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Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Should Georgia apologize for slavery?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many Georgians don’t believe they should apologize for slavery since they had nothing to do with it. But the NAACP is not asking everyday Georgians to say they’re sorry.
The civil rights organization wants the state of Georgia to apologize for its official sanction of slavery. Editorial
Gov. Sonny Perdue has misgivings about such a slavery apology, saying, “I’m not sure about public apologies on behalf of other people.”
But proponents counter that Perdue would not be apologizing as an individual or on behalf of other people. He would be apologizing on behalf of his predecessors, the Georgia governors who signed Slave Codes and those who signed Jim Crow laws.
Opponents argue that slavery is in the distant past and that no current elected official need to feel compelled to make amends. The Virginia General Assembly disagrees. That body voted unanimously last month in favor of a resolution expressing “profound regret” for slavery.
Should the Georgia General Assembly follow suit?
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Our kids are not spoiled rotten
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Decatur writer Margaret Tate argues that giving your teenagers trips to Europe and cars is not necessarily spoiling them rotten.
Tate was inspired by a recent AJC story on teenagers with their own multi-room suites that include amenities like a 36-inch plasma TV, two bathrooms and a den furnished with twin sofas.
But what matters most is what parents expect of teens and what the teens deliver. “Indeed, it’s difficult to see the inherent harm of material ease when so many of today’s pampered progeny are growing into smart, accomplished, responsible and personable young people,” she writes.
Are we raising a generation of brats or simply grooming new leaders who also happen to appreciate the finer things in life?
