Apologize for Slavery? Why?, page 2
Pages: <<  1    2    3    4    5  >>
ATS Members have flagged this thread 10 times


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 12:33 PM by octotom
reply to post by OpusMarkII


Push for an apology and reparations will lead to a greater racial divide .

Perhaps disenfranchisement as well because there are many white folks that have slave blood in their genes. Wouldn't the government have to give reparations to them to? Or would they come up with an arbitrary "level" or slave blood that you need to have to qualify?


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 12:35 PM by OpusMarkII
reply to post by ricco78


I guess we should all be charged with thought... er I mean hate crimes


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 12:47 PM by octotom
reply to post by dizziedame


When the slaves were freed they did not want to leave. They had a home, medical care and were well taken care of. My paternal and maternal ancestors treated their slaves like the humans they were and respected them as real people.


I read once that after the Civil War, many of the slaves actually chose to stay with their masters and this is because many of the slaves felt like they were part of the family, many weren't abused like is typically characterized. I think that many slave owners treated their slaves that way because the Bible actually says, in the Law, that if the Hebrews were to accquire slaves, they weren't supposed to abuse them.


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 01:02 PM by marg6043
reply to post by soldiermom


Thank you very much, I also want my share for losing three members of my family in world war two, Korea and Vietnam.

Also because some of my ancestors may have been slave or indenture servants I also wants some for that.




reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 01:48 PM by soldiermom
reply to post by marg6043


You're quite welcome. Maybe we should write letters to these high and mighty senators with a list of all ancestors that we feel deserve monetary compensation with payment made to us.

My great-great-great grandmother was an indentured servant. The thought has never entered into my mind that I should be paid for any indignities she may have suffered.

And there's the rub. These people claiming that they deserve reparations as a form of repentence on our part, don't even know how their ancestors were treated. Like it was stated previously, many didn't want to leave because they received the same care as their owners families.

It all boils down to nothing more than a glorified handout imo.

These people offering up apologies on my behalf can shove them. I've done nothing wrong.

[edit on 6/20/2009 by soldiermom] I can't type today

[edit on 6/20/2009 by soldiermom]

[edit on 6/21/2009 by soldiermom]


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 02:00 PM by Lasheic
I don't really see a problem with it. An apology is just an apology. Whom does offering this apology hurt? The Catholic Church, in 1992, finally offered an official apology to Galileo Galilei. 400 years late, and was anybody related to Galileo really moved by this apology - or held a grudge necessitating such an apology?

However, even though nobody currently alive is a Civil-War Era slave (slavery does still exist in America, however, though underground and illegal) - the struggle to live up to our nation's founding creeds is still ongoing. The hurt and scars of that history of slavery run deep - and yes, they are passed down via the racism and inequality which has (until so recently) been omnipresent. Is still present.

I think it's the least our government can do, to acknowledge the errors of our history and offer this apology - because it needed to be said. However, I think it would be much more of an apology by honoring the memory of our darker side of history by taking a more active role (both verbally and with action) in combating modern day slavery - to which millions are still subjugated.

I am not black, and I guess I can't really make many suppositions on my worldview if I were. But I'd like to think that if I were black, and I were to somehow receive reparations for our countries enslavement of my ancestors - I would want that money to be spent to help stop the demand and flow of Blood Diamonds, rather than receive a check... or to have it donated to the UNCF to help underprivileged black children in my neighborhoods get the liberation of a good education.


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 02:16 PM by Lasheic
reply to post by octotom



I read once that after the Civil War, many of the slaves actually chose to stay with their masters and this is because many of the slaves felt like they were part of the family, many weren't abused like is typically characterized.


Many slaves did stay with their masters - some out of obligation, and some because... that's all they knew. Spend your whole life in a prison, broken by the system, doing hard labor... and get released when you're 40 or 50, and the outside world is going to be a very scary place. Just as I'm sure the world was a very scary place for many slaves faced with leaving the plantation. Especially considering the hatred and discrimination they faced - in both the North and South.

You can find examples of both extremes in the treatment of slaves - with the vast majority leaning on varying degrees of abuse. Still - the treatment of the slaves is a side point to the central issue. The morality of owning another human being and all their progeny. Even among the slaves who decided to stay behind on the plantation - many of wanted to be free, even with no intention of leaving. It's about basic human dignity.


I think that many slave owners treated their slaves that way because the Bible actually says, in the Law, that if the Hebrews were to accquire slaves, they weren't supposed to abuse them.


Exodus 21:20-21 "And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money."

Yeah...

Actually, you can beat your slaves as much as you want - but if you disfigure them, you have to let them go. If you beat them so badly that they are killed, then you are also killed. However, if it takes them a few days to die of their wounds, you're in the clear.

I wonder how many "additional" beatings were administered by servants of the master to ensure that their initial beating at the master's hand was fatal.

I suggest you watch the following video.


[edit on 20-6-2009 by Lasheic]


reply posted on 20-6-2009 @ 02:44 PM by Lasheic
reply to post by Darkblade71



Well it is the US gov that is apologizing, not the man on the street, the Gov was involved. Therefore, they should do just what they did, apologize. None of us alive today had anything to do with slavery, but our gov continues on and was involved.


This. This right here. No offense, but bravo for recognizing the obvious.

I really don't see where so many posters feel they should take this personally. My family came to America shortly before WWI, and we have no ties to the history of the American institution of slavery. If someone asked me to personally apologize for slavery, I would balk and tell them to # themselves... and I have. I didn't do anything.

But this isn't about me. This is about America as a nation, and the American government. As an institution, it is only right that they offer an official apology.
Pages: <<  1    2    3    4    5  >>    ^^TOP^^