Post-Gazette Editorial – 2/12/07

This page was last updated on February 12, 2007.

Act of contrition: Virginia moves toward an apology for slavery; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; February 12, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“With votes in the state’s House and Senate, Virginia is closer to issuing a historic apology for slavery. On the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, one of America’s earliest settlements, Virginians are struggling with the legacy of one of the country’s deepest moral failures.

“Virginia wasn’t the only state to tolerate and profit from slavery, but it was among the first. In 1619, a Dutch Man-of-War docked at Jamestown with 20 Africans in its hold. Historians quibble over whether the human cargo were ‘indentured servants’ or ‘slaves,’ but there’s no doubt that they were there involuntarily. The Dutch traded the Africans for food and supplies.

“The descendents of those Africans and many millions like them, were pressed into bondage by landowners in Virginia and throughout the South. Their very humanity was subject to debate up until the Civil War and beyond.

“Virginia’s infamy as a former bastion and promoter of slavery was well earned. It never took the high road as long as cheap labor was available.”

[RWC] On the subject of “cheap labor,” the PG gives lip service to border security and advocates amnesty for illegal aliens. Further, anyone who wants to take action is derided. I believe the PG is throwing rocks from within a glass house.

“The House approved its resolution Feb. 2 expressing its ‘profound regret for slavery,’ while the Senate OK’d its own version four days later. A conference committee will iron out the differences.

“Addressing the historical record is only the first step in a process of reconciliation for Virginia. Meanwhile, a country still not over the issue of race looks on with a mix of pride and uncertainty.”

[RWC] Maybe it’s just me, but there will never be “reconciliation” for anyone who’s not over slavery over 140 years after it ended.

What is there to be proud of? I could be wrong, but I suspect anyone remotely responsible for slavery died many decades ago. What is the point of apologizing for something you had no role in?

All that’s missing from this editorial is the assertion that a vote against apologizing for something you had no role in is the same as approving of slavery.