The Daily Press, the Hampton Roads newspaper covering the Peninsula, printed an op-ed today on the slavery resolution adopted by the General Assembly in the last session and being copied around the nation.
The country has got the slavery-apology bug, and Virginia can take a great deal of credit for it.
[…]
Under the guise of an apology, we quietly asked black Virginians to accept the commonwealth’s sorrow for something that it apparently had no power or control to fix. Our legacy is clear: Our noncommittal language has appeared in the proposals and final resolution language of other states. Apparently, Arkansas and Alabama are also filled with “profound regret” for slavery.
[…]
Let’s be clear: Aliens from outer space didn’t descend upon us years ago and require that the commonwealth of Virginia enslave generations of Africans as property in order to grow its economy. No godlike hand forced Virginia to not only believe in slavery but to lead the charge in fighting fellow American states to ensure its survival.
No, these policies all came from real actions in which Virginia’s General Assembly took part.
At a minimum, Virginia’s General Assembly should have taken responsibility for its culpability in slavery and acknowledged its power to provide a repair.
While I mostly agree with the writer, I wonder why this op-ed is appearing now as opposed to last spring when the resolution was being considered. At this point, it is water under the bridge. The General Assembly crafted language that was palatable to those who feel no responsibility for the continuing bias that exists as a legacy of slavery. Of course other legislatures were going to copy it. It was the proverbial “get-out-of-jail free” card. Neither the Virginia legislature or any of the others is going to revisit this. Like Libby’s commutation, it’s a done deal.
The only thing that we, as black Virginians, can hope is that by expressing regret, the dismantling of racism, the true legacy of slavery, will continue.
Which brings me to the story of the The White Tree, which I was alerted to last night by Peter at Tidewater Musings. Read it – and then explain to me how I’m supposed to “just get over it.”
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
You’re not supposed to get over it, Vivian. Please don’t ever get over it. Please make sure that this story is told as many ways and to as many people as possible, and that they never, ever get over the ugly, enduring reality of this story.
I thought your father was a Christian preacher? Didn’t you get the part about forgiveness and GOD sacrificing his only son? That’s how you get over it.
Remember you asked.
Do the Jews live in self pity, hate all Germans, and repeatedly ask them to apologize, or do they gain strength from their history and make sure it never happens again? And they don’t believe Jesus was God’s son.
Tom, even Jesus only forgives those who repent. These Jena people don’t seem particularly repentant.
(I will let the barber off about the Black hair, though. I am under the impression that cutting Black hair requires different training to do properly. The best man at my wedding, though he is white, has “Black hair,” and several barbers have declined to do his hair, too. He goes to a Black barber.)
Anyway, after helping these folks get their trials moved, maybe we can help get their families moved, too. There’s so much hatred in that town, if the Blacks moved out, the Whites would probably turn on each other.
And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. Exodus 12:24.
“Turn the other cheek”?
It happened a long, long time ago. White people were enslaved to other white people, but there are no apologies there.
There are parts of Richmond I dare not go because of my skin color.
This is a double-sided gate, sorry.
VJP, you’ve linked me to that article before, I wrote a letter, I agree with you, etc. etc. etc. Thanks for being active for a cause you feel strongly about… if more people tried, perhaps the world would run better.
MH – I’ve not linked to the article about Jena before. I was unaware of it until last night. Did you read it?
Vivian….obviously he didn’t read it b/c this is a RECENT event.
Racism continues to persist in our society. I’m white and I won’t get over such racist acts like this either Vivian. No one should be asked to “get over” racism.
I’m ashamed of many in the white community who have NEVER participated in a dialogue about race and sincerely believe this. Meanwhile evidence of racism is staring them in the face….but they don’t have the insight to see it. We all need to participate in such dialogues and LISTEN to each other so we won’t continue blindly proclaiming “I’m not a racist!” while doing nothing when racist acts continue to occur.
Buzz…Buzz…
Does everyone believe in God? So God sacrificed his son for no reason regarding those who don’t beleive?
God gives you freewill. He also gives knowledge. Whether or not you CHOOSE to be controlled by hate, anger, revenge, etc is YOUR CHOICE.
Making everyone go around apologizing for something no one alive had anything to do with only, opens old wounds and ceates new resentment, in people who are innocent and probably came to this country to escape some form of slavery, economic or otherwise.
LA, MS, AK, TN, parts of GA, all continue to have horrendous behavior regarding race on both sides. Do you fix it by antagonizing, and alienating people who weren’t alive during times of slavery or fanning the flames of hatred or do you educate and try and change behavior?
Alyson Hymes over at Charlottesville Prejudice Watch posted on this topic last week.
http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/07/04/racist-justice-system-alive-and-well-in-jena-louisiana/
The same thing happens here everyday in the VA justice system.
But what’s even worse in my opinion is the prejudice against people who have illness, and the elderly. Healthy people can fight and some control over there lives. Humans period, are not pretty creatures especially when devoid of morals, ethics, and oversight.
http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/07/07/death-of-25-year-old-former-jail-inmate-recently-transferred-to-central-state-hospital-and-we-want-to-divert-folks-from-jail-why/
http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/07/07/same-old-myth-recycled-the-people-with-mental-illness-in-prison-are-not-the-same-people-who-were-in-state-hospitals-in-the-50s-and-60s/
Why don’t we look at for what it is IGNORANCE? Instead of continually dividing AMERICANS over race?
“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their appetites; in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity; in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption; in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsel of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”
Edmund Burke
http://actingwhite.blogspot.com/2007/02/virginia-apologizes-for-role-in-slavery.html
James C. Collier gets it.
Well I don’t think you “get over it” but you “stop personalizing it” simply because you happen to be of the same race. People always have discriminated against people who are different. Always and forever. We do this today with homosexuals. We did it with Jews. We’ll do it with Muslims if this stupid “war on terror” goes on much longer.
I guess my point is this; wherever history is more important than reason you will get these sorts of problems. It just so happens that in this situation the players are blacks and whites, but they could easily be Asians and whites, or gays and straights, or theists and atheists. Wherever people feel that their rights are more important than other people’s (read: I’ve been here longer thus I’m more important than you) this sort of crap will bubble to the surface.
Is it any different with the rampant lies spread about illegal immigrants? On one hand they’re the people stealing your identities (so that they can get a job) but on the other hand they’re not contributing their fair share of taxes (despite paying taxes under the identity they’ve stolen). It seems that society invents situations like this and people lap it up because it makes them feel better about themselves. I have no doubt that white people in Jena LA sleep better knowing they’re better thant he blacks, even though reason says they’re quite wrong in that belief.
No whites involved here so what went wrong with the local justice system?
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1182825
Later, Surry County officials secured a search warrant based on an informant’s information about dogs being buried on the property, but never acted on it because prosecutor Gerald G. Poindexter said he had concerns with the wording of the document.
On June 7, the day that warrant expired, federal officials executed their own with the help of state police investigators.
Poindexter publicly questioned the federal government’s interest in a dogfighting case. He suggested Vick’s celebrity was the draw and raised race as a possible motivation. Poindexter and Vick are black, as is Sheriff Harold Brown.
Poindexter, on vacation in Louisiana, said by telephone he was unaware of Friday’s search and was still pursuing what he called a parallel investigation. He said he assumed Surry County and federal officials eventually will share their evidence.
Vick initially said he had no idea the property might have been used in a criminal enterprise and blamed family members for taking advantage of his generosity. He also put the house up for sale and reportedly sold it quickly, although there is no record that the sale has closed. Vick has since declined to talk about the investigation.
Oh don’t get me started on Vick. That POS was arrested in an airport with marijuana on him and walked. I bet any one of us gets busted with that kind of substance in an airport and we’d get a lot more than what he got.
But this only goes to show that American justice is a matter of how well liked you are (and by whom) and, in many parts of America, white people still REALLY hate black people. I’m not sure why…it’s a bit like hating someone for having the audacity to be born, but hate is about emotion not reason.
Remember Scooter Libby? He walks free, not because there’s a good reason for it but because he was well liked by the right people. Donald Rumsfeld? He’s wanted internationally for war crimes: walks free, because he’s well liked, by the right people. The list goes on and on.
So Injustice, ignorance, and corruption are color blind!
Glad that’s finally settled and over with, and we never have to divide Americans based on race, creed, and color again, just to get votes and have power in government.
All flesh is weak and vulnerable to evil.
So, we should ignore the specific incidents of it? Is that what you’re saying?
“Hey, pests are always going to live among us and so why bother identifying speicifc ones? Just deal with it! Termites are eating your home? Well so what; you’re never going to get rid of roaches so we shouldn’t bother fighting termites!”
Yes, injustice, ignorance, and corruption are color blind. And, there’s a place Jena LA where they line up along color lines. Just because X is true doesn’t mean f(X) is false. In this instace, and in many others throughout the country (probably due to history) white people are in power and use that to cause material harm to black people. Lovings V Virginia comes to mind.
To cast that aside would be as unreasonable as letting a termite chew down your house because pests are a part of life.
A few things. First, it seems that some of y’all didn’t bother to read the information on The White Tree.
Secondly, I find it quite amusing that folks go off the deep end whenever I mention slavery but in fact, have nothing to say about the legacy of slavery as it affects Obama today.