The US senate offered apologies for slavery and Jim Crow laws recently, following the Church of England and Tony Blair's administration, who made their apologies some 3 years ago.
So what does this largely symbolic gesture accomplish? Well, practically speaking - nothing. And even though an apology can provide some cultural healing, the very low key event greeted with marginal media coverage suggests not many people will benefit from the 'healing'. Also, the fact that the resolution comes with a disclaimer that prevents any claim against the United States takes the teeth and sincerity out of the apology.
Cold Case
One can't help but feel, with the considerations made to Native American Indians and Jews after the Holocaust, plus the pursuit of Nazi fugitives and outlawing of Holocaust denial (indeed the Holocaust is a mandatory aspect of school curricula in Germany) , African Americans (and the rest of the African Diaspora) have gotten a raw deal...again. Some say that enslaved Africans and their descendants weren't freed but 'let go', true when you are freed to a life of poverty, segregation and debt. Even though there is no difficulty in connecting the path of US race relations (indeed Global race relations) and the brutal history of segregation and exploitation, no individual, corporation or Government has ever faced justice for one of the most public and prolonged crimes in the last several hundred years.
Beyond race relations, the very prosperity of today's First World is firmly founded on its exploitation of the Developing World (that would encompass slavery and colonisation). In fact, both are products of each other with the exploitation far from over, only morphing into ongoing economic colonisation and 'economic apartheid', to borrow a term from Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine, Penguin 2007). Even though it's been 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade, the fall-out is very much evident in countries like Haiti and many African nations that have never truly become viable states. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the present instability in many former colonies is a direct result of their colonial and slave history. In some cases, even while Governments may be run by Black Africans, the money and resources still lie in the hands of the former colonials and Caucasian Africans. Klein finds evidence for this in her damning expose on 'disaster capitalism', The Shock Doctrine, describing a South Africa that moved from the overt institutional racism of Apartheid to the covert retention of the Country's money in the hands of the former 'minority masters'. Haiti, one could argue, has been paying for its insolence in freeing itself from slavery beginning with a levy 150 million francs in 1825, in exchange for recognition as a sovereign nation by the French. To be sure, the French left the fledging nation with little or no resources.
But slavery has been rendered a cold case in the history of crimes against humanity, and the recent apologies confirm this. Some argue that the passage of time and generations has left no smoking gun, no immediate victim and no red-handed perpetrator, hence seeking any sort of justice is pointless. Who would be held accountable? Who would the plaintiff be? What would be the just award for the crime? Good questions that all have very reasonable though inconvenient answers.
The Status Quo
That the rules are made by the rulers has always been the case, but to be fair many former colonies have been independent long enough (some not so long at all) to be guilty of self-inflicted wounds, both economic and social. If there is to be some restitution for slavery and colonisation this should be taken into consideration. But we aren't speaking about the sins of the victims at this this stage, and the status quo that allows the crimes of the past to go unchallenged is what allows the crimes of the present to go unchallenged. Deal with the status quo and the sins of the past and present can be faced with some modicum of justice and equanimity. What are the crimes of the present? Continued plundering of natural resources of the Developing World (acquired in large part through colonisation) by First World corporations (with the assistance of governments on either side - especially in Africa and South America), onerous IMF and World Bank conditions and First World agricultural subsidies that undercut local producers and economies. The consequences of these tactics are far reaching and include anything from unemployment and inflation to low exploitative wages and deforestation. Not only are economies destroyed but also local culture and social structure, according to Jeremy Seabrook's Consuming Cultures (New Internationalist, 2004).
That some Governments and leaders of plaintiff communities are complicit in this kind of 'legalised' exploitation is understood, but this doesn't absolve the accused, only impugns others. And the power of scarcity to force persons into 'selling out' shouldn't be underestimated. But that sounds like victim/slave mentality; the attitude that someone else is responsible for the failings of now autonomous groups and communities. To be sure if said communities find prosperity it will be in spite of the actions of the accused and indeed an issue of overcoming the actions of the accused rather than making use of assistance provided by the same. Still commendable if it can be done (and progress if very evident in the African American community) but doesn't mean that there aren't actual victims. Using the logic applied to the impunity surrounding slavery and colonisation, any crime can be overlooked given enough time and neglect. Any group living in the wake of injustice can be labelled lazy blame shifters when they become the victims 'once-removed'. But this is the cheapest way out for the accused. It costs them nothing to apologise. And cost is very important because in today's consumerist/capitalist world economy, money is the first love of the body politic (ok, always has been). Wars are invented for it, blood is shed to to keep it - nothing, it seems can keep a nation of means away from its money - and other nations money.
It follows then that the US should protect its Beloved from being 'plundered' by folks who may have a right to it. But money is the unimaginative approach to justice, albeit that many find it to the most desirable. When it comes to slavery it's not just one state accountable to another state or community, but corporations are also beholden - maybe more so. Either way, tracking the profit shouldn't be that hard and finding ways to pay for the crime could be spread across methods including debt cancellation, relinquishing of resources, provision of resources without condition, and so on. The truth, however, is that the price of justice in this case is just too high to pay, partly because the crime is still in progress (and so for centuries) and the profundity of the crime warrants an exceptionally heavy sentence.
Promising Compromise
So what's the next most reasonable step? It can only be that the concerned former perpetrators and victims take the possibility of justice for damage caused by colonisation and slavery seriously. That might mean finally including the slave trade in British secondary education curricula, for example, and an effort to genuinely support affected nations and communities in sustainable ways - not handouts, but leg ups. I don't claim to have the knowledge or expertise to provide all the answers - but I'm sure that if those with the know-how actually apply themselves to the task - something could be done. A lot of expense, manpower, technology and brainpower go into war, exploitation, profit-seeking and downright criminality. Perhaps some of that ingenuity, creativity and energy can be put in the direction of healing. Apologies are decent gestures but words mean little when they weren't the problem in the first place.
EDIT: The Madoff sentencing made waves throughout the media with a hefty 150 years to his name. This blog entitled 'When Sorry Isn't Good Enough' makes a strong statement: money matters most. Mind you, the effects of Madoff's greed are real and go beyond a simple loss of cash, but there in the background is a lesson. Swift justice is meet here and it should be. But one wonders why, with situations like Katrina, Iraq war crimes and yes, slavery, the justice is either very slow or non-existent. What really matters more, human lives or dollar signs?
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