New Jersey to be the first northerrn state to apologize for slavery???

This article was posted on www.afro.com (and the full article is available there) regarding N.J. becoming the first northern state to apologize for slavery.

If an apology was enough to make all black people forgive, it may have happened a long time ago. New Jersey apologizing for slavery is not going to alter the mental and physical state of many African-Americans, nor is it going to erase 400 + years of racial oppression and seclusion.

"Who living today is guilty of slave holding and thus capable of apologizing for the offense?'' asked Republican Assemblyman Richard Merkt. ``And who living today is a former slave and thus capable of accepting the apology? So how is a real apology even remotely possible, much less meaningful, given the long absence of both oppressor and victim?''

Though I agree with some of Republican Assemblyman Richard Merkts' comments, his idea that there has been a long absence of both oppressor and victim is making light of the oppressive institution set in place during slavery. The very foundation of this country is based on an institution of oppressor and victim, with African Americans, and usually black men, at the helm of such oppression. Would New Jerseys apology make a difference? This many years later, does it even matter? If your going to apologize how about those 40 acres and a mule. What do you think??


N.J. could become first northern state to apologize for slavery
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ New Jersey lawmakers begin considering this week a measure that would make theirs the first northern state to offer an expression of regret for slavery, an institution that one Republican lawmaker said blacks today should remember led to their becoming Americans. Image courtesy WNBC.
The resolution, which is to be discussed in a state Assembly committee on Thursday, expresses ``profound regret'' for the state's role in slavery and apologizes for the wrongs inflicted by slavery in the U.S. If approved, it would make New Jersey the fifth U.S. state to offer a similar apology or expression of regret for the institution that served as a catalyst for the U.S. Civil War, the only war to be fought on American soil.
Republican lawmakers spoke out against the bid, with one saying it would be meaningless.
"Who living today is guilty of slave holding and thus capable of apologizing for the offense?'' asked Republican Assemblyman Richard Merkt. ``And who living today is a former slave and thus capable of accepting the apology? So how is a real apology even remotely possible, much less meaningful, given the long absence of both oppressor and victim?''
Another Republican, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, said "If slavery was the price that a modern American's ancestors had to pay in order to make one an American... The full story can be found at www.Afro.com