[bobman0330]

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You're one sick bastard. You do realize that millions and millions of people were brutally held in servitude, killed, beaten, raped, humiliated, etc., for two hundred years, right? If you just decided that, overall, slavery had had a positive impact, that would be pretty sick. But you're actually claiming there's nothing to express regret for? That's disgusting.

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Um no..... I don't have to express regret or apologize for slavery, because I didn't have anything to do with it... and neither did my elected representatives.... And to make the argument that something good can't come from an evil act, or that an evil institution once abolished can't lead to positive results of such a magnitude that they far exceed the evil that precipitated them is absurd.

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Good for you. I don't feel personally guilty or responsible for slavery either. That's not what I objected to in your post. The disgusting thing you said was "Shouldn't we be appreciating [slavery] for all the wonderful things its done for our country, and for the Africans that were brought here?"

First of all, the assertion that the world is better with slavery than without it is pretty ridiculous. Sure, millions of slaves were brutalized for their entire lives, etc., but hey, we have jazz! Riiight... Second, even if that assertion is true, that doesn't make slavery any less evil.

And even if you are blameless, the state of Virginia certainly is not. Besides being at the forefront of promoting the institution of slavery while it existed, it also, within living memory, promoted racist policies designed to perpetuate the inferior economic status of ex-slaves. And to make it even more reasonable, they're not even apologizing, they're expressing regret.