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U.S. Senate passes slavery apology

The Senate passed a resolution apologizing for slavery, but a disclaimer has drawn criticism from black lawmakers in the House.

By William Douglas / McClatchy

WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a resolution Thursday calling on the U.S. to apologize officially for the enslavement and segregation of millions of blacks and to acknowledge "the fundamental injustice, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws."

The resolution, sponsored with little fanfare by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, passed on a voice vote. It now moves to the House of Representatives, where it may meet an unlikely foe: members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Several CBC members expressed concerns Thursday about a disclaimer that states that "nothing in this resolution authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States."

The CBC members think that the disclaimer is an attempt to stave off reparations claims from the descendants of slaves. Congressional Black Caucus Chair Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said her organization is studying the language of Harkin's resolution.

Other CBC members said they've read it and don't like it. "Putting in a disclaimer takes away from the meaning of an apology," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "A number of us are prepared to vote against it in its present form. There are several members of the Progressive Caucus who feel the same way."

Thompson and other Black Caucus members noted that a 1988 apology issued to the Japanese-Americans held in U.S. camps during World War II had no disclaimer and didn't prevent them from receiving compensation.

Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., the Senate's lone African-American, went to the floor after the Harkin resolution passed and said, "I want to go on record making sure that that disclaimer in no way would eliminate future actions that may be brought before this body that may deal with reparations."

Such concerns could slow a resolution that many lawmakers and civil rights groups considered such a slam-dunk that plans are already under way for an elaborate signing and apology ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda next month.

The resolution states that Africans and their descendants were forced into slavery in the U.S. and "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage."

To that end, the resolution "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws."