Senate to slave descendants: 'Sorry'

Posted at 11:29 AM on June 18, 2009 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Race

The U.S. Senate today passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation. It now goes to the House.

Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin first introduced the measure years ago. Today he suggested, however, that it passed in light-year speed, by Senate time-keeping standards. "Let's face it, it's more meaningful to those who fought discrimination for years, many of them still alive today," Harkin said. "I mean we didn't really end segregation in this country until 1964, the Civil Rights Act."

Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas co-sponsored the resolution but it took more than a year of negotiations to agree on the language.

A film released last year suggests the reckoning should involve more than just the Senate...

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