Apologizing for the sins of others

I found this item over at Midwest Conservative Journal:

Traditional African rulers should apologise for the role they played in the slave trade, a Nigerian rights group has said in a letter to chiefs.

“We cannot continue to blame the white men, as Africans particularly the traditional rulers, are not blameless,” said the Civil Rights Congress

The comments and Chris Johnson's take on it are very interesting. I post this here, because for some reason I can never get that site to accept my comments.

I used to think that apologizing for someone else's sins was ridiculous. And of course, in most cases, it is. It can be an elitist, pride issue - oh, look at me, I know so much better, I am so holy that I see the sin they didn't. And it is often tied up with current political agendas - such as take away money and property from some group I don't like because their great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather did something wrong. But there is a truth (often misused, but still a truth) that confessing the sins of others, whether of one's own ancestors or of ones' nation, etc. opens up the blessings of God. To speak and pray the truth of history into a situation clears not only the air but the spiritual forces surrounding a situation.