CA Reparations Committee Wants Apology For Reagan's "Welfare Queen" Term

Above, Ronald and Nancy Reagan at the Town & Country
Hotel in San Diego, September 1979. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Democrat Party, who has a stranglehold on California's state government, has sunk into a deeper abyss of stupidity with their "reparations task force".

Along with recommending paying millions to the state's blacks, they want a formal state apology for then-Gov. Ronald Reagan's coinage of  the term, "welfare queen". The term was used in relation to people who engaged in welfare fraud in the state.

From Fox News:

California's reparations task force is calling on the Golden State to issue a formal apology for former Gov. Ronald Reagan coining the term "welfare queen" and for a disproportionately low number of Black Californians working as doctors and lawyers as part of a broader effort to make amends for slavery and racism.

The task force, which was created by state legislation signed by incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, formally approved over the weekend its final recommendations to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to the governor's desk to be signed into law.

Among the recommendations is for California to issue a formal apology enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor for slavery and anti-Black racism.

"The legislature must apologize on behalf of the state of California and the people of California for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and genocide of Africans who were enslaved and their descendants through public apology, requests for forgiveness, censure of state perpetrators, and tributes to victims," the task force writes in its proposal.

California never allowed slavery in its history, but pro-reparations advocates argue the state still worked to uphold the institution and discriminated in other ways against Black Americans.

I'm glad I moved out of that crazy state!

To read more, go here. 

Apology

Today, I had the task of making an apology over some things that were said out of anger related to something that was totally wrong and off-base.

Once I found that I made a tremendous error, I immediately apologized for the wrong. It was direct, to the point, without any "ifs" or "buts" in it:

Do you have an ostrich sized crow around? So, it appears that I f***** up royally and I owe you a major gargantuan apology. I admit to be completely wrong. I am truly very sorry.

After tending to an errand at the bank, I thought that this would make for a good blog topic.

I then Googled "Art of Apology" and found several articles on the subject. One of which is at the website of Psychology Today. Bear in mind that I read it a half hour or so after making my apology and, according to the article, I made the apology in the right way.

I have highlighted the parts that my apology contained and not contained.

They wrote:

So how to apologize? Here is my cardinal rule for how to frame an apology: genuine apologies never contain the words "if" or "but." For example, never say, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," or "I apologize for being insensitive, but such-and-such happened earlier ..." Those words have the effect of rescinding the apology by either calling the injury into doubt or assigning true responsibility elsewhere. I've often heard people tell me, "I'm sorry if I came across too strong in what I said to you," or something similar; those apologies always felt half-hearted. I notice that once I decide I've done something wrong and begin to frame an apology, "if" or "but" always appears in the first draft.

Second, keep it simple and straight-forward then step back. I've heard other advice which holds that any genuine apology must include the asking of forgiveness. I completely disagree. In those cases where I've been hurt and eventually received an apology, even in those rare cases where it did not contain the word "if" or "but," by the time the person apologized I was too angry to offer genuine forgiveness in the moment. It takes a while for an apology to sink in; you have to leave the person room to get over feeling angry with you for the hurt. Besides, asking for forgiveness demands something of the other person -- that he or she immediately exonerate you by putting an end to your feelings of guilt and shame. By asking for forgiveness, you once again shift responsibility off your own shoulders.

An apology should be a completely one-sided communication, an acknowledgement of guilt and regret on your side, asking nothing in return. You don't have to grovel. Just give your apology and accept that it may take time to repair the damage.

Nobody wants to admit when they're wrong, but when a big mistake or error in judgement is made, immediately apologize for the wrong(s) committed. Just accept your responsibility. It is the right thing to do, especially for someone who actually did nothing wrong.

To read more, go here.