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.”
Listen, I dont need or want some government-mandated apology for slavery, it's silly, a serious waste of time and it just reeks of guilt. Yet, at the same time I don't need some white dude telling me to "get over slavery" either, it's offensive, ignorant and until you walk in my shoes you'll never understand what it's like to to black (I always go back to Chris Rock for succinctly pointing out that "no white person would trade places with me and I'm rich"). And while it may not be warranted (esp. considering that the Democratic party has a sitting senator who used to be a member of the KKK) if the Republican party is seriously interested in ridding itself of the racist stigma that's attached to it, while continuing to court the votes of minorities, than it needs to denounce guys like Hargrove.
Other's Blogging: Right-Thinking From The Left Coast
Sharon Cobb
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