I wanted to return to a subject that I touched on back in the middle of last month. It had to do with the Senate passing a resolution apologizing for not enacting anti-lynching legislation sooner. You can read my posts on this topic here, here and here.

During my vacation last week, I had the opportunity to talk with one of my Uncles. He and I tend to share a similar world view and I wanted to get his take on this topic. We had a lengthy conversation about it and in the end I came to understand his opinion and I was able to see some of the deficiencies of my argument.

One of the big gripes I had was that there were laws against murder, so why do you need a law that deals with lynching. I used my aversion for so called “hate crimes laws” as an example (I still detest “hate crimes” laws BTW). I also have strong opinions against being made to feel bad for things that I had no control over. This was best displayed in my post entitled “Evil White Males”.

However, my Uncle was able to explain some scenarios in which it is proper to apologize for past actions or in-actions. Please understand that I am in no way trying to show that the African American experience in the U.S. is ANY greater than or less than some of the acts I am going to cite. I am not in a position to say whether their experience was/is comparable to others.

My Uncle framed his argument by starting with some of the worse atrocities ever committed and worked his way on down to everyday type situations. He spoke about the German people coming to grips with the Holocaust. He asked if it would be ok if the German people decided that because the terrible acts committed during the Holocaust were committed by people dead and gone that they did not need to apologize for it having happened. Of course I said that it would not be a good thing. They have some sort of responsibility to acknowledge the past and apologize for their actions.

He then moved on to the treatment of Koreans and Chinese who suffered atrocities committed by the Japanese. He brought up the fact that the Japanese government has consistently downplayed its role and its school books white wash what really happened. Should they apologize? Yep. At this point I started to see his point.

Then we talked about the anti-lynching laws and civil rights laws in general. I totally support all the civil rights laws that have been passed. But why were they passed? I mean we already had Constitutional Amendments that abolished slavery and ensured equal rights for all people. Why did we feel the need to pass additional legislation to protect rights already given in the Constitution? Ah, this is where it all came together for me.

The fact is that laws guaranteeing equal protection and civil rights were not being enforced at the state or Federal level. The same goes for state laws against murder, when it involved lynching a black person. No matter where you fall on the issue of states rights versus Federal rights, at some point the Federal government has the obligation to step in to provide the protection granted under law. The state governments in the south after Reconstruction refused to enforce state law against murder and refused to enforce Federal law against discrimination. At that point, the Federal government had the legal and moral responsibility to step in and enforce the law. That did not happen for too many years. Why it did not happen is too complex for this post, but involves all sorts of factors including racism, fear, and power.

Apologizing for that inaction is a proper thing to do. I stand corrected.

That brings me to my final point: reparations. Not just reparations that people talk about for slavery, but reparations in general for acts of wrong doing. In a legal sense, does apologizing for an action mean that you are not legally liable for that action? I have been told that it does make you liable. I would like others more knowledgeable about such issues to comment on that.

Restitution/reparations should be paid to surviving members of the group that was directly involved with the past actions. This has already been happening with survivors of the Holocaust. That is a good thing and the recent trial and conviction of the guy in Mississippi for the killing of three civil rights workers in the 1960’s is also a good thing. However, no reparations should be paid to someone who is a distant ancestor of someone who was a victim. If we did that, then where would it end? I am sure that some of my ancestors were brutalized by the Romans back in the 2nd century. The same goes for being victims of the Norman conquests. What about people of Irish decent that were forbidden to work or were unable to seek housing? What about the Asian population that was held in near bondage by the railroads and farmers during the last half of the 19th century? See my point?

I am sorry that slavery existed, but it did. We now have laws to protect people. And those laws are finally being enforced. Yes some companies made money off of slavery back when it was a LEGAL enterprise. Why should they be punished? They broke no laws. How would you trace down decedents of slaves? How would you verify? Who would pay? How would this help with the racial problems in our country?

Part of the issue is that past generations of African Americans were not allowed to integrate into the American society. The Irish were able to integrate as were Asians, but African Americans were denied that chance to integrate, solely due to their skin color. That changed 40 years ago with the passage and enforcement of good civil rights laws. As time passes and attitudes continue to change, I see more and more integration for the African American community. The same goes for Hispanics in this country. But, opening the reparations issue would put a new wedge between a common people: Americans.

In summary: I am sorry that the Federal government did not enforce its own laws and that they did not step in to enforce state laws. I am sorry that slavery was legal in this country. I am sorry that my ancestors owned slaves. But do I owe one dime for these past issues? No.

It is good to talk with others who have different view points. In this case, I see where I was wrong and I have admitted it. That is the hallmark of free and open discussion of an issue. And they say Conservatives are close minded!