St. Louis Activist Debates the Question of Apologizing for Slavery Before National Audience

St. Louis Republican businessman and activist Dwight Billingsly appeared on the Paula Zahn Now show on CNN last week. Billingsly, a brilliant man with degrees from Harvard and Yale, debated the head of Virginia's Legislative Black Caucus on the question, "Should the Queen apologize for slavery? Billingsly's appearance was sparked by this column he wrote for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I never cease to be amazed by black people today who obsess about slavery. It's over, gone, done and can't come back, and yet there are black state legislators offering resolutions through which their respective states can apologize for slavery.

I find it funny because nobody who was involved with slavery, of course, is alive today. What good is an apology that doesn't involve any of the principals to the act? If you hurt me, I want an apology from you. If I don't get it, I'll get over it and persevere. That's been the history of black people since slavery: We've persevered and achieved especially well here in America. An apology from your great, great grandson to my great, great grandson doesn't interest me.