"Get Over it?"

U.S. state legislator's comments on slavery anger blacks, Jews

A Republican state legislator's statement that black people "should get over" slavery and questioning whether Jews should apologize "for killing Christ" caused furious and tearful denunciations Tuesday before stunned lawmakers.

Delegate Frank D. Hargrove, in defending himself, told one of his critics, a delegate whose Jewish ancestors immigrated from Nazi-occupied Poland, that "your skin is a little too thin."

Hargrove, 79, in an interview published Tuesday in The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia, voiced opposition to a measure apologizing on behalf of the state to the descendants of slaves.

In the interview, Hargrove said slavery ended nearly 140 years ago with the Civil War and added, "I personally think that our black citizens should get over it."

The newspaper also quoted him as wondering aloud, "are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?"

For more:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/16/america/NA-GEN-US-Slavery-Apology.php

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=31770

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4475517.html


Question: does his statement have merit?

In my opinion, even though it is definitely politically incorrect and offensive, there are some things to be learnt from what he says, or maybe is trying to say. I don't think we should ever tell anyone to forget slavery, or just to "get over it" without qualification; but, I do think that if we, as a black society (worldwide) continue to dwell on it in such a way that all it does is causes us to act with bitterness and hatred to whites, we'll never get any closer to the society that civil rights leaders and all the others who fought against slavery and racism envisioned. Was slavery wrong? Yes, it was! I think, however, that we sometimes hold slavery as a grudge even against the descendants of those who enslaved our ancestors, and that grudge sometimes blinds us to the fact that those descendants are "on our side" and despise what happened. That's not good for race relations.

As to the Jewish comments, I can't comment on those because I'm not a Jew. I do find it interesting, though, that in Poland, Englin's grandparents were "driven from their homes by people who believed that as Jews, we killed Christ." If I were a Christian, and I believed that, I'd be thanking the Jews since two of the tenets of that religion are 1. Christ had to die to save mankind, and 2. His resurrection gives believers hope of something greater after death.