Virginia is a Sorry State

I really don't understand what possible purpose is served by an apology issued 150 years after the grievance:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.

Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such a measure. The resolution does not carry the weight of law but sends an important symbolic message, supporters said.

"This session will be remembered for a lot of things, but 20 years hence I suspect one of those things will be the fact that we came together and passed this resolution," said Delegate A. Donald McEachin, a Democrat who sponsored it in the House of Delegates.

The resolution passed the House 96-0 and cleared the 40-member Senate on a unanimous voice vote. It does not require Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's approval.

The measure also expressed regret for "the exploitation of Native Americans."

The resolution was introduced as Virginia begins its celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, where the first Africans arrived in 1619. Richmond, home to a popular boulevard lined with statues of Confederate heroes, later became another point of arrival for Africans and a slave-trade hub.

Everybody who was wronged by slavery is long dead and gone. Maybe it helps them deal with guilt over something they had nothing to do with (and why in the world would they have such guilt??), but my honest opinion is that movements to issue apologies like this are nothing more than the opening round in a long-term war to gain reparations from the government. People who never experienced slavery, and who are several generations from anyone who did suffer, will nonetheless have their hands out looking for money from the government.

Interestingly, many of those people who will be demanding reparations for the harm caused to long gone family members have probably themselves actually benefitted from the slave trade. Had their ancestors not been brought to America hundreds of years ago, and assuming their branch in the family tree survived the famine, disease and tribal conflicts in their homelands, today they'd probably be sitting in a mud hut swatting flies with a wildebeast tail and eating whatever was the "catch-of-the-day". Their ancestors may have suffered great harm from slavery, but you'll never convince me that living in America today constitutes harm when compared to what life would be like in the old country.

By the way, when I visited Virginia in 2005 I had to sit in some pretty lousy traffic. Maybe they can work in an apology for that.