Yes.

NO! it was a fact of life ex salves should be grateful to people (including) there ansecstors that helped to prevent it. I nmean I'm english and I don't want the italian parliament to apoligise for making english people slaves. that is just what was done in those days. It is a terrible thing and shoul never happen again and the places where it still hsppens it shoul stop. but to apologise on behalf of congress when none of its members were even alive during the time would be wrong and ill concieved. Although they may well do so as they have to be PC and think of the minoritiy vote.

As an institutional body? Yes I think it should. But if we do that where do the apologies stop?

congress didn't establish it, the british and dutch colonial system did, the system was grandfathered in when congress was established. no apologies will undo anything.

no

No, but possibly the African-Africans should apologize to the American-Africans for selling out their fore-fathers and mothers.

Uhh. NO! Seriously man. think about this. is anyone alive today from that govt. body that did those terable things? I am a firm believer of never passing judgement on the son, for sins of the father. people marching around and demanding reperations from the decendans of the slave owners who NEVER had anything to do with slavery its dumb. it happend. it was terable. its in the past. MOVE ON.

What is there to apologise for? Bad yes, but it was the accepted law of the land at that time. Slavery is not good but did you ever stop to think slavery is Biblical? Slavery in many forms is all through the Bible and was instituted by God. So although not good by todays standards it was in the past.

right after they apologize for what they did to Native Americans.

It's too da** late.

who should they apologize to? There aren't any slaves alive, are there?

If anyone should apologize it should be the Democratic party.It was a Democrat run Supreme Court that issued the Dread-Scott decision.Have you not heard of the storied 'Southern Democrat'?They try to make themselves out to be heros of the 'common man'when it was them all along who owned the slaves back then.

Considering they had never in the history apologized for the worst atrocities put upon their fellow man,slavery,I would think it fitting.It is obvious that the ancestors of these slaves are still around,and this sort of shame is hard to shed.

WTF? No! Everyone goes through their shit in order to earn the right to take their stake. We have a black President, Hispanic & Asian Congressmen and Senators. Can we move out of the past and maybe - dare I dream - evolve?

Are there any living former slaves to apologize to? Are any former slave owners still alive to issue the apology? I don't think there are either, so what's the point?

yea but they probably won't and it will probably just make a bunch of black people mad.

No more than it should brag about ending it.

No. And the Supreme Court shouldn't collectively say 'oops' either. Nor should the President or any future President proclaim in either word or deed that slavery was kind of a bummer. State governors should not rend their hair or garments. . Slavery was a world practice. And now it's history. I think it would be very clever if individuals stopped being proud or ashamed for things that have nothing to do with them and started being proud or ashamed of things that they are responsible for. . /rant

Only if they do it to the illegals they are keeping on as help. Or to the kids in the sweat shops in Mexico and other places where American businesses are allowed to move to hire dirt cheap labor and make even more of a profit, without having any penalty imposed on them when they bring their product back into the USA to sell to people whose jobs they gave away.

Apologize for WHAT? Passing the 13th Amendment? Passing all those the Civil Rights laws? Outlawing flogging in the Navy? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, PEOPLE, WTF IS THERE TO APOLOGIZE FOR WHEN THE TREND HAS BEEN TOWARDS MORE AND GREATER FREEDOMS FOR EVERY CITIZEN? This is NOTHING except political grand-standing over something our founding fathers tried but COULD NOT DO at the time and for which we, as a nation, DID do almost a century after the United States was born. This makes me wanna PUKE. All those tens of thousands of people who gave their lives, sacrificed everything they had for the progress THEY made for ALL of us in the last century and a half since the Civil War alone. They laid down their f*cking LIVES for a cause! They SHOWED EVERYBODY what they thought of that particular injustice! THEY gave the ULTIMATE amends for the acts of slavery, even people who NEVER PARTICIPATED IN IT! They said "I'm sorry" in giving their all! And NOW Congress wants to stand up and say "Hey, dudes! We're sorry about that whole slavery thing!" F*CK YOU CONGRESS! For turning it into some kind of political game you can ALL suck the heat out of my *ss! This does NOTHING except cheapen the works of those who died (and more) to get us where we are today! Try apologizing for something we're responsible for TODAY, something Congress has control over NOW. Excuse me, folks. I'm gonna take a break and be sick for a while.

Slavery was a horrible piece of our history. I just wish we could move on. The laws have been changed. Prejudice is lessening. Everybody is equal now. I've know quite a few black Americans who are successful and are doing well professionally. I also know quite a few black Americans on the other end of the spectrum. One observation I've made is when you talk to the people who are successful, they don't whine and bitch about slavery, being the victim, etc. Whereas the people who are on welfare or gang bangers feel like they are "owed". Its interesting, I've had black people say that blacks are their own worst enemies because of attitudes and the way they act.

To which group of slaves? We've enslaved Hispanics/Latinos, Native Americans, and African Americans... So, apologize to who? They all deserve an apology.

No. One person can't apologize for another. Since the offenders and the offended are no longer alive, it doesn't do any good. The government can make reparations in other ways, such as fighting against racial profiling.

OMG We've been paying for it ever since! how long can people use that shit as a crutch ?

My immediate thought was the English Parliament should make such an apology, but then remembered that Parliament like the US Congress both inherited the slavery system from the English Monarchy. So a representative of the English Monarchy should apologize, but then again the earliest slaves were introduced to the Americas by Spain and Portugal. Reading the news article link shows the US Congress is in an apologizing mood. They apologized for removing Japanese-Americans from coastal cities and holding them in camps like Manzanar during WWII and later apologized to Native American people for stealing the whole country from them. These are noble efforts by the USA to acknowledge historical wrongs which cannot be undone. Fortunately USA history is short; imagine the list of apologies for countries like the previously mentioned Spain and Portugal as well as England, Germany, France, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, China and many more. Almost every nation has a history of conquest, slavery and cruelty to their neighbors.

Seeing as they already did, it's kind of repetitive. And while it was a disturbing and horrible chapter in our history, people are still blaming it today for their own lack of skill or ambition. The English were Enslaved to the Romans along time ago but we don't gripe about THAT to the Italians.

Haha, Congress should apologize for a lot more than mere slavery. The losses suffered by unrooting the predominently Gambian people & the genocide committed by civilian whites as well. I'd say, "An eye for an eye"! Imagine if the same amount of whites suddenly died, as did Africans in slavery (extinct as a mug). Then again, I know that feeling comes from my frustrations with white society & their ignorance to the factors that have been a long lasting result of slavery. I'd never stoop to the level of Europeans, for the sake of us all as sisters & brothers. Osara

No because no one alive today has ever been in slavery. Why protest againest something that had nothing to do with you!?

No, because the slaves have all passed away, the time to apologize would have been to the people who truly suffered. Decendants of any race of people who experienced a hard time still choose their own paths. (i.e. jews, indians, african americans) Think of the current tribes in Africa who enslave each other, who is responsible to apologize to them?

no...thats been done....and they still want restitution for a part of history that has nothing to do with white or black people today... did africans ever apologize for 'running down' their own people and selling them to the slave traders? probably not...they don't include that FACT in the history books....

Ugh, here we go. Why is it that almost every other culture or race of people was enslaved at some point in history but it's only the blacks that want the apology? I only skimmed that link because reading this stuff gives me a headache. I will never stand behind ANYONE being forced to feel sorry for something they didn't have any part in. I don't even want to hear any apologes from people who had slaves unless they are, in fact, truly sorry. Otherwise, it's a bunch of nonsensical garbage. Also, is this supposed to bring everyone together in racial harmony? HA! All it is doing is further pointing out racial differences and sending more people to 'the other side'and making each respective race self-segregate. Good grief...

No more apologies PLEASE!!

The descendants of slavery are still among us and they still (we still) suffer greatly psychologically from the tribulation of slavery. Moreover, there is a convention in modern politics whereby successor states recognize and are held accountable (to some degree) for the crimes of predecessor states. It's called the Vienna Convention on Succession of States. Thus Russia inherited certain obligations to other CIS states from the USSR; Turkey inherited some obligations from The Ottoman Empire; The Weimar Republik took on some of the responsibilities of the German Empire, and so on. Even the unified Bundesrepublik of Germany apologized and made reparations to Israeli citizens for crimes committed upon German citizens by the Third Reich (GreaterGerman Reich, actually). There is some precedent here and it shouldn’t be inconceivable that a modern government take responsibility for that a previous government did. But the history of slavery in the country is fairly complicated. Slavery had already taken root before the English colonies became the United States. And after achieving statehood, slavery was an extremely divisive and contentious issue for the young country. Every new state that entered into the Union was a balancing act between Union ideas of industry and progress and Confederate ideas of land ownership and property. The issue tore the country apart, in fact. I think it would be difficult to argue that the U.S. is the successor state to the Confederacy. That’s said, I don’t know what good an apology would do. It could even make things worse sendschie

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

As far as talking about blacks (you'll probably think I'm crazy for saying this [irony]), the original question was about [black] slavery...There's even a link..about congressional consideration of an apology to BLACKS...that's why I was focused on the blacks. fc:you are so worried about proving you are correct, you miss the whole point![when? where?] I don't think we need to comply with the slavery issues[comply with slavery issues? wtf? wha?] when in fact there aren't any slaves alive. Everyone can take something they read or watch on TV and say OH god I am damaged because of something I heard or saw[for clarity, are you comparing the effects of slavery to watching a bad TV show?] As long as there are people trying to "relive" the slavery days or make excuses for it.[sic] there will be racism. Let's all move on and stop worry[sic] about the past!!! px:I don't see where I missed any point. If you would be so kind as to point out the place where I went off track, it would be appreciated.

Which ones? The slaves who came to American shores? The black ones, or the non-black ones? What of the slave trade that existed LONG before America was a twinkle in King George's eye? What of the slave trade that went to Brazil? What of the slaves that were made slaves when many freed slaves went back to Africa, and enslaved their countrymen? What of the slavery that continues to do this day in Africa?

No!... I said the same thing about the so called stolen generation debate here in Australia... no!, different times ... different world... so what are we suppose to say sorry for next ?, all the kids that got killed down in mines or the weaving factories? ... get over it

No. We fought a War over slavery the cost 600,000 american lives,i think that is enough apology why should we apologize for the sins of the past?

No apologies dont heal wounds, they need to repent. the constitution need to be re -written. because all men are created and they had slaves, what hypocrisy. that's why many countries around the world do not trust america.

what good would that do? you can't just say "i'm sorry, blah blah blah" for something like that.

Yes. If the Jews can milk the holocaust as much as they can and put everyone on a guilt trip, where 6 million, (no evidence to support this number), died then the US should apologize to the black community and the Native American community for the actions of our forefathers. . I mean, whats 6 million compared to the 70 million+ of African and another 99 million+ of Native Americans. . Thats the real holocaust. When was the last time you saw a Native American Family having dinner at a local Restaurant? . Where's their memorial? Where's there Museum?

Oh, for God's sake! Slavery ended in 1865. It's way past time we all got over it and concentrated on improving things that are still problems.

If the Congress apologizes are they apologizing themselves? The next thing will be money. They can go back to Africa if they like.

To whom the congress wants to apologize? The slaves are dead long time ago as well well as their slave-masters and slave-mistresses. The American people who live today never owned any slaves and the people who live today in America never were slaves. So, who wants to apologize to whom? I think I only can apologize for something that I have done. Otherwise I would have to apologize for the crucification of Jesus Christ just because one of my ancestors might have been involved as a Roman guard to that crucification.