caelkhnter
Very Active Member
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Susanne Taylor supports Virginia's silly and useless apology for slavery as an important symbolic gesture that recognizes "our" collective responsibility for slavery's continuing toll and helps the country move forward. Really.
First, it's ridiculous for persons who never owned slaves to apologize to persons who never were slaves. No one alive in this country has ever owned slaves (except, perhaps, some African immigrants living with us). No one alive in this country has ever been a slave (except, perhaps, some African immigrants who escaped from ongoing slavery on that continent). Therefore, there is no individual responsibility for the alleged "continuing toll of slavery," let alone any collective guilt.
Now for this so-called "continuing toll of slavery." How does the fact that one's great, great, great, great grandfather was a slave take a toll on a person? My forefathers on both sides were virtually enslaved by the English for centuries. That has never taken a toll on me or my family members. Whether anyone succeeds or fails in this country is a function of personal responsibility. There is no "continuing toll of slavery." That's hollow rhetoric designed to make excuses.
There are problems afflicting the black community. They are self-imposed. Blacks, individually and in their community, must eliminate the problems. The biggest problem: rampant illegitimacy (nearly 70%). A black man (surprise, surprise, an aspiring rapper) being sentenced in a Cincinnati criminal court recently disclosed he was about to become of a father of six. The judge asked if he was marrying a woman with six children. He replied, in perfect Ebonics, "no, I be concubining" with six different women. Is "concubining" part of slavery's continuing toll. If Virginia's apology had happened a year ago, I wonder if the therapeutic benefits of such symbolism would have tempered or even eliminated his "concubining"?
First, it's ridiculous for persons who never owned slaves to apologize to persons who never were slaves. No one alive in this country has ever owned slaves (except, perhaps, some African immigrants living with us). No one alive in this country has ever been a slave (except, perhaps, some African immigrants who escaped from ongoing slavery on that continent). Therefore, there is no individual responsibility for the alleged "continuing toll of slavery," let alone any collective guilt.
Now for this so-called "continuing toll of slavery." How does the fact that one's great, great, great, great grandfather was a slave take a toll on a person? My forefathers on both sides were virtually enslaved by the English for centuries. That has never taken a toll on me or my family members. Whether anyone succeeds or fails in this country is a function of personal responsibility. There is no "continuing toll of slavery." That's hollow rhetoric designed to make excuses.
There are problems afflicting the black community. They are self-imposed. Blacks, individually and in their community, must eliminate the problems. The biggest problem: rampant illegitimacy (nearly 70%). A black man (surprise, surprise, an aspiring rapper) being sentenced in a Cincinnati criminal court recently disclosed he was about to become of a father of six. The judge asked if he was marrying a woman with six children. He replied, in perfect Ebonics, "no, I be concubining" with six different women. Is "concubining" part of slavery's continuing toll. If Virginia's apology had happened a year ago, I wonder if the therapeutic benefits of such symbolism would have tempered or even eliminated his "concubining"?
