The Georgia NAACP on Wednesday called for Gov. Sonny Perdue to follow Virginia's lead and issue an apology for the state's role in slavery and Jim Crow.
Edward O. DuBose, president of the Georgia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said an apology would be "an acknowledgement that a wrong took place."
"An apology will not improve education, but an apology will acknowledge that whites benefited from the slavery and the inhumane treatment of African-Americans," DuBose said during a news conference at the state Capitol.
Perdue's office did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.
The proposal's chances in the Republican-led Legislature appeared uncertain Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) said, "I don't think I can apologize for something I haven't done. I don't agree with what my ancestors did. I believe what they felt and did was wrong, but I can't apologize for them. I can only apologize for me. While I am sorry for those past injustices, my efforts here have to be to make sure they don't ever occur again."
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, a Republican who serves as president of the Senate, said through a spokewoman that he prefers to look ahead rather than dwell on the past.
"Of course, [Cagle] regrets the awful legacy of slavery, but he is focused on the future and providing hope and opportunity for every citizen regardless of the past," said spokeswoman Jaillene E. Hunter.
The NAACP request comes a little more than a week after Virginia legislators offered an expression of "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery. Lawmakers in Missouri and Tennessee also have begun discussing whether to issue apologies in their states.
The Virginia resolution was approved unanimously in the state House and Senate, both controlled by Republicans.
"We have noticed that the Commonwealth of Virginia took a bold step to apologize for slavery and the effects of Jim Crow," DuBose said.
The NAACP is hoping for Perdue's support for the resolution and that the General Assembly will approve before it adjourns in April, DuBose said.
"[Perdue] has a great opportunity to add to his legacy," DuBose said on the steps of the state Capitol, beneath a statue of segregationist politician Tom Watson.
But time is short. Georgia lawmakers are on a break until March 19, which will be the 27th day of the legislative session. Under legislative rules, by the 30th day (March 27) all bills must have passed at least one of the chambers.
State Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway), head of Georgia's Legislative Black Caucus, said it plans to introduce a resolution March 19. The caucus' power has eroded since Democrats lost control of state government, but Williams said he anticipates bipartisan support.
"It is long past due," said Williams. "An apology is the least we can do for the same reason Japan apologized to China for atrocities during World War II. There can be no healing until someone says 'sorry'."
Reps. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) and Earnest "Coach" Williams (D-Avondale Estates), both African-Americans, attended Wednesday's news conference and promised to push the resolution.
Georgia was founded in 1732 by James Oglethorpe as a slave-free colony and remained that way until 1751. But between 1775 and 1783, the era of the American Revolution, African slaves constituted nearly half of Georgia's colonial population.
According to the 1830 Georgia Census, of the half-million people in the state, there were only 79,000 more whites than slaves. By 1850, as the population grew to 900,000, close to 400,000 Georgians were slaves.
Slavery was abolished at the end of the Civil War in 1865, but Georgia maintained Jim Crow laws, a system of institutionalized segregation and discrimination.
Violence accompanied Jim Crow. According to the Tuskegee University archives' records of lynchings between 1882 and 1964, Georgia recorded 531 lynchings over that time, second only to Mississippi's 581.
If Georgia issues an apology, DuBose and those who joined him Wednesday acknowledged that it would send only a symbolic message. Nationwide, critics have denounced such resolutions as a step toward reparations, financial settlements with the descendants of slaves.
"This opens up an honest dialogue," DuBose said.
Sonji Jacobs and Joni Zeccola contributed to this article.
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