I am not a descendant of R.E. Lee, but it seems to me that there must be several of his kinfolks around.
And I thought I would address the issue of reparations to former slaves or to african-americans, from a different angle.
Robert E. Lee had his estate confiscated by the Union during the Civil War. It served as the core for Arlington National Cemetery.
Were I an ancestor of the General, former head of West Point and President of Washington and Lee University, couldn’t I argue, “My family has given enough. We don’t owe any more.”
“If you want to evaluate the cost of real estate around Arlington, you’ll see that clearly I’m right.”
I think that the argument for slavery reparations is meager. If someone can explain why the above argument is less cogent, I would love to hear it.
If you ask me, “I simply don’t deserve to be punished for something I wasn’t responsible for and couldn’t have prevented due to the fact that it happened long before I was born.” is a much better argument.
Well, IANA Lawyer, but given the way lawsuits have been trending lately, if you were a descendent of Lee, I’d say you actually might have a case to make the Feds give back your ancestral estate. One question though–what would you build on it, smack in the middle of a cemetery as it would be?
My great-great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian (seriously). If you’re going to be doling out dough to the slaves for reparations, I’d like to state my claim now for ~100 acres of what is now known as the Pisgah National Forest.
I am sorry to bust the premise but Arlington Cemetery became a national cemetery on May 14, 1883, when the federal government bought it from Custis Lee.
The property was confiscated during the war for not paying the taxes on it. After the war Lee’s son, Custis, sued the government and won and then settled for some cash as he really did not fancy sleeping in a cemetery.
I haven’t exactly been following the issue, but isn’t the issue about reparations asking that they be paid by the government, not by descendants of slaveowners? The idea presumably being that while the slaveowners aren’t around anymore to pay for their crimes (and their descendants can’t be held responsible for their crimes), the government as an entity was around and allowed the slavery.
I’m not entirely clear on this issue; are the plans to pay the descendants of slaves?
As a point of fact, there is a Robert E. Lee V, and he is now old enough to have had a Robert E Lee VI, but I’ve lost track of him so I don’t know for sure.
I find this thought particularly interesting, because the government essentially has no money except what they take in taxes. So, if the above theory is the case, many descendants of former slaves are going to be paying higher taxes in order to make reparations for their ancestors suffering. That may not be exactly what said descendants had in mind.
I believe that ANYONE who has EVER owned a slave should give all their dough to anyone who has ever BEEN a slave. The rest of us are excluded from this deal.
From what I have heard, if the pro-reparations people have their way, not only would the descendants of General Lee have to cough up dough, but also the descendants of General Grant, Pancho Villa, Sun Tzu, Genghis Khan, and Oliver Cromwell would be required to pitch in, if they lived in the United States.
What can I cite? Its pretty clear that if the U.S. Government pays reparations for slavery all taxpayers will have to pay, not just those who are descendants of pre-1865 white Americans, or slaveholders, or Confederates.
These following editorial makes it clear that reparations are not just sought from certain Americans: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/06/05/reparations/index.html
http://www.africana.com/, while not out and out supporting reparations, makes it clear that demands for reparations are directed at the U.S. Government, not at individuals…(I had to search “reparations”) http://www.ncobra.com/
This organization makes it clear they want all American taxpayers (other than African-Americans) to pay up…
Now this movement, as far as I know is on the fringe. But to assume it’s just demanding reparations from certain groups or individuals is mistaken…
Of course it’s the government that pays the reparations; it’s the government that established the legality of slavery in the constitution way back int 1783. Yes, I know the government is us (the money would come from taxes).
My father’s family got here around 1900. My mother’s, around 1920. So where do MY taxes fit in to this equation? Neither I NOR my ancestors had anything to do with it.
To say nothing of the fact that the whole idea smacks of an ex-post facto law, which is specifically prohibited by said Constitution.
Yeah, but they did get here, and by becoming U.S. citizens, they joined in with the rest of the country. Your family was willing to take the benefits of joining the group, it’s a bit late to complain about the fine print now.
