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-Summary/Reaction: This article is about Alabama Governor Kay Ivey who apologized for doing blackface while she was in college. Ivey stated an apology after a 1967 radio interview that had recently surfaced in which her ex-husband, Ben LaRavia, describes her actions at Auburn University. In the interview, LaRavia states that Ivey was wearing coveralls and black paint all over her face while pretending to search for used cigars. She states,"While some may attempt to excuse this as acceptable behavior for a college student during the mid-1960s, that is not who I am today, and it is not what my Administration represents all these years later." The Alabama NAACP issued a statement calling for her resignation saying that her actions are not forgivable. However, Alabama Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, who is African American, considers that although what she did was disturbing, he accepts her apology and considers her opening up as a "teaching moment". My reaction to this article is positive because I believe that it was brave for a governor from the South, especially from Alabama, to publicly open up about her discriminatory actions and apologizing for them, as most people instead would stay quiet about these matters.
-History Connection: I can connect this to the upbringing of blackface after the Civil War when white performers would play characters that dehumanized and degraded African Americans. Blackface rose in popularity due to the restrictions that were being placed on former slaves and other African Americans.
-Question for Discussion: Should the U.S. states apologize for the wrong doings towards African Americans that occurred in the past, or should things like blackface just be simply accepted as part of American history and not needing any apologies?
I believe they should apologize for their past wrong doings because it meant alot more back then we know today.
ReplyDeleteI think that moving on is an important part of forgiving. A lot of current hate between social groups comes from the past. I believe if all forgive and move on, we can break social barriers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about the need to move on in order to forgive. Hate can't keep staying in the present and as to diminish at some time in the future.
DeleteEven though what she did was wrong, she apologised for her actions, so I believe she should be forgiven. We need to accept that people change. This governor may have been a racist at one point in time, but now she's not. Call me a nerd, but even Darth Vader was redeemed and got to go to heaven.
ReplyDeleteI feel that there is no way to change or fix the past only the future. But I think that the history of how life was with African Americans should always be remembered.
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