Virginia to Slaves, "My bad!"

Virginia Lawmakers passed a resolution expressing "profound regret" for slavery.

"The General Assembly hereby expresses its profound regret for the Commonwealth's role in sanctioning the immoral institution of human slavery, in the historic wrongs visited upon native peoples, and in all other forms of discrimination and injustice that have been rooted in racial and cultural bias and misunderstanding," the resolution reads.

Well, that's that.

The resolution passed 96-0 in the House and 40-0 in the Senate, which makes one wonder what happened to Delegate Frank Hargrove who during debate famously said that, "get over it" and questioned whether Jews should apologize "for killing Christ Gotta love the moxie, but where was his vote?

As far as the merits of this bill? I'm going to surprise long time readers (Hi Ma!) and say that I support it. I mean, why not apologize on behalf of the state. The state was involved with slavery. Granted none of the people in the state were, but the state itself, as an entity, yup. Also, people apologize daily for a huge range of things from the most insignificant, a slight bump in line at the Quick-e-mart, to more emotional, "You're dog died, man I'm sorry to hear that." But what's weird about apologies, the larger the issue, and the more personally involved the harder it is to apologize. One would never say, "You're dog died, get over it," or if after accidentally bumping a woman in the Quick-e-mart, "Get over it," but in an argument with a close friend or spouse? Well, there apologies are hard to come by. There's an inverse relationship between the need for an apology and ease of giving it. Slavery is a big deal, especially to the African American community. What's wrong with saying "sorry?" Seems to me to the be the absolute least America can do. If it would make a group of citizens feel better, and another group of citizens regret and don't support slavery, then what's the big deal? I mean, why not try to help ? Doesn't hurt me to live in a state that "apologized" for slavery, and it may help some others feel better. No brainer. Look, I had nothing to do with slavery, but as a proud American I'm sorry its a part of our history. Maybe whites need to "get over" the smugness and callousness of refusing to support an official "apology.

As a side bar, I also support a slavery monument in DC. A country should be proud of its accomplishments so that they be repeated, and acknowledge its mistakes so that then not be repeated.