Happy 200th Anniversary America

I am just getting caught up on my reading of NYTimes and listening... vacation turned out to be vacation from news, too...odd for me, but there you have it.

I have been plodding through NYTimes since December 22nd. I am finally up to December 30th today and I come across this little gem of an editorial. It turns out that on January 1, 1808, was the day that the prohibition of importation of slaves went into effect in the United States. The editor muses about why and how this milestone is going largely unnoticed in the US compared to the same marker in the UK last year.

Well, reading this now, I come to understand (and appreciate even more) the series that Michel Martin has been doing on slavery on her fantastic show, Tell Me More. [I will post links to her series below.]

I also understand the debate that has been going on in New Jersey about apologizing for slavery. In the back of my mind I had been thinking, well, it's about time, but it makes all the more sense how those who support it were able to push it through. It also makes those who oppose it all the more callous and ridiculous.
From NYTimes:

Among the dozens of measures that passed on Monday [January 7, 2008], the two chambers overwhelmingly approved bills authorizing a formal state apology for New Jersey’s role in slavery. New Jersey, the last Northern state to abolish slavery, became the first Northern state to apologize for it.

We certainly have heard some about the debate over making the apology. It's definitely odd not to hear more about the anniversary, afterall, this is one anniversary we in which we might take pride. I remember a lot of information on some anniversary of Lewis and Clark, for instance. I am continually dismayed to see us "celebrating" anniversaries of the missionary work of the Spanish in early California. Both of these pioneer events surely caused the decimation of many native tribes as well as bringing white folks to the west. However, we allowed slavery to continue in our country. We allowed each state to decide and fought over it before the abolition came during the civil war. Will we celebrate that anniversary when it hits 200? I doubt it, I find we are still very unresolved on the issue of slavery because so many are so unwilling to take up the issue of responsibility, culpability and apology -- and reparations.

We all know that your ancestors who held slaves are dead. We all also know that the slaves are dead. It is completely logical for the descendants of slave holders to apologize to the descendants of slaves. One cannot extricate innocence from not having been born yet. The descendants of slaveholders clearly benefited and therefore have plenty for which to apologize. The descendants of slaves have clearly been adversely affected therefore ... it's just so easy and logical. Again, I am loathe to even respond to ridiculousness, but it is completely unfair that some people's voices get to be louder than others because they get to be on the radio or the floor of an elected body. So there.

Tell Me More's series:
January 2, 2008 -- "Watermen" Helped Slaves Unlock Door to Freedom
January 4, 2008 -- Quakers Helped Abolish Slavery
January 7, 2008 -- Human Trafficking: Slavery of the Modern Era
January 7, 2008 -- Harriet Jacob's Path to Freedom
January 10, 2008 -- End of Slave Trade Meant New Normal for America