APACHE JUNCTION AZ [IFS] -- In his recent speech at "AmericaFest" on December 21, 2025, Vice President JD Vance stated, "In the United States of America, you don't have to apologize for being white anymore."
While there hasn't been a single "day of apology" by every white citizen, the U.S. government—acting on behalf of the nation—has issued several formal apologies for systemic racial injustices.
1. Formal Apologies by the U.S. Congress
For Slavery and Jim Crow (2008 & 2009): The House of Representatives (2008) and the Senate (2009) both passed resolutions apologizing for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery" and the subsequent Jim Crow laws.
To Native Americans (2009): Tucked into a defense spending bill, the U.S. government officially apologized to all Native Peoples for "many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect."
To Japanese Americans (1988): President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which offered a formal apology and $20,000 in restitution to survivors of the WWII internment camps, citing "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."
To Native Hawaiians (1993): Known as the "Apology Resolution," Congress apologized for the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
2. State-Level Apologies
Starting in the mid-2000s, several states issued their own formal apologies for their roles in promoting and protecting the institution of slavery.
Virginia (2007): The first state to express "profound regret."
Alabama, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, and New Jersey:
All passed similar legislative apologies between 2007 and 2009.
3. Executive and Institutional Apologies
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1997): President Bill Clinton formally apologized to the survivors and their families for the unethical government-funded medical study on African American men.
Federal Indian Boarding Schools (2024): President Joe Biden issued a historic formal apology for the "sin" of the federal Indian boarding school system that forcibly assimilated Indigenous children for decades.
The Context of the Current Debate
The disagreement usually isn't about whether a "literal" apology occurred, but about what that apology implies.
Vance's Perspective: Argues that contemporary white Americans should not feel a sense of "inherited guilt" or be subjected to policies (like DEI) that he views as discriminatory.
Critics' Perspective: Argue that apologies are hollow without systemic changes or reparations, and that acknowledging history is not about personal "apology" but about addressing ongoing disparities.
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