Today I read an article on CNN.com about The House of Representatives apologizing about African American slavery during the Jim Crow era. As I read the article I agreed that yes the government should apologize but why so late? The House wrote a resolution on the subject and the article I read put a paragraph from the speech and it was shocking and overwhelming,
“"African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity,".
I live in the south where the slavery went on during this era. African American people do not experience the things that the resolution concludes. I have learned that when an African American goes up a Caucasian person for a job and they both have the same qualifications the African American gets the job and the Caucasian doesn’t.
In the professional work field many things go on in the terms of discrimination. Not only do African Americans get discriminated in the work force but women do as well and the media never talks about that fact. Why do all the African American people get all the attention? Why not women?
Also in the article I read that some members of the African American community have called lawmakers to give financial benefits to descendants of slaves as compensation to the suffering they have felt. If there is no people that used to be slaves during that period then why are they giving money? The descendants have not had feel that suffering.
So may I ask the government this? Why are you apologizing now when you should have earlier?