Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:13:45 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
Tom et al.:
It's not about history. It's about heritage.
It's not about the past. It's about the present and future.
Does an apology for slavery change anything that's already happened? Of
course not. Can it still have symbolic importance for the group seeking
it? Yes. The irony in Hargrove's comment that Virginia blacks should
just "get over it [i.e., slavery]" is that the man doesn't have a clue
as to why an apology would matter. In asking for one, supporters are
doing precisely what Hargrove says he wants them to do. An apology would
help them "get over it," because it would signify the attainment, at
long last, of some common ground by Virginia's whites and blacks on the
most tangled issues of their intertwined histories. An apology for
slavery is a means of reconciliation, not some magic spell that will
undo centuries of tyranny and agony. The adamant refusal of some to
consider reconciliation on such a matter is telling.
It is not easy to fabricate a shared heritage for blacks, whites,
Indians, and others. On what terms will the majority of the American
people accept blacks into the fold as equals? Must they (blacks) agree
to forget about slavery? Is this the price of inclusion? Must Indians
"get over" dispossession and depopulation? When former Confederates and
their devotees sought to dwell on a glorious "Lost Cause," most
northerners indulged them in this conceit. They were not advised to "get
over it."
Are we on the same page? Are we truly ready to tackle the social
problems of the present that have proved so intractable and divisive?
Should we be optimistic about the possibilities of working together when
the group that has long held the reins of power cannot be persuaded to
make even a symbolic concession to the historical memory and legacies of
the "descendants of slaves"? What's worse, the request for an apology is
caricatured as "political correctness"... as if the supplicants were
actually in charge. One begins to understand the frustration of earlier
generations of black activists who could not get broad support for
anti-lynching legislation.
Are we one people, comprised of many? Do we want liberty and justice for
all, or not?
Doug Deal
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
|
|