January 11, 2008
New Jersey's Apology for Slavery
I have a piece in
today’s Christian Science Monitor about the recent resolution by the New Jersey legislature apologizing for slavery.
On the one hand, such an apology is harmless. But on the other, it feeds off of the idea that the United States has been racist from the start, obscuring the fact that it is precisely America’s founding principle that made the abolition of slavery a moral necessity.
New Jersey’s action is ironic in view of the fact that in 1999, this same legislature rejected a proposal to require all school children to recite a portion of the Declaration of Independence every day.
For those interested, there is also a short interview at the site.
Mac,
Race...ethnic origin... the United States of America...justifying the past.
It is with interest I read your blog comments and published commentary.
If you strip all the fancy words and alter egos out (I teach at the US Naval War College in Newport, RI), basically the United States of America actively engaged in “genocide” of the indigenous native Indians occupying their native lands (RI actively continues to strip the indigenous tribe of Narragansett Indians of their right to become economically self sufficient); actively prospered and developed a “world-wide business of racial slavery” (of which RI was a leading business center hub) and is the “only world leader to actively use the atomic bomb” on another non-white race (could have used it on white Germany) but instead used it on Asian Japan plus forcibly (with help of US Marines) dethroned and imprisoned the non-white monarchy of the Hawaiian Island and annexed the Hawaiian islands against the indigenous peoples will (President William Clinton wrote a letter of apology to Hawaii) however the United States has not afforded the indigenous natives of the Hawaiian Island same status as afforded indigenous native Indians on the mainland of the U.S.A.
All has been accomplished by the United State of America in the name of democracy and freedom.
I am a war veteran who volunteered to defend my country in time of war and continue to wholly support my country but have a tendency to throw up at self-serving flag waving.
Ken, you must not be the same Ken who moved to Hawaii.
So what do you teach at the War College and how long have you taught there?
Monique,
The remark ”(I teach at the US Naval War College in Newport, RI)” was referencing to Mac’s justification to his creditability which might be interesting because Mac should be a paid Federal employee.
As for being the Ken that moved to Hawaii, it’s one of the same.
What did I teach at the Naval War College? I taught a course for Naval Computer and Telecommunications Command, Washington, DC to Naval Commanding Officers and Executive Officers on computer and data security plus also asked to author three articles which were published by the US Navy sponsored magazine.