Va. Lawmaker’s Slavery Remarks Draw Criticism
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
RICHMOND, Va. — A state legislator said black people “should get over” slavery and questioned whether Jews should apologize “for killing Christ,” drawing denunciations yesterday from stunned colleagues. Del. Frank Hargrove, 79, made his remarks in opposition to a measure that would apologize on the state’s behalf to the descendants of slaves.
In an interview published yesterday in the Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Va., Mr. Hargrove said slavery ended nearly 140 years ago with the Civil War and added, “Our black citizens should get over it.”
The newspaper also quoted him as saying, “Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?”
Black lawmakers swiftly denounced Mr. Hargrove’s comments.
“When somebody tells me I should just get over slavery, I can only express my emotion by projecting that I am appalled, absolutely appalled,” the head of the Legislative Black Caucus, Del. Dwight Jones, said.
Del. David Englin also criticized Mr. Hargrove’s remarks, recalling that his grandparents were driven from their homes in Poland “by people who believed that as Jews, we killed Christ.”
Mr. Hargrove told Mr. Englin that he didn’t care about Mr. Englin’s religion. “I think your skin was a little too thin,” he said.
