House Apologizes for Slavery, Jim Crow

One hundred and forty years after any slave was legally held anywhere in the United States, the House of Representatives voted yesterday on a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and Jim Crow laws that discriminated against blacks mostly in the South. The measure was sponsored by Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat, and cited the, "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow." Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said that he would consider introducing a similar resolution in the Senate. Passage of the bill marks the second time this year that Congress has issued an apology for past injustices. The Senate earlier apologized to Native Americans for mistreatment during the settling of the American West.

An apology for slavery has long been discussed and has been viewed as controversial due to fears that an official recognition of wrongdoing by the federal government on the issue would lend credence to calls for reparations payments to African-Americans. The government has authorized reparations before. In the 1980s, Congress apologized for and approved payments of $20,000 to families of Japanese-Americans that were placed in internment camps during World War II. But the movement for a slavery apology never gained significant momentum in Washington.

Yesterday's action by the House seems designed as much to help Rep. Cohen's reelection as to serve as a sincere apology. Cohen, who represents a majority black district, faces a difficult primary election next week.