Senators pushing slavery apology

Sen. Tony Hill, head of the legislative black caucus, is working with Senate President Ken Pruitt on a resolution to have the Legislature apologize for the history of slavery in Florida.

Hill said the move is inspired in part by the 2006 film "Amazing Grace," a story based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce, who fought in the British Parliament to end the slave trade in the British Empire.

Other states have made such apologies, but this would be a first attempt for Florida. And it's notable because the Senate leadership is involved, and is in talks with House leaders.

"Sen. Hill and Sen. Pruitt have been working together on this issue, which is very important to Sen. Hill," said Kathy Mears, Pruitt's spokeswoman. "We are also working with Speaker Rubio and his office on this matter. The resolution is a work in progress and under review."

Meanwhile, Sen. Gary Siplin might have beat Hill to the punch. He filed a proposed apology resolution (SB2808) late Monday "apologizing for the wrongs of slavery and expressing profound regret for Florida's role in slavery."

Comments

They have nothing better to do than this?? What is this anyway?? Payback from the black legislators for Brown's confederate plate bill?
What about property taxes?? What about the budget??
No, let us instead push something that means absolutely nothing anyway.

“Hill said the move is inspired in part by the 2006 film”

Great… a bunch of ill reputes fixated on a big screen, popcorn and pretty colors.

HEY! I’ve got a thought!… what say you morons work on something “inspired in part by the 2006”… ELECTION!

YOU KNOW…. LIKE INSURANCE!

Good freaking God! No wonder we’re called Floriduuuuh!

Unbelievable. Guess what? I really don't give a rat's butt about slavery. I had nothing to do with it. People need to move on. If the Senate doesn't have anything more important to work on than this kind of drivel, maybe it's time they move on out to something else. Stop wasting my taxpayer dollars on this junk. SLAVERY IS PART OF HISTORY. IT IS WHAT IT IS. GET OVER IT AND GET A DANG LIFE.

[Over it!]

I never owned a slave, my parents never owned a slave, and my grandparents never owned a slave… STOP ACCUSING ME, BLAMING ME, AND HOLDING ME ACCOUNTABLE FOR RACISISM!

GET TO WORK ON SUBSTANCE YOU LYING, SELF-SERVING, PANDERING, USELESS FREAKING MORONS!

Love,

People who were born after 1960, and ARE OVER IT ALL!

Join us; it's really cool to live without unjustified guilt.

Just for the record, the Seminole Indians deserve a little mea culpa, too.

And the mastodons. Don't forget the mastodons.

A bunch of white guys groveling to us by apologizing for something that happened hundreds of years ago.

Idiotic and insulting to African Americans.

We'll never get ahead in this country if we keep applauding this idiotic and blatant pandering.

I am still waiting for Rome to apologize for sacking Britain. And don't the Visigoths owe me an apology?

i am constantly amazed by the "i didnt own no slaves" crowd, who seem to forget that this nation is a COMMUNITY with a HISTORY.

do you celebrate july 4?
why?

you werent there and didnt do anything to risk your lives and property to declare indepencence, were you?

doesnt keep you from firing up the grill, roasting a few burgers and draining a few brews, does it?

NOPE!

well, folks, slavery is/was as much a part of our history as july 4.

WE ARE ALL part of that history.

take a note from our jewish ancestors in our mostly "christian" faith:

the day of attonement is a day for the WHOLE COMMUNITY to acknowledge its sin and repent.

in short, the civilization we enjoy today was built by both good and bad people doing both good and bad things, creating both good and bad institutions.

morally honorable people recognize and repent of the the bad people, bad things and bad institutions as well as celebrating the good people, good things and good institutions.

that is, if they are truly interestd in a just and moral society!!

otherwise it is just empty, hypocritical blather.

11:01 owes us all an apology for that post which has made us all dumber.

11:01:

If you don't have a sense of humor, at least cultivate a sense of irony. The notion here is that at some point the links to the past become so tenuous that it becomes absurd to issue an apology. Almost 150 years after the Civil War, we're probably at that point. Rather than appeasing the victim culture that amounts to a monumental distraction from real change, maybe we should focus on offering solutions rather than politically correct but ultimately useless symbolic gestures, once again, in the vain hope that they actually will appease anyone.

you were dumm enuff already, 11.06

Let me know when the Hootoos and Tootsies, who continue to engage in slavery of each other, apologize for introducing the western world to the concept.

The story of Roots, although true as an individual occurrence, did not represent the societal norm of the day. Slavery was an “introduced”, and therefore “learned” behavior.

Stay the hell away from political posturing and read a freaking book for God’s sake.

[terminator]

11:01
so what's the broader agenda beyond the apology?
let me guess, then it will be reparations so we can pay a bunch of negros who never experienced nor lost anything some free taxpayer money?
if we weren't part of the act we need not repent for anything.
sound like you have guilty conscience my friend.
incidentally, Hill and Siplin are both buffoons who haven't accomplised a thing during their time in Tally.
Hill is currently working on an important study about why black males can't compete in school and how come so many end up in the penal system (duh), like that's a big secret.
Siplin, well just check the crime blotter for his past record.

guess u missed out on that step in the 12-step program, 11.09, as well as the christian "formula" for repenttance and absolution.

FIRST, YOU CONFESS to all you have injured......without the confession, absolution is empty and meaningless.

guess you missed that in catechism class or whatever you attended, too, eh?

ahhhh, 11.11!

what i call the EIGHTYEAROLD whine!

"everybody else is doing it!"

well, i imagine that wouldnt work for your 8-year-old kid, would it?

why do you think it would work for a nation or community.

unless that community is morally bankrupt?

11:01 - get over it. As you can tell from this blog, most of us are sick and tired of the excuses used by the 'african american community' for their short comings. What can every other person blame their failures on? Celebrating the country's independence from rule by another country is quite a bit different from issuing an apology for something that WE NEVER PARTICIPATED IN. If you want to spend your money embarking on that endeavor, be my guest. But I do not wish to have MY hardearned money being used for this kind of junk. Maybe if everyone in society stopped thinking they were OWED something and got on with living, something of use would get done.

whats the word for a person with no conscience or sense of anyone but herself?

"sociopath", thats it!

sociopath!!

you live in a nation built by free hands and slave hands.

none of us are without guilt and responsibility...save for those with no sense of conscience

This might be a good time for these Senators to apologize to their constituents for being wholly ineffective in Tallahassee.

I don't care if an apology is made by the legislature as long as the state doesn't have to get the checkbook out.

I like the bumper sticker that said, "If I Knew It Was Going To Be This Much Trouble I Would've Picked My Own Cotton".

11:39 - That's weak. Very. If you choose to issue an apology, feel free. Taxpayer dollars and the legislature's time should be better spent. Spare us all your bleeding heart judgments.

[Barbara]

My mother came over from Italy and my father from France. They didn't bring any slaves with them. I am sorry for whatever was done back then. I am also sorry for what they are doing in africa now. They can always go back to Rawanda,or just be thankful that their forefathers were brought over here when they were. Now they sit around here and complain about how bad they have it!

[Bob]

Well shoudn't they also discuss apologizing to the indians, the illegal aliens, haitians, cubans....OK I AM SORRY TO EVERYBODY! Now can we fix the State's problems

[Simon]

Uh, 11:11. It is not Hootoo and Tootsie, it is Hutu and Tutsi and they do not engage in slavery. There was a hell of a massacre, and the world was shocked because Rwanda is a very progressive country, but they live in apartment buildings, drive SUVs and go to jobs that require ties.

[steprazor]

I thought this mess was settled last month when we dropped "darkies" from the Suwannee River song?

If the "slaves for sale" sign wouldn't have caught America's eye in the first place all the generations of blacks who were slaves would have lived out their lives in Africa and their grandchildren's grandchildren would still today be born into the horror that is Africa.

Are we happy to be Americans?

Can we all just move on now and stop wasting our time with this subject?

[keith]

Wow - this is our government at work, seeking atonement for something that happened long before any us were born.

They should spend sometime reading history, they might be interested to find out that slavery was not the number one reason for the Civil War, money was at the root of it.

Then maybe they can see the issue at hand today is ...... MONEY.

Stop wasting ours and do something about rising costs of, let me see, ummmm, EVERYTHING!

11:39 "Taxpayer dollars and the legislature's time should be better spent."

I agree, however someone needs to
tell that to Rep. Don Brown and all of the Bigots... who by the way didn't fight in the Civil War. Just like we Floridians of today didn't own slaves.

Maybe if Rep. Brown drop his bill (which won't see the light of day anyway,)
Then Sen. Hill and Siplin will drop this bill as well.

[joef]

Okay, we don't care, but the one's who should appologize are dead and the ones that deserve the appology are also dead. So, who gets the appology? We don't have any ex-slaves,alive, in Florida who are Negroes or any other race. This is a waste of time and must be a joke, right?

[newres]

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Have I made myself clear?
An apology would do no good for anyone. Whites need to get rid of their guilt complex - and their prejudices - blacks need to clean up their act, hold the family together and stay in school.
Can anybody say PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY?

[cutter]

We also had to apologize to the japaneese for atrocities during the war, now we have to apologize to blacks about slavery issues. ??? dont apologize foe me, I had nothing to do with it...

If they wanted to do something relevant to civil rights today, they could enact laws and put on the ballot for adoption as a state constitutional amendment rules that require political parties to honor every primary vote equally and in full.

Florida can refuse to certify any electoral college vote for any party that does not honor Florida primary votes.

There are dozens of contact points where the law can injure political parties that disenfranchise Floridians--don't run primaries, don't allow use of public facilities for any purpose, don't put their candidates on the ballots.

All such actions will have the good and simple effect of making the political party national committees toe the line.

It is not unamerican to require Americans to count their fellow citizens votes and punish those who do not.

Now that's a modern day civil rights issue--ensuring the individual remains important in the democracy we pass on to our kids.

[Cheryl]

Althought the thought of salvery is repulsive, it was commonplace in other countries in history. When one country or tribe conquered another the losing country usually became slaves.

The ugliness of slavery did not start with this country (unless you refer to one indian tribe taking over another). There was slavery in Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle-east, etc. Read a history book. Read African history, I'm sure you would be surprised how many slaves different tribes had.

Instead of spending time on an apology (which will seem contrite) what about spending it on appreciation. There are also families in our country who lost husbands, sons, and brothers fighting to stop slavery. Also, be concerned about the countries that still have it.

I like to think of it as social Darwinism...apropos considering the recent discussions concerning evolution.

I honestly think the Legislature has better things to do in 2008 than issue this apology. People can argue that an apology should have already been issued, but the moment has passed. All those who were so unfortunately enslaved have met their maker. So, who exactly are we apologizing to and what help can this be to anyone?

Now, in 2008 can't we all just agree to get rid of the "Legislative Black Caucus"? I don't see a Cuban Caucus, an Asian Caucus, an Indian Caucus, or a Caucasian Caucus. I don't see how a Caucus based on Race is helping to heal the racial division in this country. Am I alone here?

[Jim Johnson]

The whole thing is absurd. My Florida ancestors owned hundreds of slaves.

Today I have biracial grandchildren who descend from these same slaveowners.

I suppose they can apologize to themselves.

[Edward]

Whatdayasay elected politicians spend their energies on policy that works for their constituents (and not this baloney, sheeesh, who cares about this bull)

I don't see what the big deal is. I sold off my slaves many years ago. They're too much trouble. I now use Mexicans. A whole lot easier.

[Wasn't around then however,]

...I apologize! Can I foot another bill? Thank you Sir, may I have another!

[Dr_Dug]

Its no wonder we have an economy problem; our leaders would rather stay fixed on the past(over 100 years ago)than concentrate on the future. When will we stop voting for politicians and instead vote in finance experts? In fact, alot of Policies were put into effect as a gesture to help Blacks regain position and at the time that was considered an apology.(Affirmitive Action) Lets stop looking for apologies and start preparing the world for our children. Enough of the Slave crap already!!

[Lenore]

Yes, whites did own black slaves. However, people seem to be forgetting that it was also the white man that gave his life to help free them.

I live in one of those states that have already "apologized." You should have read the gloating of the Black newspaper columnists. Yes, I celebrate Independence Day and it is, in no way, the same thing. It's for everybody - black, white, red, yellow, or even polka dotted.I am not a Native American but why don't we all make an official apology to them. After all, my great grandfather - 20 times removed - may or may not have personally had something to do with taking their land. We can not undo history. It is what it is. We can only go forward. In order to do that we have to put past history behind us and stop dragging it back into present day. Am I a racist? Absolutely not! I don't care what color you are - I look at you for your actions. I say we need to bury the past. This whole apology thing is nothing but another political ploy to garner more votes in an election year.

You can make all the apologies in the world but it is not going to stop the black on black crime. It's the fault of slavery of their ancestors. Apologies will never make a black person take pride in themselves and what they have accomplished if they won't even try - slavery made them what they are. If anyone else did the same crimes - well, they're just evil. If a white person sits on their duff and let's the state dole out money to them - they're just white trash.

That's why it is so hard for many people to feel sorry for what happened 200 years ago.

As we used to say where I come from, I grew up by the hair of my haid and the grit in my craw. Nobody gave me anything. Nobody gave me a job just because I was white - and in my 60+ years, I have never taken a single welfare penny from the state.

I don't care what color you are - put down that crack pipe, that beer can, that gun, that knife and do an honest day's work for a change.

[Bland]

It’s great to know that the pressing issue of our state today is slavery.

I guess all the major and real problems like spending and tax relief are resolved?

Photo ops and PC language does not solve our problems.

Get off it and get back to the real business of the people.

[hoshi]

I do not owe anyone an apology. I was raised in abuse at the hands of the State of Illinois as I was their dependent from 9 months to the age of 18, I don't except nor will I ever receive an apology from any of them. I do not know anyone who was a slave nor did I have anything to do with slavery. Also are we ready for the lawsuits that will accompany these apologies, who is going to pay for those, we the taxpayer???

[Bob]

Ahhh, how about apologizing for not fixing the tax problem, the illegal immigraion problem, the insurance problem, the PORK spending problems, the special interest problems, the ethics problems, the credability problem, the fact you are totally disconnected with everyday people and think this kind of junk makes you look like your sensitive instead of like idiots.

Bland aka Problem Solved - I doubt you even live in Florida.

[TechRider]

All together now, "I am whitey, and I APOLOGIZE!!"

[Bland]

1:15 PM,

Lived her, Pinellas County, all of my life since 1956.

You have got to be kidding! What does Mr. Hill expect to accomplish by doing this? Is this going to improve quality of education, reduce crime, solve the budget crisis?? If the our elected officials have nothing better to do, I can find a few things for you to work on...

[pfg]

So when are the blacks going to apoligize for the crappy neighborhoods you don't dare drive through. Destroying several communities... starting riots etc... Oh then soaking money from the goverment for "assistance" while they sit and have about 10 kids!

Why do we need to say sorry for something that ended in 1834?? Quit living in the past! Move on... quit blaming the white man for your woes! You destroy your own communities!