Dr. Samuel B. Hoff is a George Washington Distinguished Professor Emeritus and an internship director at Delaware State University. He also served as the chair of the Dover Human Relations Commission for five years.
This calendar year combines several historic milestones. It is the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence. It is the centennial of the first public commemoration of African American history, “Negro History Week,” founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. It is also the 10th anniversary of the passage and signing of the slavery apology resolution in Delaware. This piece traces the latter event and what has transpired since.
The Dover Human Relations Commission first passed a slavery apology resolution in 2007. However, Dover City Council chose to table the matter that year. In 2010, when the resolution passed the DHRC again, amid wide popular support, City Council narrowly approved the resolution. The resolution was sent to the Delaware General Assembly for action. By that year, eight states and both chambers of U.S. Congress had already issued slavery apologies.
Unfortunately, the local momentum for action did not transfer to the state legislature for several years. But, in 2015, several prominent groups and individuals simultaneously reinvigorated the slavery apology effort, resulting in its formal introduction in the General Assembly. In early 2016, both chambers passed the resolution in near-unanimous fashions. Then-Gov. Jack Markell, who had signaled his backing of such a measure early in his initial term, signed the slavery apology measure Feb. 10, 2016. Delaware became the ninth state to apologize for its role in perpetuating slavery.
There was every reason to believe that Black progress in a multitude of areas would continue. In Delaware, overall African American population has grown over 2% over the last 10 years, with Black homeownership up 3% and median income up almost 3.5%. But those positive indexes are mitigated when compared to other groups, and problems such as the dearth of Black representation in the state judiciary remain. Meanwhile, it took eight years after Delaware’s slavery apology for another state to approve a similar measure.
At the national level, the last decade has witnessed a plethora of court decisions, government policies and events that have gutted Black gains achieved over generations. These include Supreme Court rulings against affirmative action and abortion rights, attacks on voting procedures meant to intimidate minorities and too many instances of police brutality affecting African American citizens. Perhaps the increase in Black support for Donald Trump from his first to second bid for the White House signaled a rapprochement. The Trump team has responded by terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, disproportionately firing Black leaders in the military and independent agencies, trying to browbeat states into mid-decade redistricting meant to stack the deck against minority interests and dismantling federal control of education.
To some, the whole exercise of apologizing for slavery is not only unneeded but an insult to those who lived when it occurred. That is opinion, but historical facts don’t change. Or do they? In its first year, the second Trump administration has made unabashed moves to hide, deface, demean and destroy Black history at national sites, from museums to cemeteries.
The solution, as always, is education, but that cannot be sustained without good teachers, necessary resources and an unwavering commitment to the unvarnished truth.
As we commemorate both Black History Month and America250 in 2026, it is hoped that the real spirit of ’76 shines through. The part about every person being created equal. The part about freedom. The reminder that Black history is American history.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
