John Stout Well said.
Ann D. Actually, the big difference is that the blacks sold us the blacks, and actually owned blacks in this country, so the black sellers are the ones who deprived the blacks of homeland, family and culture. We, as a country and a people, decided to take those things from the American Indian, and punished severely those who resisted. At first, we had an exterminate the Indian policy, and when that didn't work, we had an isolate policy, and then and assimilate policy, all the while robbing them of all that made them a people. So in a sense you are quite right.
Sambo When we give all people their human rights, and stop discriminating, stop being racist, it will be enough. Of course, that means the old racists have to die out, and the young ones get really outnumbered. When white people are rarely seen that are pure white, most of the racism will be gone.

JDB Spoken like a true racist. Slavery existed, and was wrong, and original sin is a myth. Your republican government has already given us corporate socialism. History shows that it is the racist mentality that causes a government that denies human rights, and and the defensive backlash that causes too much welfare. And I suppose you think that all those people without jobs who want jobs are wallowing in self pity. That isn't what keeps people from being productive. It is voting for politicians, like the republicans, who send all the jobs overseas, and the democrats, who then make it easier to live on welfare than the minimum wage of a job, if they can find it, and the health care that can come with welfare, but not with a job.
aibrod As long as the racists deny that there was and is a problem, there will continue to be a problem. And those that are oppressed with fight back, and usually the oppressors won't like it, and say stop wallowing in self pity and get over it. And then it is still business as usual.
Kjnow Norhtin The only reparation possible is to stop doing it, and that doesn't happen until we admit we are doing it. That is the real purpose of the necessary and long overdue apology.
Anonymous there hasn't been any real reparation, and won't be as long as the conservatives keep being racist, and pushing the liberals to fight back, and they fight back, and do so in a unrealistic manner.

Sambo, in addition to your repulsive log-in name, you make no sense at all. Your mis-spelling and your blathering are simply embarrassing to read. I really hope that you are a eunuch (look it up) and will not taint (look up that word)any innocent offspring.. Yo, Bro, check out spell-check...

I will give it to the Blacks that slavery was bad. But nothing compared to what we did to the Native Americans.

Those that want to ignore the racial iniquities that still abound today are willing to perpetuate them. Those that don't want an apology, offically from the state, look like slavery apologists... meaning they're probably the same ones who would talk of how much "good" slavery did for this country while it was legal. Nameless, yours is the most racist comment of the day. To say that we enacted welfare specifically for blacks is incredibly racist, and inexcusable. Affirmative Action must remain in place at least for the time being, because, as I said in a previous story, without these controls in place, those in power will revert to hiring those they're "most comfortable" working with, whether it be white or black or straght or what have you. Those in power right now simply cannot be trusted to hire equal opportunity on their own.

These apologies are ridiculous, they actually mean nothing unless the effected persons are there to hear it. If this apology is for african - AMERICANS then stop the hate mongers that abound now, that would be a real apology. I am so tired of hearing about "blacks", why can't they just be people? and unfortunately many blacks don't want the issue to go away because it can be an excuse for failure. And hopefully I won't ever read again a sentence about President Obama and have the word black put in there. I personally think he is doing a good job and when a race is put with his name it takes away from him.

Kjnow Norhtin, gotta love your name!!! I totally agree with you. What about the servitude that was enslaved for 5 years or more to pay for his ticket to come to this country.

I think their has already been reparations. 30 years of affirmative action. Pushed to the head of the class and job market, the welfare state,and the many many many programs to even the score. We can never be equal if the libbies keep dividing us by race and class.

It sure takes a lot of guts to apologize to people who are dead for something that happened over a hundred years ago. If congress would quit using race politics and treat everyone the same, not just equal under the law, we might have a truly united country. The KKK and other hate groups can only justify their existence in an atmosphere of division. If ethnicity was removed as a criteria for government action, they would have no basis for the perverted logic they spew, this would cut their power base. The Emancipation Proclamation was a nice first step but only acted as a rally point, it actually freed no one. However the action of making the proclamation led to several general orders for the military and finally to several congressional actions that ended the practice of slavery in this country. Unfortunately, There was no action taken to address the inequities in education and social recognition and no protections against segregation were enacted. This allowed for the divisions which had to be addressed a century later. However this most recent batch of intolerance, ethnic arrogance, and hate has nothing to do with any of those actions,it has to deal with the desire of those in power to divide the country and guaranty their power base. The people of the United States have been mixed for almost forty years by law. It's about time we acted like it.

Tje Emancipation Proclomation did not free the slaves only those in the states then rebellling. And a question, What is this original sin?

Well said.

This issue is pure nonsense. To apologize for slavery and/or to suggest that reparations are owed to the descendants of slaves makes as much sense as adopting socialistic communism because of original sin. Although original sin may be a valid excuse for the human condition on a generational basis, and some kinds of slavery are derived from and take advantage of that fact, it can not be said that the U.S. Government has promoted it or that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves at that time in U.S. History.
Are the descendants of the 624,000 who died to free slaves or preserve states' rights owed an apology for the sacrificial deaths of their ancestors or are their veterans' benefits owed to the descendants? I don't think so.
It is time to get back to legitimate work and stop the stupidity and indolence that led to the welfare state and the wallowing in self-pity that keeps people from being productive in our society. Get off the pot!---as the old saying goes.