NEWS

Delaware slavery apology request gains support

Jonathan Starkey
The News Journal

Delaware's Human Relations Commission, in a special meeting on Tuesday, voted to urge Gov. Jack Markell and state lawmakers to issue a formal apology for slavery, providing additional momentum for the governor to sign an apology proclamation.

Harmon Carey attends the Wilmington location of the video-conferenced Delaware State Human Relations Commission meeting Tuesday where the commission voted to endorse a state apology for slavery.

The commission, a state panel charged with promoting positive relationships among racial and ethnic groups, left little doubt about its position, voting unanimously and without debate.

Commissioners plan to send a letter to Markell urging that he sign a proclamation next month.

"It's the least we can do," said Steve Elkins, executive director of Camp Rehoboth and a commissioner who motioned for Tuesday's vote. "It's time we own up. People have supported things that had a horrendous effect on other human beings. It's time for us to say we apologize, that we as a society would have ever done something like that."

Harmon R. Carey, founder and executive director of the Afro-American Historical Society of Delaware, has led the effort seeking a formal apology and was in Wilmington for Tuesday's meeting of the commission. Afterward, Carey said he was "elated" by the panel's unanimous support.

"They didn't make a political decision. They made a moral decision," Carey said, adding that a proclamation signed by Markell in apology for slavery "would be the most historic and humanitarian proclamation ever issued by the state of Delaware."

Commissioners and activists seeking an apology hope Markell will sign a proclamation on Dec. 6, to mark the 150th anniversary of the final ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery.

Members of the public and commission members attend a brief meeting of Delaware State Human Relations Commission Tuesday at the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington where the commission voted to endorse a state apology for slavery.

The 24-member commission works to increase awareness about civil rights and handles federal Fair Housing Act complaints and other allegations of discrimination.

Markell has said he would consider the request, but a proclamation does not appear likely before the General Assembly returns to Dover in January. Earlier this month, Markell signed a posthumous pardon for Delaware abolitionist Samuel D. Burris, who was convicted 168 years ago of helping slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad.

Burris, a free black man, was sentenced to 10 months in jail for aiding a young woman fleeing from slavery in Kent County to Philadelphia.

"As the governor made clear at the recent pardon ceremony for Sam Burris, he believes we must address this past grave injustice," said Markell spokesman Jonathon Dworkin. "He is looking forward to our work with the Legislature on this important issue."

Delaware also was an important link in the Underground Railroad, which ushered slaves north in the mid- to late-1800s. A key figure was abolitionist Thomas Garrett, who in Wilmington worked with Harriet Tubman.

Gov. Jack Markell pardons Delaware abolitionist

Delaware House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said legislation is already circulating among Democratic lawmakers that includes language that would apologize for slavery.

Schwartzkopf said any legislation should also include legal language that would prevent the apology from serving as a rationale for legal action demanding financial reparations from the state for descendants of slaves. With that language, he said an apology should find support in the Legislature.

Congress issued a similar apology in 2009 with similar legal language aimed at preventing reparations. At least six states have issued apologies for their role in slavery, according to figures from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"Anybody who has any common sense would know slavery was bad, and it's a black mark for not just our state and any state that had slavery," Schwartzkopf said Tuesday night.

The 24-member commission works to increase awareness about civil rights and handles federal Fair Housing Act complaints and other allegations of discrimination.

Roy Sudler Jr., a Dover city councilman and state human relations commissioner, said a proclamation signed by Delaware's governor would help with a "healing process."

"Being an African-American male myself, I understand that need," Sudler said. "It's part of a healing process that's going to help all African-Americans to heal and move forward and show good faith for the state of Delaware. It may sound like something very small. But it's huge to African-Americans."

Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.