House of Representatives Formally Apologizes for Slavery and Jim Crow

The United States House of Representatives issued a formal apology to Black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws this passed Tuesday. Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, “today represents a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past." The bill is H. Res. 194.

Five states have issued apologies for slavery, but past proposals in the U.S. Congress have stalled, partly over concerns that an apology would lead to demands for reparations — payment for damages.

The resolution, passed by voice vote, was the work of Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, the only White lawmaker to represent a majority Black district. The Cohen resolution does not mention reparations. It does commit the House to rectifying "the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against Blacks under slavery and Jim Crow." Cohen became the first White to represent the 60 percent Black district in Memphis in more than three decades when he captured a 2006 primary where a dozen Black candidates split the vote. He has sought to reach out to his Black constituents, and early in his term showed interest in joining the Congressional Black Caucus until learning that was against caucus rules. One of his first acts as a freshman congressman in early 2007 was to introduce the slavery apology resolution. His office said that the House resolution was brought to the floor only after learning that the Senate would be unable to join in a joint resolution. Cohen faces a formidable Black challenger, attorney Nikki Tinker, in a primary face-off next week.

It says that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that Black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation.

The U.S. Congress has issued apologies before — to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching laws. The House "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow."

"Slavery and Jim Crow are stains upon what is the greatest nation on the face of the earth," Cohen said. Part of forming a more perfect union, he said, "is such a resolution as we have before us today where we face up to our mistakes and apologize as anyone should apologize for things that were done in the past that were wrong."

More than a dozen of the 42 Congressional Black Caucus members in the House were original co-sponsors of the measure. The caucus has not endorsed either Cohen or his chief rival, attorney Nikki Tinker, in the Memphis primary, although Cohen is backed by several senior members, including Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel. Ms. Tinker is the former campaign manager of Harold Ford, Jr., who held Cohen's seat until he stepped down in an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 2006.