In today’s Washington Post, this article covers the efforts of a conman taking money from poor rural blacks to file slavery reparation claims. What I found particularly interesting
is this quote:
Why are black people in America entitled to reparations? There is not a single ex-slave alive today, nor any children of ex-slaves, and any grandchildren are in rest homes. So where is the entitlement? Should the Federal government just hand over cash because your ancestors were mistreated? Shouldn’t African governments also fork over since slaves were sold to the white man by their own people? For how many more generations will black Americans be able to play victim? No doubt in 2200 we’ll be hearing demands for forty acres and a robot.
[Heavy-handed sarcasm follows]
And if we hand over reparations to descendants of slaves, let’s fix all the injustices wrought by America. First, let’s hand back the Southwest to Mexico since the U.S. stole it in a blatant land grab. Next, we should pay reparations to the descendants of Chinese laborers who were treated badly by railroad companies in the 1860s. Finally, all the white people in America should leave for Europe and hand the keys to the U.S. to representatives of Native American tribes.
Heck, I want to get on the free money gravy train, too! On my dad’s side, my ancestors were forced out of their homes in Alabama over the Trail of Tears into Oklahoma. On my mom’s side, I should get compensation for property set free by the invading Yankee army. Don’t the descendants of ex-slaveowners deserve compensation for lost property? And while we’re on the subject ofd slavery, maybe President Mubarak of Egypt will authorize reparations to Israel for that pre-Exodus business.
[/sarcasm]
Slavery was a horrific crime against humanity, but the victims of slavery are all dead, and the proponents of reparations are basically asking for money just for breathing.
In addition, the demand for money is simple-minded. You want to fix the legacy of slavery? Give kids in the inner city a fighting chance for a decent education. Provide tax breaks for chain stores that open new shops in poor areas. Provide public transportation links from poor areas to the suburbs so poor people can have access to decent jobs.
I have mixed feelings on the entire issue of reparations, but I would note that the OP contradicts itself in its concluding paragraph:
If there is a “legacy of slavery” that you argue needs to be fixed, then while the slaves themselves might be dead, its victims are alive today. And to forestall the inevitable question, no, I don’t think it’s a needless semantic distinction.
The OP does not contradict itself. While the specific victims of slavery are dead, the effects are still felt in our society. However, that does not entitle anyone to free money. America has a problem with racism and discrimination. Handing out cash to people who were never slaves themselves isn’t the way to fix it.
And when I talk about racism, nobody is off the hook. To hijack my own thread a bit, black Americans are just as guilty of racial hatred as white people; for example, the anti-Semitism of Louis Farrakan and the Nation of Islam and the anti-Korean violence in the L.A. riots in 1992.
This is such a bad idea, I’ve got to wonder where in the Sheol it came from! Is it some agent provocatuer seeking to belittle Jesse Jackson, etc? Nobody in his/her right mind thinks this idea has any merit. But it does provide a mighty point for fulmination by reactionaries seeking to embarass the Forces of Light and Progress. “Why, look, Liberals are so stupid…”
Does anybody claim credit for this amazingly stupid suggestion? Where did this turkey come from? Got a couple of sneaky hunches…
Ya know, I keep thinking that the idea of slavery reparations is being driven by self-interested greed, regardless of the merit of the claims, the workability of the solution, or the resulting effects on race relations rather than an attempt at redressing past social injustices. Naaaaah! Surely it’s just a bunch of folks seeking to balance the karmic wheel! :rolleyes:
I think the Caucasoids who support the idea of reparations are lying low until they can think up a politically palatable way to sell it.
I have the perfect solution - the Guilt Checkoff.
It would be similar to the campaign finance checkoff on your income tax form - the one that allows you to pledge money for public financing of political attack ads. The Guilt Checkoff would allow those who feel they’ve benefited unfairly by race to submit extra monies (in addition to their regular tax payments) to a Reparations Fund. There could be several beneficiaries on a rotating basis.
This makes it easy for the guilt-ridden to ease their consciences for the 300 Years of Oppression, and everyone else can go right on using their Whites Get Out of Jail Free cards.
So, you mean to see today’s problems solved, I have to wait 150+ years? Damn. We’ve been arguing about slavery in this country since before we got free of England. You’d think we’d put all this behind us sooner or later.
No, wait. The Israels and Palestians have been arguing and fighting over that spot of land for, what, 3000+ Years?
This business refered to in the OP has been around for years, and it’s proponents are either in on the con or deluded themselves.
Since I’m a Jew, I demand reperations from Egypt for their oppression of my ancestors.
See how rediculous it sounds now? I thought so.
No black person in the US today has ever been enslaved, nor has a white person in the US today ever enslaved anyone. This does not make the existence of slavery in the past right, but giving away money does not solve the problems that people face in the present.
You’re all right, but there’s an even blunter answer to anyone you can find seriously pushing the claim: America paid reparations for slavery already, in the early 1860’s, with over half a million lives and a devastated economy.
There’s another available reply: If you’re that upset about slavery, as you should be, then take a look at what’s happening in Sudan, and to a lesser degree in Pakistan, and then tell yourself that you have a greater claim to reparations than those people. If unconvinced, look into the sweatshops full of Chinese and Mexican illegal immigrant workers right here in this country and identify the difference. Slavery is still taking place NOW, and the passions of the “reparationists” would be better spent fighting it.
If the powers that be ever agree on whether reparations are due to the descendants of slaves, I hope they decide who these reparations are going to come from. I think the parties responsible for slavery in the first place should pay; namely, the descendants of the black slavers in Africa that captured and sold their own countrymen into slavery. Without their collaboration, it is doubtful that black slavery could have every reached the scale that it did. Of course, the governments of the Congo, Gambia and the Ivory Coast don’t have nearly the deep pockets that white America has, so they couldn’t expect very much. But, hey, it’s not the money, it’s the principle, right?
