Reaction to "House Apologizes for Slavery and Jim Crow"

The lawmakers that are responsible for segregation and slavery are long gone but the effects on African Americans are far reaching into this generation and future generations to come. I'm not writing this to debate whether or not it is right or wrong to apologize to black Americans for past wrongs. You can make up your own mind on that.

I don't even have ancestors that were slave owners. My ancestors came here from Ireland a few decades after the initial potato famine. They were poor hard working people who worked like slaves themselves in many respects, in harsh conditions, for little pay, no health benefits, and bearing the load of a large family.

I question the motive behind the apology. It seems that our Caucasian leaders are starting to realize that Barack Obama is most likely going to be our next president. This move wasn't without an ulterior motive. The apology, which was the work of Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, is a ploy to win over our future president. If this had true intentions of a real apology, it would have come a decade or two ago. My father likes to say "Politicians need to have the ability to give you their best smile while lying through their teeth." No politician is without an agenda to further him or herself and look good in our eyes.

So now that America has apologized to African Americans, how about we apologize to the Jewish people for leaving them to suffer until we had no choice but to enter the war after Pearl Harbor? How about an apology to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for laws that used to be on the books that stated that it was a person's right to shoot a Mormon? How about the Native Americans that used to populate our country? Do they get an apology?

If the apology was sincere and without motive it would have come at another time. And if you are going to apologize for atrocities such as slavery and segregation, make sure you mean it.