Righting Wrongs
August 1, 2008
This week, the House apologized to black Americans for the “fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow” segregation. It comes more than 140 years after slavery was abolished and after these detrimental seeds have grown strong roots hidden deep inside American politics, economics, culture and way of life.
Among the resolution’s 120 cosponsors were Asian American Representatives Mazie Hirono of Hawai‘i, Mike Honda and Doris Matsui of California and Bobby Scott of Virginia. We applaud these legislators for leading our community on an issue of such historical importance. We hope to see more such cross-cultural coalitions on matters that impact communities of color.
Many Asian American civil rights organizations have been engaged in this effort to build bridges between races, having long realized that meaningful results can be achieved through multiracial collaboration.
Apologies are worthless if there is no sincere intent for reconciliation. Asian Americans are no strangers to such apologies. Twenty years ago, Congress apologized for interning Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II and gave each survivor $20,000. In 1993, Congress apologized to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of their kingdom a century earlier. But how have the apologies helped rebuild communities that were utterly destroyed?
We call on Congress to do even more, and we hope that reparations for slavery are on the near horizon.
The injurious effects of Jim Crow, slavery and segregation have offset life’s opportunities for black Americans in the areas of housing, credit, education, employment and health. As black Americans were denied opportunities to pass wealth on to their future generations, the group remained paralyzed economically, socially and politically. Despite these disparate circumstances, they have not only survived but continue to thrive and prove themselves the most resilient minority group in America.
We hope this is only the first step towards righting the legacy of injustices that black Americans face.
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