There is no question that many of us are astonished to see a Black Presidential Candidate of a major party in our lifetime. Now comes another shocker, particularly to African Americans - a vote of the US House of Representatives on July 28, 2008 “apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow.” Little noted by the media, many of us would not have expected this in our lifetime. It took a white Democratic Lawmaker, Rep. Steve Cohen from Tennessee, to put the measure on the books. Black Judiciary Committee Chairman, John Conyers, D-Mich., had introduced the measure every year for over 10 years, to no avail.

Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and all the countries that participated in the slave trade have apologized, except the US. Five US states have apologized separately and even African countries, such as Ghana, have apologized for being a conduit for slavery. Yet, the US Congress has issued apologies and reparations to Japanese Americans interned during World War II, native Hawaiians for the overthrow of their kingdom in 1893 and American Indians and Alaskan Aleuts for the taking of their lands. “The 40 acres and a mule voted by Congress for freed slaves were never realized, but with an admission of “wrong doing,” the racial mending for the masses can go forward,” states Al Williams, President of the African American Historical and Cultural Society.

Watching the implementation of affirmative action in this country, other countries have considered it an effective tool to level the playing field for its citizens. President Lula of Brazil has been boldly calling for affirmative action for its 96 million citizens of African descent, the second largest Black population in the world. A few years back I hosted Black Vice Governor Silva of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Bay Area and former San Francisco Supervisor Willie Kennedy said that it was the best “affirmative action speech that she had ever heard.” In Malaysia, a progressive Asian country of 27 million population and the world’s tallest building, affirmative action is for the ethnic-Malay majority where the East Indian and Chinese minorities have dominated the economy. Since implementation of affirmative action policies, the Malays participation in the economy has gone from 2.4% with deadly race riots to 18.9% today.

Yet today, African Americans have a Black Presidential Candidate, several Black billionaires and do less than 1% of California State contracting. As an example, on the new $5 billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, African Americans have received only 5 contracts out of 450 contracts awarded to small businesses. “Such inequities cannot continue!” states Edie Dillard, President of the Oakland Black Board of Trade. “If something isn’t done for inclusion, like affirmative action, look for a replay, in some form, of the racial riots of the late 60’s and 70’s in California,” he continued.