This critical essay explores the topic of slavery within the context of public apologies.
Drawing from both the historical lens of cultural memory (Le Goff, 1977/1992) and the critical race theory construct of interest convergence (Bell, 1987), the authors offer critical examination of the following questions: (1) Where do collective apologies fit in the narrative of slavery in the US? (2) What affordances might they offer to the social studies at the intersection of curriculum, instruction and the historical memory of enslavement? (3) What do apologies for slavery in the present potentially reveal about contemporary social and political relations as narratives? Central to the aims of this paper is an effort to situate recent engagements involving revisions to the historical memory of enslavement as US institutions attempt to atone and offer regrets for historical associations and affiliations with the Middle Passage and transatlantic slave trade
