An Era of Apologies
Earlier official USA apologies—
I am aware of only two official US government apologies offered by the Congress, in earlier years.
1) An official apology was rendered to the thousands of Japanese-Americans citizens who were “interned” (concentration camps) during World War II, having committed no crimes. A modest recompense of $20,000 was granted to each of those who suffered those experiences and were still alive decades later. The sum was certainly very inadequate for the losses of homes, employment, schooling, businesses, and lands owned.
2) An apology was publicly and officially presented when Congress, years later, offered its regret for the “take-over” of Hawaii in 1898. The islands had been an independent nation. Collaboration of corporate land owners/growers and USA officials converted the islands into a “US Territory” for many years. Hawaii became a state after WWII, along with Alaska, making 50. [See Stephen Kinzer, Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. 2006]
Recent American apologies—(among others)
In 2009 there was a ceremony in Mankato, Minnesota seeking to recognize the pain and injustice of the hanging of 38 Dakota Indians in 1862.
William Calley, former US Army lieutenant, convicted of 22 counts of murder in the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, publicly apologized for the first time at a Kiwanis Club meeting in Georgia. (2009)
The American Medical Association apologized for its history of racial inequality toward African American physicians. (2008)
The Richmond-Times Dispatch in Virginia expressed regret in 2009 for supporting the state’s white political leaders to maintain separate public schools for Whites and Blacks in the 1950’s.
President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala apologized to Cuba in 1990 for his country’s role in permitting CIA training of Cuban exiles on Guatemalan soil to take part in the “Bay of Pigs” invasion in 1961.
The California legislature apologized in 2009 for that state’s persecution of the Chinese immigrants who “built” the state’s railroads.
In 2010, the British Premier apologized for the “Bloody Sunday” by British soldiers in 1972, for killing 14 unarmed civilian demonstrators.
In 2010, Serbia’s parliament passed a resolution condemning the massacre of 8000 Bosnian men and boys from Srebrenica.
In 2010, the Czech Republic doctors’ organization apologized to Jewish doctors for the persecution they endured pre-World War II in 1938 before the Nazi invasion.
The US Senate in 2009 approved a resolution apologizing to the American Indians for official depredations, the breaking of covenants with the tribes by the US government and maltreatment, violence and neglect inflicted on the American Indians by our governmental policies and US citizens.
In 2010, some Minnesota protestors called for tearing down Ft. Snelling, where 1700 Dakota women and children were imprisoned. Hundreds died of disease, exposure, and murder before their forced removal from the state.
In 2009, the US Senate passed a resolution calling on the US to apologize officially for the enslavement and segregation of millions of Blacks, to acknowledge the fundamental injustice, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws.
In 2000, the Pope in Rome apologized to Jews for their mistreatment at the hands of Christians over the ages. Recently the Pope has apologized publicly for the violation by priests in several countries concerning sex relations with boys.
Former President Bill Clinton apologized for the Western world’s inaction with regard to the genocide taking place in Rwanda.
Elouise Cobell, Blackfoot Indian woman, pressured our government since the days of the Reagan administration, and finally gained a “landmark settlement” for the benefit of as many as half a million Native Americans (2009). The US agreed to pay 3.4 billion dollars ($) to correct more than a century of wrongs that deprived the Indians of the justice due them. Cobell labored for 13 years to secure these commitments. She was the original plaintiff that challenged the USA to pay the royalties due for minerals extracted, grazing leases, forestry products taken, and so on, from the lands “held in trust” for the Native Americans and tribes. Although the legislation passed is far short of what may be due the Native Americans, it is the largest class action award ever to them by our government. So, to a degree, action has followed some of the “heart-felt” apologies.
However, the implementation is currently snarled. “The Obama administration would like to have the money paid out, but a few Democrats aren’t happy with the settlement, partly because of delaying tactics from Republicans. . . Whatever the reason, the delay has compounded a historic injustice. . . The Senate must make it happen.” [New York Times editorial, 8/5/10].
In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II, 100 Japanese officials and crew members of the planes that struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, offered their apologies, representing their government. President Obama deployed the Ambassador to Japan as an official delegate to the 65th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. [Have we offered apologies for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The claims that those bombings were “necessary” to end the war are debatable. Japanese officials knew that they were defeated and had already approached the Soviet Union to seek an armistice and peace agreement, before the two bombings. That is my understanding of the actual history. Some commentators wondered if our military dearly wished to “try out” their new “toys.”]
Recently, from the corporate world, we have the “So sorry” statements from BP (British Petroleum or “Beyond Petroleum?”) about the Gulf tragedy from the deep sea oil drilling, “promising” to pay the costs of the damages (how defined and by whom?). Also, Target stores leadership has publicly apologized for their financial support of a Governor candidate who opposes Gay-Lesbian marriages, while the company has a “longstanding commitment to workplace equality.” (StarTribune 8/6/10)
So much for “just apologies. Words are cheap.” Indicating that oneself is sorry, very sorry, if genuine and not perfunctory, is just a first, small step. There is need for reparations, making amends for the one or group disadvantaged, with commitments to end the unwarranted inequalities. Some gains have been made in our country: the elimination of slavery; outlawing discrimination by race, creed, color, or gender; legislation for fair employment; outreach among the several religious entities; wider representation in government. President Obama probably has created the most diverse Cabinet, staff, and Commission heads of any prior Presidents. Still, the mentalities remain that are evident in Arizona’s action regarding incoming Mexicans, the public response re: the installation of an Islamic Centre near the 9/11 site in New York City, and the election of a Black President, among many other responses.
We are all human beings inhabiting the same wonderful globe, and sharing the common human needs, and distinct personal aspirations. But, sorry to say, we have yet a long way to go before Saving Paradise (by Rita N. Brock, my former colleague, and Rebecca A. Parker—Boston: Beacon Press, 2008).
