Butterfield applauds NC slavery apology


Washington, D.C. — Congressman G. K. Butterfield is applauding the North Carolina General Assembly for formally apologizing for the injustice, cruelty and brutality of slavery, and he is urging the U.S. House to take up similar legislation.

“An apology on the part of the federal government is important and long overdue, and there is a power in acknowledging error and mistake,” Butterfield said. “This cannot change the past, but it allows us to confront the ghosts of the past so that we can more easily move forward toward a brighter future.”

Butterfield said that he was pleased to see the North Carolina House and Senate pass formal apologies, and he has written to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to urge her to take up a similar bill in the House. Butterfield is an original co-sponsor of the bill, House Resolution 194, offered by Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.

Butterfield explained that much like the North Carolina apology, the federal House legislation acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow, and apologizes on behalf of the American people for the wrongs of those who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow. The bill has 50 co-sponsors and is currently under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee.

Butterfield sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to help move the legislation forward so that it could come to the House Floor for a vote soon.

Butterfield said there is growing interest across the country in such legislation. In addition to North Carolina, the state legislative bodies in Virginia and Maryland have already passed similar resolutions, and similar actions are also under consideration by lawmakers in Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Alabama and Vermont.

Butterfield also said that there is strong precedent for this legislation, including the apology approved by the U.S. Senate in 2005 for its failure to enact anti-lynching legislation when it was needed to protect people.

“Acknowledging this injustice will provide a strong and tangible opportunity to reflect on the cruelties of the past, highlight the unfinished work of the civil rights movement and remind everyone of the acute need to narrow the persistent and longstanding healthcare, education, opportunity and income gaps,” Butterfield said.