California Apologies for Slavery

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

Quick question straight out of the gate — how many states in the United States of America have formally apologized for slavery? What do you think? Would you guess 40 states out of 50 states? Nope. Guess again. Well, since our beloved country is equally divided these days, you might roll the dice on 25 out of 50 states? Nope. I will give you one more guess. 20 you say? I will tell you this sunny afternoon in San Diego, the land of plantations and overseers and slave masters/double smile.

Only 8 states out of 50 have taken the plunge and issued formal apology — (1) Virginia (makes total sense), (2) North Carolina (ditto), (3) Louisiana (I get it), (4) Florida (southern sins), (5) Maryland (no stranger to slavery), (6) New Jersey (a reach but live and let live), (7) Illinois (nope), and drum roll please…(8) California! California Issues Formal Apology for Slavery

In this essay, I will suggest that the Free State of California may be the last place that should issue a formal apology for American slavery. Logic and reality have failed us here in the Golden State. Let’s explore why.

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I use the phrase “Golden State” with a sense of irony. It was the California Gold Rush that attracted Free Blacks to California for a shot at the American Dream. Did you know that America’s first black millionaire, William Leidesdorff (1810 - 1848), immigrated from the Danish West Indies to San Francisco where he founded and developed a number of businesses, including the first steamboat in the San Francisco Bay? The discovery of gold on his property made Leidesdorff a millionaire.

As a side note, beware of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when it comes to Black History. AI records the first black millionaire as Mary Pleasant. This move is political and enables the algorithm to label Pleasant as the Rosa Parks of the 19th century. Nice try AI. It is disturbing that history can be distorted and rewritten so easily.

Pioneer black lawyer Mifflin Gibbs joined the Gold Rush and, despite prejudice and bigotry, became prosperous from founding his Emporium for Boot and Shoes store at 638 Clay Street in San Francisco where he sold imported shoes and boots to gold prospectors. He established the state’s only black newspaper and was generally recognized as an influential individual in his place and time. Was there senseless prejudice and bigotry on the streets? Yes. Did this deter Gibbs from black enterprise? Not on your life.

Another free black sought out opportunity in the Bay Area around the same time. History records that “only months after moving to Boston, Richard Wesley (father of the first black graduate of Harvard College Richard T. Greener) left to participate in the California gold rush.” Boston may well have been the best place in antebellum America for a free black to live. More pioneer black lawyers called Boston home before the Civil War than any other place in America. And yet Wesley sought out more opportunity in California.

My point is Free Black people who lived during a time of slavery perceived California as a land of opportunity. Leidesdorff, Gibbs and Wesley were not relocating to Richmond, Virginia or Charleston, South Carolina to pursue the American Dream. They were moving across the country to a place of opportunity, a Free State.

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If one lives in curiosity, one will ask questions. The first question that came to my mind this morning was what is the purpose of an apology? What are the aims of a proper apology? I turned to a dependable source for the answer, not AI or Wikipedia. I turned to Psychology Today. I cannot trust AI or Wikipedia when it comes to Black History anymore. I have to do my own due diligence. Pity the young school children who lack over half a century of independent knowledge in Black American history. They are vulnerable to manipulation of our past for political reasons.

The young may come of age without roots in our genuine past.

In the article True Apologies by Lybi Ma (September 14, 2014), I learned about the essential ingredient of a true apology. A true apology keeps the focus on your actions—and not on the other person’s response. It is important to “[o]wn your behavior and apologize for it, period.”

Did my State of California issue a proper apology for American slavery? Well, let’s explore the question.

California was specifically admitted to the Union in 1848 as a Free State. This was a big deal, given the scramble for power between Free States and Slave States. Much like today, there was a razor-thin balance between Free and Slave States highlighted by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. When it came time to consider the admission of California, it was quite a contentious matter in Congress. Would California be Free or would California be Slave?

It required the political genius of U.S. Senators Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas and U.S. President Millard Fillmore to hobble together a grand compromise between southern and northern interests. In return for acceptance of California’s application to be admitted to the Union as a FREE STATE, the Fugitive Slave Act would be aggressively enforced. Let me repeat for those in the back of the classroom — California made the conscious and deliberate decision that it was a FREE STATE upon application for statehood.

This self-identity distinguished California from my home state of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and other southern states. “…the Constitution adopted by the California Constitutional Convention in October 1849 in preparation for admission into the Union specifically prohibited slavery in the new state.”

So, what does California have to apologize for? What does a FREE STATE after due and deliberate consideration of its self-identity have to apologize for? In fact, I would suggest we should commend California for choosing freedom despite temptations to the contrary in 1849. On September 9, 1850, President Fillmore signed the bill into law accepting California as the newest state, a FREE STATE. The Civil War was averted for another ten years.

What are we doing people when we cherry pick from the past, distort reality, erase the ethos of the Golden State as the promised land for antebellum free blacks and denigrate the memory of white convention delegates who chose freedom in 1849 over slavery? What is there to apologize for?

Because California took no action as a state in 1849 or 1850 for which it should apologize, what does this mean for the formal apology issued hours ago?

The apology is meaningless. It means nothing. There are over 2 million black Americans who live in the Golden State. Name me 500 black people who are running and crying in the streets screaming Thank You, Jesus. California has apologized for slavery. Thank you Lord!

Silence. No one cares. I linked to a Black Enterprise magazine article about the apology. I did not see one comment. I didn’t see any thumbs up or thumbs down. An apology from on high does not matter in 2024.

Conclusion: Is it appropriate for some states to issue formal apologies for American slavery? Yeah, Virginia should since slavery arguably began on the Eastern Shore with Anthony Johnson. Still love you just the same, Virginia. And you too North Carolina. Slavery in North Carolina According to 23 and Me and research into the L2a1 maternal haplogroup, my earliest maternal ancestor was an enslaved Fulani brought by the British to North Carolina in the 1700s. That was a long time ago, so I keep things in perspective. Same goes for Maryland, the infamous birthplace of Frederick Douglas.

California is different. It offends me that a FREE STATE apologizes for slavery. In 1849, the state leaders took stand up actions against slavery. Why else would free black enterprising men like Leisdesdorff, Gibbs and Wesley come to the Golden State to seek their fortune? We should give credit where credit is due. We dishonor our pioneer ancestors, black and white, when we create a narrative to rationalize an apology for slavery. It reads fake to me.

This is an important point — the Psychology Today essay says a true apology should not be offered to make one feel better if it risks making the hurt party feel worse. On this score, the apology fails. An apology for slavery reminds me of slavery as a descendant of slavery. I don’t need that remembrance in my daily life. Do you? Slavery Blockers “Not all apologies are welcome.” For me, those behind this apology should find another way to work out their demons. I don’t want to hear an apology for slavery from FREE STATE lawmakers.

I suspect this apology for slavery is a predicate for future corrective action such as reparations. The idea is apologize in 2024 and let people know one plans to pay in 2025 and beyond. We all should be fearless in opposing reparations for slavery, the next foreseeable step for a true apology. $30 (Bucks) for Reparations The Crystal Ball of Reparations A Reparations Debate with Chat GPT-4 Free Black Slave Owners and Reparations But They Just Can’t Kill The Beast