New Jersey to
consider
slavery apology on
Monday
By Tom Hester Jr. AP
from thnt.com Online, January 8, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) … State
lawmakers on Monday will weigh whether New Jersey should become the first
Northern state to apologize for slavery.
The Assembly was scheduled to vote on a resolution that would express "profound
regret'' for New Jersey's role in slavery. And the Senate also may act on
the measure.
Supporters argue the move would help New Jersey profess remorse for its slave
trade involvement.
""It's a disgraceful part of our state's history,'' said Assemblyman William
Payne, D-Essex, who sponsors the resolution. "The state should stop trying
to shove its deplorable past embrace of slavery into the closet.''
Opponents contend the apology would be a meaningless gesture.
"History is what it is,'' said Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris.
"It is not something for which anyone can or should be expected to atone.
No victims remain. No victimizers survive. Slavery ended 152 years
ago.''
Legislators in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia have issued formal
apologies for slavery. The New Jersey measure is proposed as a resolution
used to express the Legislature's opinion without requiring action by the
governor.
The proposal expresses "profound regret for the state's role in slavery and
apologizes for the wrongs inflicted by slavery and its aftereffects in the
United States of America.''
It states that in New Jersey, "the vestiges of slavery are ever before
African-American citizens, from the overt racism of hate groups to the subtle
racism encountered when requesting health care, transacting business, buying a
home, seeking quality public education and college admission, and enduring
pretextual traffic stops and other indignities.''
According to the proposal, New Jersey had one of the largest slave populations
in the Northern colonies and was the last state in the Northeast to formally
abolish slavery, not doing so until 1846.
The state didn't ratify the constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery until
January 1866, a month after it had already become federal law.
Payne said an apology would comfort black residents, who make up 14.5 percent of
New Jersey's 8.7 million residents.
"A national movement for state-by-state apologies has taken root and New Jersey
has a unique opportunity to make up for its past by keeping the momentum
going,'' Payne said.
Assemblyman Richard Merkt, R-Morris, noted New Jersey is also home to
descendants of Irish potato famine victims, European serfs and people who came
to America as cheap labor in cotton fields, factories and building railroads.
"All families have their tragedies and injustices as part of their becoming
Americans,'' Merkt said. "So where does the cult of victimhood finally
stop?''
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