Playing down racism suggests that it is no longer an issue

Recently in Virginia, legislators placed a bill on the floor that recommended releasing an… Recently in Virginia, legislators placed a bill on the floor that recommended releasing an official apology to blacks for their state’s active role during the years of slavery.

The bill is a move in the right direction in America, where reparations for the enslavement of an entire group of people have still not been made. It was also a way of respecting the struggles of Martin Luther King Jr. since the bill was introduced soon after the day in which the nation celebrates and remembers his triumphs and goals.

Once I read about the bill, I thought that perhaps no one could have any argument against it. After all, an apology does not require too much effort or even time from the government. I would hope that simply saying they’re sorry for the atrocities committed by other Americans shouldn’t bother even people who are adamantly against reparations. Of course, I was proven wrong.

Soon after the bill was introduced, Republican Delegate Frank D. Hargrove announced that he was in opposition to the apology bill and made a statement where he instead suggested that blacks just “get over slavery.” After all, it ended about 140 years ago, so Hargrove doesn’t really understand why anyone is still upset about the whole thing. He then went on to insinuate that blacks could attempt to learn from the Christians who haven’t really hounded the Jews for an apology about the whole “killing Jesus Christ” thing. If the Christians can get over the death of their savior, then what is the holdup on forgetting and forgiving slavery?

Many people were incredibly offended by Hargrove’s comments, including fellow Virginian legislators who did not realize they had such an incredible racist amongst them. A simple vote against the bill would have sufficed, but Hargrove made sure everyone understood that he was a bigot who somehow managed to get elected to a governmental seat.

Hargrove obviously threw in the comment about Jewish people killing a man, who may or may not have been the son of God, as an afterthought to reassure everyone that they were listening to a true extremist. He simply had to drag in yet another minority group that has had far too many instances of discrimination in its history. Hargrove, however, seems to think that nothing horrible ever happened to Jewish people, since they were never asked to formally apologize for crucifying Christ – after all, the Jews have never suffered any repercussions for their supposed “murder” of Jesus, right Mel?

By making these comments, Hargrove was also inadvertently making a statement about the fact that racism is still a prevalent issue in America. His idea that people need to get over slavery unintentionally brought the issue back into the public’s attention.

Telling someone he needs to “get over it” makes it sound as though the issue he is upset about is unimportant and not worth worrying about. Hargrove’s use of the phrase was meant to trivialize the problems facing blacks today and the problems they faced in the past.

The issues, however, are anything but trivial. Slavery is certainly not an issue that is easy to get over, and while it may have ended long ago, there are still numerous social repercussions that stem from systematic racism. Hargrove’s attempt to prove that an apology bill was unnecessary backfired by pointing out that racism is still abundant in our society and needs to be dealt with.

Actually, Hargrove helped bring the issue back into focus, which I’m sure did not make him too happy.

Hargrove’s refusal to apologize shows us that slavery is something Americans should never “get over.” If we get over it and say that it was no big deal, we are treading dangerously close to the idea that since slavery is such a simple subject to forget about, why not try again? Or perhaps we could forget why slavery was so upsetting in the first place.

Ignoring racism or saying that people are making a big deal out of nothing is a worthless way of dealing with the problems facing many Americans. Hargrove’s statement actually served to bring more attention to the fact that an apology is not only necessary, but that perhaps reparations should be brought back up and given more thought. He also proved that the fight against racism is still not over and won’t be for quite a while.

But it’s definitely worth the fight.

E-mail Shannon at slb46@pitt.edu.