Legislative committee backs down on slavery apology
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BY JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star
Regrets would be expressed. A condemnation of racial discrimination toward African-Americans would be declared.
But no apology for slavery and its effects on the state’s African-American residents would come from the Nebraska Legislature if a resolution advanced Wednesday from the Judiciary Committee is debated and adopted by the full Legislature.
The committee debated the resolution for about an hour in the late morning and could not agree on the wording for an amended version of Sen. Dwite Pedersen’s resolution, the subject of a public hearing on Monday. A few minutes into the debate, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers left the meeting after saying he would oppose any dilution of the resolution.
Seeing that committee Chairman Brad Ashford and Vice Chairman Steve Lathrop were balking on the apology wording, Chambers said it was up to the white people on the committee to work it out.
“This is a situation where white people are concerned about the sensibilities of other white people. You do not care how I feel,” he said. “If (the resolution) is rejected, it’s not news to me. I’m rejected as a human being.”
The resolution was introduced after one of Pedersen’s constituents, who researched the history of slavery in territorial Nebraska, asked him to submit it to the Legislature. In the 1850s, the territory had a number of slaves, especially along the Missouri River. The state outlawed slaves in 1861, six years before it was granted statehood.
Ashford said in the committee meeting he didn’t have any problem expressing regret. He has profound regret for racial discrimination, he said. And the state should try to eradicate it.
“I don’t think it’s less caring because I want only to express regret,” he said.
The remedy, Ashford said, would be passing laws that promote fairness, equality and equal opportunity.
Lathrop said an apology is something that happens between two people as the result of one wronging the other. It’s not the role of the state to say I’m sorry, he said. But he, too, had no problem expressing regret.
Pedersen said the apology would be a tool for healing.
“The simple question I ask is, What will this hurt? Who will this hurt?”
Sen. Vickie McDonald of St. Paul offered an amendment that would allow an apology for racism, the after effects of slavery.
The committee broke for lunch and, in the afternoon, Lathrop offered an amendment that would say the Legislature expressed its profound regret for the state’s role in slavery and condemned racial discrimination in any form toward African-Americans.
The committee voted 6-0-1, with Omaha Sen. Pete Pirsch present not voting and Chambers absent.
Voting to advance the amended resolution were: Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek, Pedersen, Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill, McDonald, Lathrop and Ashford.
The resolution also encourages people in Nebraska to teach their children about the history of slavery and its effects. It expresses the intent that the resolution not be used in any type of litigation.
Pedersen said after the vote he would have loved to see the apology stay in the resolution, but he was committed to getting something to the full Legislature. If it is debated, he said, he will take the opportunity to personally apologize for slavery and its effects.
Robert “Chuck” Vestal, who researched slavery in Nebraska and asked Pedersen to introduce the resolution, said regretting that slavery happened in Nebraska was appropriate.
Lela Shanks, of Lincoln, who testified at the resolution’s hearing, said as long as the committee did not change the historical facts presented in the resolution and the acknowledgement of slavery in the state, she would be thankful for that much.
Still, she said, she taught her children when they squabbled with their siblings that they could never live long enough to say “I’m sorry,” and “I apologize” too much.
“I’m sorry that people can’t say, ‘I apologize,’” she said.
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.
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