The State of Virginia Apologies for Slavery

In 1619, the first enslaved African-American touched the shores of Virginia. Today, Virginian wakes up to learn that the Virginia General Assembly apologized for its role in the institution of slavery,

Larry O'Dell of the Association Press writes.

The resolution says government-sanctioned slavery "ranks as the most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and violations of our founding ideals in our nation's history, and the abolition of slavery was followed by systematic discrimination, enforced segregation, and other insidious institutions and practices toward Americans of African descent that were rooted in racism, racial bias, and racial misunderstanding. In Virginia, black voter turnout was suppressed with a poll tax and literacy tests before those practices were struck down by federal courts, and state leaders responded to federally ordered school desegregation with a "Massive Resistance" movement in the 1950s and early '60s. Some communities created exclusive whites-only schools.

Virginia is preparing it's state for the 400 year anniversary of Jamestown. Virginia legislators understanding just simply saying African-Americans should just get over slavery is not the appropriate response to a people in which their country committed one of the greatest crime against humanity.


Indiana is still rewriting history as African-American wait for its apology.