On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:35:15 -0500, Sunshine49 wrote
> So because you choose to take a purely intellectual perspective, the 
>  emotional wounds of it don't matter? Is that kind of like you 
>  deciding for black America what they should and should not feel 
> about  their own history?  

A person can have whatever feelings they choose about their own history or
anyone elses. I never said that what happens in the past doesn't matter or
that you can't have feelings about it. 

What I don't see is how you can demand an apology from someone for a
transgression that they personally did not commit, even if they remotely
benefitted by it. 

The wounds created by the bad things that happened America's past can't be
healed with a simple apology. The only thing that will work is the passage of
time. 

If my g- g- g- g- grandfather was murdered, should I expect an apology from
the descendants of the murderer? No! Admittedly if those descendants
celebrated that murder and bragged about it I would have just cause to be
upset by it. However I don't think Hargrave celebrates the institution of
slavery any more than Jewish people celebrate the death of Jesus. And I think
that was his point, though poorly articulated on his part. In saying that, I'm
not implying that the Jewish people have any collective responsibility in the
death of Jesus.

It is important to know our history, warts and all so that we can have full
appreciation of the sacrifices for those who made them whether those
sacrifices were voluntary or not. It's important that we know those mistakes
to prevent them from being repeated.

For Anne: The South does not have a monopoly on racism and bigotry. Neither do
white people.  I doubt that all that many people are proud that their
ancestors kept slaves. In the latter half of the 17th century, my ancestors
probably kept slaves. I'm I proud of that? Of course not. Have I materially
benefited from my ancestors owning slaves? No more than any other person in
the US of any color or background.

The debt owed to the African slaves is that we must not let that happen again,
here or anywhere else. It's a solemn lesson that our country must always learn
from. The debt is that we must further gains made since the Civil Rights Act
to break down any barriers created because of a person's race. Belated
apologies don't further those goals.

Sincerely,

Tom A.

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