If love means never having to say you're sorry, being an American seems to mean always having to say you're sorry.
Congressman Tony Hall, a white Democrat from Ohio, has taken the stream of mea culpa's to a new height with his suggestion that the American government formally apologize for slavery, an institution which was abolished 132 years ago.
One might think that the hundreds of thousands of white Americans who died fighting on the Union side of the Civil War would be sufficient apology, or the endless billions of dollars which taxpayers continue to pump into programs to improve the plight of black Americans.
We'd certainly admit that politicians have a lot to apologize for -- just see the Outrage Archives for voluminous evidence.
But instead of apologizing personally -- or, better yet, trying to fix the many current wrongs -- the fashion has become to issue apologies for events for which none of the apologists have any possible responsibility. After all, not a single American alive today was alive when slavery was legal.
Why all the sorrow over the past? Well, it is very profitable. Texaco recently said it was sorry to its black employees to the tune of $176 million dollars.
Oprah Winfrey and her fellow talk show hosts have become some of the wealthiest people in America by eliciting tearful confessions of wrong-doing from their guests.
The culture of confession and victimization now permeates politics, the media, and the court system. One way or another, it's much more profitable to be a victim, or a victim's advocate, than to shrug off your lumps in some uncomplaining fashion.
Finally, we'd like to apologize for this essay being a little longer than normal. We're very sorry, but we're sure someone else is to blame.
(Source: Christian Science Monitor.)
