Joe Biden has become the first president to issue a formal apology to those impacted by the horrors of the Native American boarding school system.He said it was unacceptable that it had taken so long for the government to apologize.."The federal government has never formally apologized for what happened, until today," Biden said. "I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize!"He said an apology was "long, long, long overdue," and that "there's no excuse" that it took until nearly 50 years after the last school closed to do so.."For our nation, it was too shameful to acknowledge," Biden lamented, "but just because history is silent doesn't mean it didn't take place. It did take place."He vowed to ensure the reality of what happened was told to current and future generations alike."We must know the good, the bad, the truth of who we are as a nation," he declared. "That's what great nations do ... We do not erase history; we make history, we learn from history, and we remember so we can heal."Biden noted that the apology was the culmination of decades of work by survivors of the system and their allies in government..The federal government established the American Indian boarding school system in 1819, and it ran all the way through until the 1970s. During that time, over 500 such institutions were set up with Washington's backing, though many were run by the church.Thousands of children were torn away from their families and forced to attend the schools, where they had their culture and language stripped and replaced by what the relevant authorities deemed necessary for the goal of assimilation. Conditions at the schools were often horrendous, and countless children were verbally, physically, and sexually abused. While many died, even those who survived bore the mental and physical scars of their experience for the rest of their lives.
Joe Biden has become the first president to issue a formal apology to those impacted by the horrors of the Native American boarding school system.He said it was unacceptable that it had taken so long for the government to apologize.."The federal government has never formally apologized for what happened, until today," Biden said. "I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize!"He said an apology was "long, long, long overdue," and that "there's no excuse" that it took until nearly 50 years after the last school closed to do so.."For our nation, it was too shameful to acknowledge," Biden lamented, "but just because history is silent doesn't mean it didn't take place. It did take place."He vowed to ensure the reality of what happened was told to current and future generations alike."We must know the good, the bad, the truth of who we are as a nation," he declared. "That's what great nations do ... We do not erase history; we make history, we learn from history, and we remember so we can heal."Biden noted that the apology was the culmination of decades of work by survivors of the system and their allies in government..The federal government established the American Indian boarding school system in 1819, and it ran all the way through until the 1970s. During that time, over 500 such institutions were set up with Washington's backing, though many were run by the church.Thousands of children were torn away from their families and forced to attend the schools, where they had their culture and language stripped and replaced by what the relevant authorities deemed necessary for the goal of assimilation. Conditions at the schools were often horrendous, and countless children were verbally, physically, and sexually abused. While many died, even those who survived bore the mental and physical scars of their experience for the rest of their lives.
