Annapolis resident Brian Tucker doesn’t think the city should apologize for its role in slavery unless that apology carried weight.

“If slavery is over, let it die in the shadows,” Tucker, who is black, told the Annapolis City Council Monday night during a public hearing on a resolution that would have the city government apologize for its role in the slave trade.

“What will this document do? What goal does it achieve?” Tucker asked, adding that though he agreed the resolution would be symbolic, he felt it was “symbolism without substance.”

William Haley, the son of “Roots” author Alex Haley, seemed to agree.

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Though he said the resolution “will help,” Haley said modern-day racism is ingrained in American society; whites don’t realize they treat blacks poorly, and blacks don’t realize they unconsciously accept such treatment.

“Wrongs of great magnitude … cry out for a statement of regret,” said Michael Keller, chairman of the Annapolis Human Relations Commission.

Keller said the commission was unanimously in support of the resolution and that it could help “remove the stain of slavery” from Annapolis’ history.

Alderman Michael Christman, R-Ward 2, asked Keller what he felt the next step should be if the resolution passed.

Though Keller could not offer direction for the city government to take, he did refer to practices his organization has taken, such as promoting fair housing and assisting hate crime victims.

Resolution sponsor, Alderman Samuel Shropshire, D-Ward 7, said he hoped that the resolution would one day hang next to 1767 Annapolis newspaper advertisement for a slave auction in a museum he recently visited in Gambia, Africa, as a way for the city to say, “We’re sorry.”

Should the City Council approve the resolution at its May 14 meeting, it would call for a period of reflection in October.

mplum@baltimoreexaminer.com