ATLANTA, March 9 (UPI) -- The speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives says the state should not apologize for U.S. slavery.
Republican Glenn Richardson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that no one in office now in the state was around when slavery was legal in the United States.
"Maybe I just blanketly apologize to everyone for everything I've ever done," he added.
The Georgia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held a news conference this week to demand an official apology for the enslavement of African-Americans. Democratic state Rep. Al Williams, head of the Legislative Black Caucus, plans to introduce a resolution, although Richardson said it will not pass this year unless the legislature changes its rules.
Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, a Republican, was less hostile to the idea of an apology than Richardson.
"If saying 'I'm sorry' for something that neither I nor my relatives did to people who are not slaves makes somebody feel better, then I am comfortable doing it," Johnson said.
Gov. Sonny Purdue has so far made no comment.
