Gov. Perdue is right....so far - Commentary by Randy Phillips

The Georgia Heritage Council website has not often been complimentary to Governor Sonny Perdue and his administration. However, when the Governor is right, we should support him.

The passage of an apology for slavery by the Virginia Legislature earlier this month—the first of its kind in the nation--precipitated an opportunistic campaign on the part of several members of the Black Caucus in the House of Representatives to rush an apology for slavery through the Georgia legislature the last ten days or so of the session. They were joined by Senate Republican Eric Johnson of Savannah , who teamed up with Democratic Representative A.L. Williams, from further down the coast, to drive an apology train through the legislature Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle appears to be a reluctant rider in the baggage car.

It has been left to Governor Perdue and House Speaker Glenn Richardson to brake the hasty apology express. So far, they seem inclined to put a restraining foot down. There are good reasons to at least delay enactment of apology legislation until next year, if indeed at all.

In the first place, the fact that Virginia was the first state in the nation to pass an apology for slavery in March is no reason for Georgia to follow suit in April, the first day of which is Fools' Day.

In the second place, there is a real question as to whether there should be an apology for slavery. An apology implies a wrong has been committed, but no one should be asked to apologize for something they have not done. No slaveholder is alive, and indeed the slaves were freed more than 140 years ago and without any compensation to the owners. No former slave is alive, either. There really is no one to apologize for slavery, and no former slave to accept it.

Third, the apology campaign is linked to another campaign--— reparations for slavery. The reparations campaign was launched some years ago and holds that all African Americans descended from slaves should receive funds from the Government for slavery being legal all those years, and from businesses which profited from slavery. The campaign has an automatic and motivated constituency, but legally it doesn’t have a case.

The courts have ruled definitively that no claim for damages by former slaves nor their descendants has any standing at law. But the advocates of reparations are trying to achieve their goal by other means. They have created elaborate claims of generations of harm to the descendants of slaves due to the enslavement of their ancestors, and are engaged in a great propaganda campaign to sell the notion that slavery was the worst thing that ever happened in this country and theirs is a moral right to reparations. They are engaged in campaigns of intimidation and threats, and have won some success (otherwise known as "shakedowns") from large corporations.

The slavery apology campaign is part of that great effort to persuade the public and governments, apparently including state governments, to cough up billions of dollars in reparations to the descendants of slaves for generations of “past wrongs.” The Georgia legislature and its citizens should be well aware of this greater motive before enacting apology legislation.

It may well be that some sort of statement on the subject is desirable, but the House and Senate shouldn’t be stampeded into hasty action the last week of the 2007 legislative session. Here’s hoping Governor Perdue and Speaker Richardson stick to their reasonable and responsible position and stop the train. We apparently can’t rely on Eric Johnson and Casey Cagle and A.L. Williams to exercise restraint and good judgment in this matter.

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Randy Phillips is a former State Representative and member of GHC's Steering Committee.

Related Links
The Apology & Reparations Express - X-Files

Eric Johnson: Brazen Hypocrite and Political Opportunist - Steve Scroggins

Apologies, let's be clear - J.A. Davis

The Truth about the NAACP and Slavery Apologies - J.A. Davis

Slavery, Apologies & Duty - Steve Scroggins

Slavery Apologies, an absurd guilt-trip gesture - Steve Scroggins

Frankly Speaking on Slavery Apologies - Frank Gillispie

Regrets for slavery - Walter E. Williams

Understanding the Causes of the Uncivil War - Mike Scruggs

Reparations Now! - Joseph Sobran

The Other Reparations Movement - Thomas J DiLorenzo

U.S. Rep. John Conyers Reparations site

Slavery Reparations Information Center