# Give each black person 1 million and the economy **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2001, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334 "2001-04-01T03:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/21 "2001-04-03T21:18:01Z")
Hey, I’m half Jewish. My people have been getting hassled by the man before the first black man set foot in America. And we were slave in Eqyot which is part of Africa. Maybe all the Africans should pay US $1 million. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/22 "2001-04-04T05:25:09Z")
And why continue to discriminate against the families that still reside in the countries of their ethnic origin, those that had kin taken away from them and forced into slavery. Let’s give each of them $1 million also. I might add that not every African-American that lives in the US has an ancestor that was a slave. I’d also like to add that Africans were not the only race that were forced into slavery throug the ages. I’m sure there are some Asian families that wouldn’t mind reparation from when their menfolk were forced to build our railroads. Or the Jews that were slaves in Egypt, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2001, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/23 "2001-04-04T16:15:10Z")
Don’t forget the Slavs. That’s where the word Slave comes from: Slav. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/24 "2001-04-05T22:16:08Z")
“I’m sure there are some Asian families that wouldn’t mind reparation from when their menfolk were forced to build our railroads.” Huh!!! Nobody was forced to work on the construction of the U.S. railroads post-13th Amendment. (I’m not sure that slave labor was a big factor in the construction of pre-Civil War railroads, either.) The labor – white Irish as well as Asian Chinese – was strictly hired for wages. Their safety may not have been highly regarded, but that was par for the 19th Century course and has nothing to do with the voluntariness of the labor. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/25 "2001-04-07T21:26:50Z")
Well, um, I’m part Cherokee, and, like, we(not me personally, but my ancestors…or at least some of them, anyway) got our land taken away from us not once but twice…and I’m part Irish, so I deserve something for all the, um, Irish jokes…Oh yeah, from England, 'cause they, like, took our land from us (not me personally, but my ancestors…at least some of them, anyway) and made us work really hard for, like, very little money. And I’m part Greek, so I deserve something from, um, Italy and Turkey and Persia for like, conquering us (not me personally, but my ancestors…at least some of them, anyway) and all the Greek jokes. And Maybe the U.S. Government because we like, invented Democracy. And I’m part German, so the U.S. government owes me boucoup bucks for making my Grandfather and great-grandfather go over to Europe and shoot their second-cousins. Yeah, I should be reimbursed with interest for all the injustices done to any of my ancestors by parties now deceased. Because those injustices impact me like, psychologically, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/26 "2001-04-07T22:32:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer toward Mofo Rising \* > You’re saying that Native Americans were still being slaughtered as late as 1963? In Canada a great many aboriginal communities are in dire straits. Outright slaughter has never been much of an issue here, but community and individual relocation and economic isolation have been and still are at the root of tragic problems which are destroying individuals and communities. It has left us with third world conditions in many isolated reserves, where entire communities have lost their direction, and are being overcome by poverty and alcoholism. Ruination is not always at the end of a gunbarrel. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/27 "2001-04-08T02:13:11Z")
Since my son is Black, I like this idea a lot (hey, Nigel, can I borrow a few bucks for groceries?) Jill ---
**Author:** ![Sagasumono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Sagasumono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sagasumono)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/28 "2001-04-08T07:29:44Z")
Humm…I wonder if I would qualify for it,although they may deem I am not “black” enough _L_ Bah. Only repreations I want are free college (pipe dream) to be looked at with equal terms by all human beings and no more God-awful UPN shows imitating “me” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/29 "2001-04-08T19:55:07Z")
Interesting comment from Charles Krauthammer of _The Washington Post_, this weekend. (This link will expire around April 20.) [A Grand Compromise](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47012-2001Apr5.html) (Of course, my personal view–based on my personal view of Krauthammer–is that he sees this as a cheap way to “pay off” the black community. If, having distributed his “$50,000 per family of four,” we discover that most of the poorest (and least educated) have been robbed of their “reparation” and that many portions of society are still being denied genuine opportunities to enter the mainstream, Krauthammer and company will simply sit back and say “Tough. You had your chance and you blew it.” while patting themselves on the backs for having come out of the whole mess with their consciences satisfied.) ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/30 "2001-04-08T21:18:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by John Bredin_ > Huh!!! Nobody was forced to work on the construction of the U.S. railroads post-13th Amendment. (I’m not sure that slave labor was a big factor in the construction of pre-Civil War railroads, either.) The labor – white Irish as well as Asian Chinese – was strictly hired for wages. Their safety may not have been highly regarded, but that was par for the 19th Century course and has nothing to do with the voluntariness of the labor. My apologies for the misinformation. The Chinese were recruited and paid, and by that standard were not slaves. I was basing my statement on the fact that the conditions under which they worked were horrendous, and that they were restrained from leaving when seeking other employment. > [@](#): > > CHINESE STRIKE > > Strobridge and Crocker drove their men, especially the Chinese, mercilessly. It is on record that in June 1867, some 2,000 Chinese engaged in tunnel work in the high Sierras went on strike. However, the Chinese had no support from the other workers, and the strike collapsed in one week.[18] > > The workers asked for a raise to forty dollars per month. They wanted the workday in the open to be limited to ten hours and that in the tunnels reduced to eight. As one spokesman put it “Eight hours a day good for white men, all the same good for Chinamen.” They also objected to the right of the overseers of the company to either whip them or restrain them from leaving the road when they desired other employment." This strike so alarmed the railroad that they wired East for several thousand Negroes as replacements. [Site](http://cprr.org/Museum/Chinese_Syllabus.html) found here. While technically not fitting the true definition of slavery, it could be argued that regardless of receiving payment for services rendered, being forced to remain even when wishing to leave is, at the least, approaching slave like conditions. Again, I apologize to any I might have offended or misinformed. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334/31 "2001-04-09T04:02:10Z")
Let’s see… Black Americans get reparations from the American government for when the US enslaved their ancestors. But wait a minute! Americans were treated like dirt by the British crown (allegedly) right before the Revolution, so I guess the Brits should give us reparations for impressing our sailors and the like, and so they should foot the bill. But hold on, Britannia was conquered by the Romans soon after the turn of the century! Where are Romans originally from? ITALY! Those bloody Italians need to foot the bill! Wait a minute! Italy lost the colony of Ethiopia (I think) to Shaka Kahn, and African! What about the stuff that The ancestors of this guy need to pay??? Wait, that would make a loop. Let’s call it even and forget it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-each-black-person-1-million-and-the-economy/60334.md?page=1)