Florida Politicians Offer ‘Apology For Slavery’ Resolution
Joining 5 other States, one of them being my home state of New Jersey, the Florida Legislature has issued a resolution officially apologizing for slavery:
TALLAHASSEE - In a watershed moment in Florida’s race relations, a solemn state Legislature on Wednesday apologized for the Florida’s long history of slavery, expressing “profound regret for the shameful chapter in this state’s history.”
Described as a bid for “reconciliation and healing,” the House this afternoon passed a resolution apologizing for state slavery laws dating back to 1822 В– decades became Florida even became a state В– that “perpetuated African slavery in one of its most brutal and dehumanizing forms.”
Earlier, the Senate passed the same resolution with Gov. Charlie Crist looking on.
Governor Charlie Crist, a possible candidate to run as McCain’s VP, offered to go one step further:
At the Capitol, Crist initially said that while the apology was important, the state should consider offering financial reparations to descendants of slaves. But he quickly backed away from that stance.
“Certainly it’s something you’d like to be able to do,” Crist said. “Obviously, in a difficult budgetary time, it’s a challenging thing. But I just want to focus on the good thing that has happened today…It’s a significant step.”
I don’t understand why these resolutions are necessary, no one denies the wrongful practice of slavery, but most Americans can not trace their ancestry back that far, and for those that could, may have been against slavery to begin with, so what do these resolutions do, other than setting up the right ammunition to one day challenge the Country for reparations, using these resolutions as accepting blame and offering apologies on behalf of people 150 years ago.
– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx