“For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind we say sorry...we apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.”
Brotherdoc wants you to note that not only has Australia apologized to its Black/Aboriginal citizens for its racism, but the country has also confessed to the subsequent discriminatory laws and policies that have worked to continue to harm Blacks.
Brotherdoc wants people to know that a few states apologizing for slavery in the U.S. is not enough. Perhaps the U.S. needs to follow Australia's lead. First, the federal government needs to issue an apology on behalf of the country. Second, the U.S. needs to also acknowledge that every decade since slavery discriminatory laws and policies have been legalized that have worked to harm Blacks. Legal discrimination did not die with the Emancipation Proclamation. Remember:
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1856) "So far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)--"Separate But Equal"
Jim Crow-Racial caste system from 1870-1960 which relegated Blacks to second-class citizens
1 comment:
Thanks Brotherdoc for pointing out that important extra element in this story-- that Australia apologized for its LAWS which worked to create and legalize institutions of oppression. In the US, people are always saying "slavery was over 100 years ago" and "why haven't Black people 'overcome' by now," but we should not forget the discriminatory laws!
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