Savannah won't apologize for slavery

Savannah's majority-black City Council members say, they won't issue an apology on the city's behalf for its role in slavery.

Newly transcribed documents reveal the city's involvement in buying, selling and renting scores of African slaves to clear roads, pull weeds and do other tasks. The city also passed apartheid-like laws regulating blacks.

Council members says, they'll acknowledge those fact, but not express regret. Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson is part of the 5-4 black majority on council. He says, he'd feel differently about an apology if the council were majority white.

"The majority is the issue," Johnson says, "Who is in charge of the institution now? We have no guilt involved in that."

Johnson and other council members say, the issue's timing is also suspect. City elections are coming up and some challengers are raising the issue.

It now appears the council will pass a resolution acknowledging the city's role in slavery, but not apologizing for it, later this month.