1. Who are the people mentioned in the article?

2. What did they apologise for?

3. What racial issues are mentioned?

4. Do you think it is right to apologise for past mistakes/behaviour?

5. Do you think it is enough to reset things? Why?

6. Do you think it can help building a post-racial society?

 

 

 

[…] Over the past decade, political and religious leaders have mastered the public act of contrition, apologising for things they did badly, things they should have done differently, and even for things done by their predecessors long before they were born.

In March, on the 10^th anniversary of the brutal war in Rwanda that left an estimated 800,000 dead, South African President Thabo Mbeki publicly apologised for failing to prevent the bloodshed. “We owe the people of Rwanda a sincere apology, which I now extend in all sincerity and humility,” he said.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II sent a 'virtual' apology by e-mail for the “shameful injustices committed by Roman Catholic clergy to indigenous peoples” in Australia, New Zealand and the islands of the South Pacific.

Other modern-day leaders have also taken it upon themselves to say sorry for historic events. As American president in the 1990s, Bill Clinton publicly apologised to America's black communities for slavery. […]

Some nations have institutionalised the public apology, maintaining a state of almost perpetual repentance. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission allows former politicians, policemen and ANC militants to confess to crimes they committed during the Apartheid era and to apologise to their victims. Australia has an annual 'National Sorry Day', where everyone from politicians to the public can get involved in activities that 'acknowledge' earlier governments' mistreatment of indigenous populations, particularly the forcible removal of such peoples from their ancient lands.

What's behind this clamour to apologise? Are these really sincere expressions of regret and a promise to do things differently in the future – or cynical attempts by politicians and others to display their emotional and moral credentials for the world to see?

John Bond, Secretary of Australia's National Sorry Day Committee, believes that sincere public apologies can have a positive impact across society. He says: “In Australia, the apologies offered by state governments, churches and so on have done much to restore dignity to people from whom that dignity was wrenched. It has given them the hope that they have a part in Australian society.”

Others are less convinced that today's rush to utter the S-word for every crime and misdemeanour is a positive thing. Patrick West, author of Conspicuous Compassion, a critique of the rise of emotionalism over reason, thinks the impact of the apology is lessened when it is used so frequently. “Sorry has become the easiest word in society. We live in an emotionalised, confessional society in which to be seen to 'care' is very much in vogue – not so much to do good, but to be perceived to be doing good.” […]