Essay 1 by Hs 100733123Student Identification No,: 100733123 Course Code: #51005 Discuss, with reference to American indigenous and forced migration populations, the extent of government apologies. “To take a strange land as one’s home is folly beyond compare’, are the wise words of Cao Xueqin, a prominent chronicler from the Ching dynasty. Indeed, this “folly” is aptly contextualised when a nation releases a formal government apology for the atrocities it committed against its indigenous predecessors. In the ease of America, this need was finally constituted following the long battle for the fight of equal rights for African Americans and the lesser credited Native Americans 1 this essay, I shall compare the two government apologies, with reference to the Australian formal apology to the Australian Aborigines. 1 shall contest the predicament that formal apologies intend to ‘improve the national spirit and health’ of the nation, since there remain ongoing social, political and economic problems of these groups. will also demonstrate that formal apologies can in fact deter national spirit and health since other historical atrocities are ignored for want of equal national notoriety 1 shall explore the justifications, or Inck thereof, behind a soemingly reluctant apology when the crimes committed demand rightful reparation. This poses the question of whether apologies are autonomous and genuine, or simply a pseudo-dénouement to ease a guilty past In 2009, the US Government officially apologised for the historical treatment of African- Ameticans and acknowledged the “injustice, ervelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow” The apology was important because it allowed America “to move forward and seek reconciliation, justice and harmony for all the people of the United States”. Yet, to sign bill into law, the day before the national recognition of a sensitive political landmark, Juneteeth, and to include a disclaimer which states the US will not authorise or support reparations for slavery, removes the a large proportion of sincerity from the apology, effectively rendering it utterly impersonal. As Senator Tom Harkin, who first introduced the apology years ago. declared: “This resolution will not fix lingering injustices. While we are proud of this resolution and believe itis long overdue, the real work lies ahead”! The plight of the African-American struggle for equal rights lasted for 150 years before they ‘were officially recognised, During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, African slaves were subject to unending discrimination, being denied basic human rights (see Picture 1). Their struggle is erystallised in Senator Stephen Douglas” statement: ‘I believe this government was made on the white basis. I believed it was made by white men, for the benefit of white men and prosperity for ever, and I am in favor of confining citizenship to ‘white men, men of European birth and descent, instead of conferring it upon negroes, Indians and other inferior races * Bernie Becker, “Senate Approves Slavery Apology, With Reparations Disclaimer,” The Coucus, 18 June 2003, http://lhecaucus. blogs nytimes com/?003/06/18/senate-aporoves-slavery-apology-with-reparations: disclaimer F Quoted 1978), 148, 4.R. Poe, The Pursuit of Equality in American History, (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1 Word Count: 3,327Student Identification No,: 100733123 Course Code: #51005 Later, the 15" Amendment effectively reversed the effects of Reconstruction and constituted the Jim Crow South in which African Americans ‘may be disenfranchised for want of education or for want of intelligence... The may perhaps require property of educational tests, and that would cut off the great majority of colored men from voting in these States, This era was arguably worse than the conditions in which their ancestors had once lived sinee it was characterised by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist organisations; lynching, which peaked in 1892, killing 161 African Americans’, and general social racism (see Picture 3 and Video I Thumbnail). Not only did political authorities stand and watch, but they also defended such actions. For example, a first hand account from William Earl Davis shows the extent to which African-Americans were considered to be disqualifiable from civic and legal equality after his brother was killed by white men simply because he was courting a white women’, In fact, the legal system during this time seemed to reverse, with political cases being decided upon civil precedents, For example laws were passed that prohibited African- Americans from voting (Piessy v Ferguson). supported laws which prevented their children from attending schools (a breach of 14" Amendment) and those which promoted forced about (for example, Prige v Pennsylvania This extent of political and social discrimination continued well into the 1970s, and was characterised by the infamous passage from the Kerner Commission which warned that ‘our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white separate and equal” The government thus attempted to ignore Black Power movements that emerged powerfully in the 1960s and instead pandered to white social behaviour, which perpetuated the racial problem. The Civil Rights Movement had its roots in local organisations like the Durham Committee on Negro Affairs and expanded into national movements like the NAACP, encouraging individuals to stand up for their rights, Those worth a mention are Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, among others, This pressure soon amounted to positive results affirmative action in the 1960s, bussing, minority-majority districts, the epitome of success being by the 1964 Civil Rights Act, But the downside was that this increased racial tensions, for example the extensive riots during the 1980s due to the defeatist attitude of the Kerner Commission, lack of social representation in media and the re-emergence of racial hatred groups, Thus, for the US government to include a disclaimer for potential reparations after playing the protagonist in the toils of A frican-Americans only exacerbates contemporary problems. For example, a recent 2009 survey reported the 495 out of 5000 CEOs of America’s top companies were while; 30% of black Americans were living in poverty (compared to approximately 10% of white Americans): and finally that black Americans were twice as likely to be unemployed as their white counterparts. This is hardly surprising when one * Quotedin The Pursuit of Apology, 173 ‘Emancipation and Reconstruction”, Library of Congress * wliam Earl Davis, “Arthur Clayborne, i, Willam Earl Davis, and Arnette Davis interview”, interviewed by ‘Mausiki Scales in Behind the Veil: Documenting African-American Life inthe lim Crow South Records, 1940- 1997, 34 2 Word Count: 3,327