by: Whymrhymer
A proposal in the Virginia House of Delegates that calls for an “apology for slavery” to Virginia’s black citizens was being debated on Monday (Martin Luther King’s birthday) when comments that Virginia Delegate Frank D. Hargrove Sr. made to the Charlottesville Daily Progress newspaper were brought into the fray. According to an article in the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, Hargrove was quoted as saying:
“Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ? Nobody living today had anything to do with it. It would be far more appropriate in my view to apologize to the Upper Mattaponi and the Pamunkey” Indians for the loss of their lands in eastern Virginia.
“On the other hand, not a soul in this legislature had anything to do with slavery. (It is) harmful to society in general to keep recycling this thing which we all know and all despise and all have no respect for.”
That bit of common sense (blunt and unarguably tactless but none the less common sense) has Del. Hargrove in the sights of all the proponents of the apology and has branded him as an insensitive racist.
A person doesn’t have to be a racist to see quite clearly that the proposal for an apology to blacks for slavery is ridiculous. It is harmless I suppose and will probably provide some measure of satisfaction to those who are deluded enough to suppose that the Commonwealth and its citizens in the 21st Century have some reason to apologize for the indefensible actions of the state’s residents back in the 17th and 18th Centuries.
The part of Del. Hargrove’s remarks (above) that is getting the least attention but deserves much more is his statement that it is “harmful to society in general to keep recycling this thing which we all know and all despise and all have no respect for.” No one advances himself or herself in society or in his or her own mind by adopting a victim mentality and a spurious apology will do nothing more than reinforce that victim mentality.
A couple final points:
It should be obvious that Del. Hargrove’s remark: “Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?” was an attempt to point out how inappropriate apologies are when made by people who have nothing to do with the original affront — it was not a serious proposition asking for an apology from Jews. That SHOULD be obvious but it apparently is not obvious to those of a certain mindset.
The news and blog coverage of this story is getting confused. The Virginia proposal has to do with slavery, NOT with the racial attitudes (segregation for one) that were still around in the 20th Century and, unfortunately, will still exist in some individuals far into the 21st.
Links:
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Hargrove offends blacks, Jews
CBS News: Slavery Remarks Spark Outrage
From the blogosphere:
Hampton Roads Insights: Apologize? Tangled issues
Deo Vindice: 16/01: Groveling as Governance
Whymrhymer’s fresh perspectives on today’s news, as published here, also appear at My View from the Center and at The American Chronicle Family of Journals. Your visit is always welcome!
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3 users commented in " Common Sense Equated with Racism in Virginia Statehouse "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackAfrican-Americans are always told to move on and not dwell upon the past when the subject of slavery comes up. Why is it that no one tells the Jewish people not to be mindful of the Nazi Holocaust? Books are written, movies made and days of remembrance set aside for the Jews. 6 million people died during WWII, whereas tens of millions of Africans suffered and perished at the hands of the White American slave-masters, who were perhaps the cruelest people in the annals of human history. At least 10 million Africans died in the Atlantic crossing alone. But in fairness, African-Americans are not conscious of their history and do not have the finances, nor exert the influence over the media that Jewish people do so there are no “Never Again” slogans, nor any talk of payment of reparations to the progeny of the enslaved Africans. White America does not have the moral rectitude to apologize for slavery. Until a formal U.S. government apology is made and reparations paid, African-Americans will be forever sitting at the dinner table of America waiting for justice to be served.
There is an air of unnecessary incredulousness among some white Americans when the topic of reparations and apology for chattel slavery comes up. I came to this country when I was very young, and my ancestors were pretty far removed from anything having to do with the Atlantic slave trade or chattel slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow, and just about any other shameful event and in the memory of this country. But presently as an American I whole heartedly support my government now offering apology and redress to the African Americans who suffered by these events, and continue to be mistreated under the enduring legacies of these systems. These apologies are ultimately symbolic, and can be healing when it is clear that a entire class of people have been harmed by systems and conventions condoned and carried out by their own government. White people act like an apology would mean that each and every white person would personally have to defile themselves in front of a black person with an apology.
The only error Frank Hargrove made was in making an inappropriate analogy.
It was inappropriate because it did not make his point and changed the conversation.
If he had said: ‘Are we going to ask the Egyptians to apologize for enslaving the Jews?’ his point would have been made and no one, except those in Charlottesville, VA, would have read the quote.
By the way, any reasonable person who reads the proposed ‘apology for slavery’ would agree that Hargrove is right. It is a ridiculous document.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+ful+SJ332
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