOP had no problem saying that the country was wrong in how it treated the Japanese citizens of this country in WWII but, that blacks should just get over it since it was all those years ago and that we should just feel lucky it happened.

Let me be the first to apologize for the decisions that my great, great grandchildren will make. This would be just as ridiculous as my apologizing for decisions my great, great grandparents made. The next thing we need to consider is whether to apologize to England for the American revolution. It seems to me that the Florida legislator have much more important thing to do than continue to beat a dead horse. The Florida Legislators have voted to change the state song because the word "Plantation" is mentioned in a verse. It seems to me the people who are so overly sensitive should be the ones to apologize and the adjust their behavior. I am certain that some of my ancestors were slave owners. I'm sure that if I had lived at that time, with the understanding they had. I would have owned slaves also. People make decisions based upon information available to them at the time. No man starts the day with, "I think I'll make bad decisions today." If people continue to try to alter our history there will be no referance for future decisions.

Okay, Charles Ingram. Your comments are nothing short of absurd. Time doesn't change people, people change people. Thomas Jefferson would agree. Reads Notes on Virginia, especially the part where he admits that slavery will divide and potentially destroy America. Check out William Faulkner's Abasalom, Abasalom, where he delves into the problems that denying black humanity creates for white people. Check out MLK's letter from the Birmingham Jail or W.E.B. Dubois Souls of Black Folk. Or you could read Henry David Thoreau. We live in an anti-intellectual environment that is radically informed by white privilege. Thus, all comments, legitimate or otherwise, that engage the problems of black oppression are dismissed by most whites as trivialize. The simply fact is that white people are the majority, at least for the time being, and thus can ignore the oppressions of others. But as the prophet-intellectual James Baldwin's reminds us in the fire next time, this willful blindness comes at a high cost to whites. Nobody maintains power forever. The political reality is that oppressed groups are routinely forced to shoulder the burden of their own oppression. Whites think blacks whom they continue to disenfranchise and oppress are chiefly responsibly for resolving the problems of racism. Men think that women are responsible for ending sexism. Straight folks think that gays are responsible for ending homophobia, etc. So, Charles, your comments are not terribly original, and certainly not profound, they simply prove that you have internalized a victimizer mindset. But, again, you speak for the white majority and I'm confident that you'll ignore this response as well. After all, you have the privilege to do so. For now anyway.

Thanks ikeepsitreal for your response to ignorance, plain ignorance....I don't care what anyone says our people deserve reparations for the labor of our descendants. Hell, there would be no America like this America had it not been for those African citizens taken from their homeland, stripped of their identities and languages, torned from their families and brought to foreign soil to satify the white mans greed. Nothing has to date satified the injustice we as a people have experienced in this nation called America. The government should take responsibility for its actions and stop placing these issues under the rug. They will not cease.

http://www.jewwatch.com/jew-atrocities-slaves-jewish-slave-ship-owners.html So, my fellow White Gentile American, there is nothing whatsoever to feel guilty about concerning slavery and it is time to quit apologizing for something others are responsible for. Besides, approximately six hundred thousand White soldiers died in the American Civil War. Have you ever heard of Blacks paying homage to or thanking these men?

Wow, Brianne. Excusing the generational racism that resulted from slavery with anti-Semitism. That has to be a new low. You know what would make me believe that you are REALLY interested in the abolishment of all things racists? When you stop thinking of me and referring to me as "black" and you start thinking of me and referring to me as simply "American."

I wonder who is going to apologize to the victims of black criminals? By the way, we didn't 'tear' you from your families, your fellow black Africans did that. You are aware that Whites didn't invade Africa, and then take slaves, right? We bought and sold what was being bought and sold, slaves, from black Africans. Your kind was only too willing to sell its captured enemies/criminals/etc to us. Slavery is still alive and well today in the non-White World. I find it amusing that Whites are somehow blamed for "slavery," when in fact, Whites were the FIRST TO ABOLISH SLAVERY, which was, and is, part of the human condition and not limited to any one race preying on another, at least until the WHITE MAN ended his own practice. How many wars were fought in Africa to end slavery? Zero. This is why you can still buy slaves in Africa today, from BLACK AFRICANS, and in parts of the Orient/ME. Whine some more, groid.

Brianne is one of the few that live in a fantasy world, and, probably enjoys Civil War reenactments and, is one of the first to say there is no such thing as racism and that there were never any slaves in the USA. You take these people and pity them, since they were raised with the idea that hatred of people who are different is a family value, and, slavery was a good thing, beatings and rape of women included.

By the way, I'd bet my deed to my house that "SonofBaldwin" and "Transition1" are some high yeller house nigs that are about as black as Obama or Halle Berry. I think its funny that nearly all prominent (non sports related) blacks are in fact mulattoes....thats because you can't teach a pure bred baboon to speak as well as one who is half White.

Blanche, if "Brianne" is 'one of the few (racists) that live in a fantasy World,' then what exactly are you people whining about? You just said there are 'few' of us...you can't have it both ways. Don't you people claim that all of America is racist? Is that a few to you? Must be nigger math. Make up your mind, either we're everywhere, affecting everything you do, keeping you down, or we're a few people in fantasy land. Heres a question...you claim we've oppressed you for all of recorded history...if it is true(and it isn't, a blacks worst enemy is another black), doesn't that prove White superiority? I mean, if team A has won every game, for the entire existence of the sport, it would be fair to say, with team B never winning a single one, that team A is the superior team. Logic...a niggers worst enemy.

These are the real racists Blanche. This report is available top download at no charge. Great for college campuses. Perhaps, if North Carolina University student President Eve Carson and many other young women understood the racial nature of violent crime in America, she would be alive today. www.amren.com/newstore/cart.php?page=color_of_crime

I know its a good thing to leave the trollish posts up to show that there are still a few totally racist clowns around, but, this board needs a monitor to get this racist off topic, ludicrous, beyond insipid garbage by the unemployed and clueless hatemonger's off the site, and, they think that someone is going to click on a link that they have for the arayan nation that has a virus on it, children please, stay with the Fixed News boards where this sort of nonsense thrives. And, Brianne, its great you are able to tell who is going to commit a crime and, that you can save them with your wisdom and super hero cape, and able to judge a whole group, but, crime happens all over boo, and, just as many whites, Hispanics and Asians commit them as blacks, and, that's why there is a justice system in place to handle it, keep it real, crime happens everywhere, evry day, and whoever Eve Carson is, Gob bless her family and, all the others who have died a violent crime since the first of the year in this country filled with guns, or, is your sympathy only with I assume a white girl, or all victims?

Not a Nig (that name is hilarious!), You should click my name-link to see that I am FAR from high-yellow. But I AM quite educated. Thank you for noticing. I have the urge to try to reason with you, to try to get you to understand that while some of your concerns have merit, you can't take what is committed by a small segment of a particular community and apply it outward to every single person in that community. But somehow, I don't think you care. You've been indoctrinated to believe a certain thing and to believe it wholeheartedly without challenging it to any degree. That is, by the way, the definition of fear. Why are you so afraid, Not a Nig? I'm not going to hurt you. "N*gger" is a figment of your imagination--the pathological myth that sustains your feeling of unwarranted superiority. Once you've been awakened from your hallucination, you'll realize that the monster you imagined had a knife in his hand, was simply extending his hand to you in friendship all along.

Apologies of this kind by public institutions is not that uncommon. I'm not sure why many find this to be perposterous. Remember, the institutions are not like human beings, in that they are virtually infinite, and they exist far beyond the scope of the human lifetime, and any smart institution must be concerned about their image and the role of organizational memory. On a metaphysical level: apologies -- irrespective of whom the receiver or giver is -- is such an uplifting, affirming way to move forward. Look within your own lives and think back to when you apologized or somebody apologized to you, even when the giver of the apology was not responsible for the misdeed, don't you remember feeling so free, so liberated? Of course you do. It's a good thing, people. Embrace it. Let us transcend TOGETHER.

There are so many other important things that the states and America should be apologizing for - like the mullet: http://www.236.com/news/2008/03/27/florida_sorry_for_slavery_sorr_5483.php

I am a black-gay american male and looking at the state of the rest of the world I am very happy to be here. Though not perfect I sure as hell would not trade it for no other country in the world. I know that I am going to be called a Clarence Thomas or Thomas Sowell or even worse, an Allan Keyes for what I am about to say but I live in america and I do have a right speak my opinion. Slavery did take place. It was wrong then and it is still wrong in the places where it DOES STILL EXIST. Mainly in AFRICA, the middle east and parts of asia but it also involves a few european countries and latin american countries that have brought it over and up here with them even in this modern day we are in. Greed is what motivated it then and now. There are illegal immigrants who are in america right now who are more or less slaves to their very ethinic groups who helped smuggle them into this country and yes there are european countries such as Poland and the Soviet Union involved in this type of human trafficking. Not too long ago a prostitute here in NYC broke away and exposed a ring over in Brighton Beach (she was russian)where they were required to "work for an unspecified period of time in this profession and then they would be moved to a low wage paying job in a restraunt or factory that was also owned by the ring". This story got one day of print on or about the 3rd page of each daily tabloid here in the big apple. And these people are in every since of the word white who are doing this to each other. So is the press who reported it. Everyone knows that slavery existed in america and involved open air sales of blacks. I as everyone else in america know that there is still a simmering resentment going on regarding this issue from black americans. That is to be expected. Even though my overall attitude is it happened and I am over it I do not speak for all black americans. I personally resent how latinos are allowed to come here and obviously do not have to ever worry about learning to speak fluent english because everything is slowly being converted to bi-lingualism, but that is another topic. However I do not think that today's present day white americans need apologize for slavery. Keep in mind that in many, many cases their ancestors were just as poor as blacks. Every white man did not own slaves and those who did not had to do for themselves what the plantation owners were making blacks do to make them (the plantations owners) rich. They had to tend to their own fields or take what very little bullshit jobs that existed in those days and they were not walking around in fancy clothes. These are the same poor uneducated white men who were told by the white elite that northern whites wanted to take away their (the poor whites) superiority that they had over the even less fortunante blacks. Of course they joined the confederate army in droves to defeat the Yankees. Every Feb. during black history month 90% of the programming is about either the slave trade or the civil rights movement. Ok I am not suggesting that it simply go away but we are now in a new century. Why not have 40% of the programming about those two subjects and then divide the other 60% telling about AFRICA and how it was BEFORE the white man even knew it was there and the other 30% telling about the progress that black americans have made. And I don't mean in just the entertainment or sports areas either. I mean in business, education, medicine and so forth. There is no way in hell I am going to believe what I see during the month of FEB. and that being that AFRICA more or less did not exist until Mr. White Man sailed over on his boat which was no bigger than two and a half present day tractor trailers placed end to end. Nor am I going to belive that white people were able to do the atrocities in africa without the complicity of blacks. It is obvious that the some of the posts are from people who have a racist supremist mentality but that is what makes these sites beautiful. Everybody can air what they think whether others like it or not. Who's forcing you to sit and read this or sit there and respond to what you do or don't like? America is beautiful and yes this black gay american says there are too many places for you to go if you hate it that bad. That applies to both white and black readers. I happily await your response.

So many of you really don't get it. Blacks were dogs in history. We had no rights, not even human rights. We were as a people, not just two or three but an entire nation of individuals slaughtered like animals.....and that's okay in a nation that misinterpreted its own constitution?? Just thank the white man for giving you jobs and the right to go to school?? No!!!! They owe us!! What did our ancestors get from the ordeal?? NOTHING but what was rightfully God given... Hello??? does anyone understand that?? Everybody wants to take the easy route because they want to avoid conflict but i'm just speaking the truth. The government of the United States isn't dead, right?? Then they should be sued and Blacks should own America.

Transition I don't really follow your point. What did our ancestors get that was rightfully God given? If you really want to get down to specifics we had no human rights with the blacks who sold or traded us to Mr. White Man either. I have said before and I am going to say again that one of the main problems with black americans is that we do not look at what AFRICA was and how it functioned before Mr. White Man showed up. Mr. White Man did not invent Africa nor the black man. He found africa and us. He saw that we were just as greedy and divided as he was. He saw that we too had an upper and lower class just like him. He saw that one tribe hated and mistrusted the other just as his european counterparts distrusted and warred with each other. We are locked in a mentality that nothing happened before his arrival and that just is not true. Believe it or not black africa existed before Jesus. Blacks now revere Jesus and christianity but will run as fast as they can in the other direction if Voodoo is mentioned. During black history month do you ever see anything mentioned at all about voodoo? Any mention of africa in terms of B.C.?

They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America http://www.amazon.com/They-Were-White-Slaves-Enslavement/dp/0929903056

Brianne you have given several comments that all lead to a white supremacy agenda or direct people to a white supremacist site. How about offering one comment where you are addressing how poor southern whites were used by the elite southern whites for nothing else but their financial gain? I am not asking for a reference to another site where nothing but white supremacist garbage is being offered for sale. I am asking for something just like I am doing here. Your own thoughts. Was the civil war really about white supremacy or was it about the white elite loosing power to nothern whites who did not really give one damn about the welfare of blacks? YOUR OWN WORDS PLEASE. OR WERE YOU TAUGHT NOT TO SHOW YOUR LACK OF INDIVIDUALITY LIKE A GOOD CHRISTIAN? Buy and read my books so that you will get saved and learn a one sided version about what happened. P.S. Those whites out there who would like to find out but have no money tough luck. You need not apply. Their overhead expenses such as little Marybeth's home schooling books must be covered some how and this is exactly how they are going to do it. Find a racist agenda, spread the word to poorly educated whites and sit back and watch the money roll in. Once the money rolls in find a nice well established Jew owned business to invest it in and sit back and watch it grow while thinking of other ways to exploit the poor undereducated white masses? Or am I wrong about what you are truly about??? I'll bet I'm right but please prove me wrong.

Read it again Brucito, don't see what you want, see and read what's written. I said Nothing except for what was God given and that's life, liberty, and happiness. Those are the things that God gave us and should have never been taken away. The thing is slavery never ended with the cotton fields it continued even until now, the only thing different is how the oppressors oppress. You gotta admit that, even after slavery was "abolished", so called, you had jim crow and the whole civil rights movement. That was unneccessary for individuals in government to not know that it was wrong. That's all i'm saying.

You hit he nail on the head with the commment about slavery not ending in the cotton fields. White, black or whatever we are all now slaves to the almighty dollar.