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Originally Posted by KnightOfSappho  I don't think that anyone can argue the fact that generations carry the pain of previous generations; after all who is teaching the children?
Such an apology carries symbolic meaning if no actual force. In the same way that, in a situation between two people, one saying "You are right, I'm sorry" makes the other feel better even if no other action is taken. Sometimes the symbolic act helps to create a sense of closure.
If slavery had ended and everyone had been considered equal from that point on, this would be much less of an issue. We have people LIVING that have spent a good chunk of their lives being treated as LESS than the dominant class. Changing laws does not change attitudes, nor does it change the anger or resentment of past hurts.
Personally, I don't see that the apology is that big of a deal, but it may well offer a sense of validation to many. It can do no harm, but can potentially help. It should go forward. | I am all for people who owned slaves to apologize to the people who were slaves.
Demanding people who never owned slaves to apologize to people who were never slaves doesn't help anything. I see it as doing harm because it gives in to the delusion of some that the slavery of the past has somehow wronged them today.
People who fixate on the past aren't able to move on towards the future.
Quite frankly, (and I know this sounds raw), if it would get them to shut the hell up once and for all I would be all for the apology. Once given, nobody can play the "race card" when there is no racism. Nobody can blame their plight on past injustices, and will now be forced to move forward based on their own circumstances and make the best of what they have.
If I can then say "We already gave at the office", I would give the apology myself.
But this "apology" isn't an issue of "closure". It allows some people to feel justified in their continued fixation on events of the past.
If one friend apologizes to another, they move forward with their lives. They don't dwell on past problems.
But I have no confidence that this apology would accomplish that, nor do I see it as warranted.
I quite frankly see it as doing more harm than good... "(Gay marriage) is a debate about whether you think gay people are part of the human condition or just a random fetish."
-- Jon Stewart
"Please don't judge others by your own standards."
-- Garysher  |