One Word Politicos Try To Avoid: Sorry

Knowing that a government apology can help heal wounds that are decades or even centuries old, Georgia this month took steps toward becoming the latest state to issue a resolution apologizing for forced sterilization of mental patients and prisoners from 1937 to 1970. But saying sorry is often complicated by talk of reparations. Here’s a look at how some attempts at official atonement have panned out in the U.S.

Slavery Virginia’s house of delegates this month passed a resolution, led by delegate DONALD MCEACHIN, expressing “profound regret” for slavery–the closest a state has come to apologizing.

Internment Camps In 1988, President RONALD REAGAN signed a bill that apologized and granted reparations to Japanese Americans forced to live in relocation centers during World War II.

Hawaiian Overthrow President BILL CLINTON signed a resolution in 1993 apologizing for the U.S.’s deposing Hawaii’s Queen Liliuokalani in 1893, which soon led to annexation.

Native-American Atrocities In 2005, Kansas’ SAM BROWNBACK led the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to approve an apology to Native Americans for past abuses, but the bill never got a floor vote.