Kirk Douglas Fighting Online For Slavery Apology

Geoffrey Bennett/NPR

Legendary actor/producer Kirk Douglas, 91, says he will ask President Bush to make a formal, national apology for American slavery and segregation.

Geoffrey Bennett/NPR

Douglas maintains a blog on his MySpace page. "It's wonderful," he said, "because I am in contact with so many young people."

Advocates of a formal government apology for the bitter legacy of slavery and Jim Crow segregation have found support from an unlikely ally — legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas.

But Douglas says it should come as no surprise: "I have always been against prejudices ... especially in America," he told NPR's Tony Cox.

The 91-year-old actor and producer, perhaps best known for his starring role in the 1960 film Spartacus, has spent years campaigning for the cause — recently by way of a blog on his MySpace page.

Douglas said he was pleased last month when the House of Representatives issued an apology to Americans descended from African slaves. But the U.S. Senate and President Bush did not follow suit.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), who sponsored the measure, told News & Notes he hoped the apology "will start people to open their minds and hearts and to think about what's occurred in history and the ramifications of it."

But Douglas wants more. He thinks a formal, national apology is needed, and he wants President Bush to make it official.

"I have asked for signatures," he said of his online petition. "If I can get enough people, I will write the president of the United States."

'I Understand Oppression'

Some may wonder why Douglas is so deeply invested in urging the government to apologize for slavery.

"Well, first of all, I am a Jew," he explained. "My people were slaves several thousand years ago. Maybe I should have asked for an apology from Egypt. I don't know," he added, laughing. "I guess I have always been against oppression. I have seen oppression against me, so I understand that. But I think, to me, as I get older I get less selfish."

Douglas said his sense of activism grew during the McCarthy era of the 1950s. At the time, then-Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy targeted thousands of Americans, accusing them of being Communists or Soviet sympathizers. His series of witch hunts led to the Hollywood blacklist, which Douglas would later help end.

"I was always very active through the McCarthy era, when, I tell you, we were losing our freedom," Douglas said. "And I helped break the blacklist because … I hired Dalton Trumbo to write Spartacus. Everybody said don't do it, but I used his name on the screen. At that time, no one used a blacklisted writer."

But these days, Douglas — whose speech is impaired owing to a stroke he suffered in 1996 — says he enjoys communicating with fans and supporters online, while fighting for his cause.

"It's wonderful because I am in contact with so many young people," he said. "And then I am fascinated about their reaction to me. They know me, they know how old I am, and yet I have a contact with them. I think that keeps me young."