Congress says.... I'M SORRY BLACK FOLKS

The week the United States Congress issued an apology for enslavement of millions of Africans. Honestly I don’t know how I feel about this so called apology. I am not happy, I am not sad but mostly I’m indifferent. It’s like when I was a kid; I used to make all kind of promises and apologies while secretly crossing my hands behind my back.

I mean really folks do you think America is sorry for slavery? Have you heard the apologies from corporate entities like Chase, Aetna, FleetBoston Financial Corp, J.P. Morgan , and New York Life, all of which are multi-million/billion dollar companies say …Opps I’m sorry. What’s sorry about virtually free labor guaranteeing profits for your company? Even today it’s hard for blacks to rise to the top while working for these companies, so you know they are not sorry about slavery.


Slavery is still relevant today in America. Yes the chains were removed, there are no whips and every black man woman and child can roam free. But the effects of slavery has reared is ugly head in all forms of discrimination. Hurricane Katrina proved the value of black lives. Black men are beaten and killed by police and it’s no problem, the jails are filled to full capacity with black men and women, schools in the “urban” areas are underfunded and it’s been proven that the federal government was aware that foreigners were flooding black ghettos with crack.

I am not so diluted in the blame the white man game that I do not understand personal responsibility… because I do. However, a simple I’m sorry will not do. There is still so much to be done and the words I’m sorry doesn’t begin to mend all that is broken. I am not sure if I support reparations. But I do support things like more social services in black communities or companies that benefited from slavery offering scholarship programs specifically for African Americans. Don’t tell me your sorry……show me you’re sorry.


We were promised 40 acres and a mule, but today blacks (and Latinos) are the primary people affected by the mortgage meltdown. I hope one day this country can heal from all the affects of slavery and maybe saying sorry is the step in the right direction. I just hope that it transcends more than just an apology.