# Reparations are never going to happen so why do some democrats come out in favor of them... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186 "2019-02-25T17:22:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/281 "2019-03-10T19:18:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Tell us exactly who, then? You can’t? You just _know_ there are, eh? > > Then find them, who is stopping you? Or you dont think there are Non-profits capable of doing so? Why pick _my_ pocket to assuage _your_ guilt? I get it – you don’t think it’s worth it. You don’t think you bear any responsibility. Fine. You are allowed to have this opinion. Just as plenty of Americans think that any social spending isn’t their responsibility, and amounts to “pocket-picking”. There are plenty of Americans who actually do believe the overall society has some responsibility to those whom it has harmed. My advocacy is for them, not for those, like you, who think it’s all pocket-picking. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/282 "2019-03-10T19:44:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I get it – you don’t think it’s worth it. You don’t think you bear any responsibility. Fine. You are allowed to have this opinion. Just as plenty of Americans think that any social spending isn’t their responsibility, and amounts to “pocket-picking”. > > There are plenty of Americans who actually do believe the overall society has some responsibility to those whom it has harmed. My advocacy is for them, not for those, like you, who think it’s all pocket-picking. I am happy to pay to solve problems that are occuring today. In fact we have so many of them, we dont have enough funds to solve them all. Homelessness for example. I am against agreeing to pay a undisclosed amount of money to solve problems \*in the past- \*many of whom have already had some sort of solution. Once we solve all of\* today’s\* problems, for things happening RIGHT NOW, maybe we can delve into the past. Until then, things like “reparations” are just a distraction from current real world problems \*now. - ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/283 "2019-03-10T19:49:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I am happy to pay to solve problems that are occuring today. In fact we have so many of them, we dont have enough funds to solve them all. Homelessness for example. I am against agreeing to pay a undisclosed amount of money to solve problems \*in the past- \*many of whom have already had some sort of solution. Me too! Glad to see we’re on the same page. Right now I’m just advocating for research. > [@](#): > > Once we solve all of\* today’s\* problems, for things happening RIGHT NOW, maybe we can delve into the past. Until then, things like “reparations” are just a distraction from current real world problems _now._ I’m also advocating for addressing things happening right now, in addition to things that happened in the recent past, that are harming or have harmed living Americans. I believe we can do multiple things at once. You disagree – which is fine. It appears that the point of our disagreement is clear, which is much better than endless straw-manning. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/284 "2019-03-10T19:57:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Me too! Glad to see we’re on the same page. Right now I’m just advocating for research. > > I’m also advocating for addressing things happening right now, in addition to things that happened in the recent past, that are harming or have harmed living Americans. I believe we can do multiple things at once. You disagree – which is fine. It appears that the point of our disagreement is clear, which is much better than endless straw-manning. The problem with wasting money on research on bad things of _the past_ is that it takes money away from doing stuff to help fix bad things TODAY. No, you’re not- actually. You might think you are, but every dollar wasted on the past is a dollar that cant be used to help fix things \*today. - So, rather than the past, lets focus on today. Still racial issues today, even. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/285 "2019-03-10T20:00:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The problem with wasting money on research on bad things of _the past_ is that it takes money away from doing stuff to help fix bad things TODAY. > > No, you’re not- actually. You might think you are, but every dollar wasted on the past is a dollar that cant be used to help fix things \*today. > > - > > So, rather than the past, lets focus on today. Still racial issues today, even. I believe I am focusing on today. Today involves history. I think you’re advocating for ignoring and dismissing history. We don’t need to go on and on about this. We’ve identified the point of disagreement – you aren’t interested in anything in the past, even if it might still have effects today. I am interested in history, and its effects on the present. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/286 "2019-03-10T20:14:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I am happy to pay to solve problems that are occuring today. In fact we have so many of them, we dont have enough funds to solve them all. Homelessness for example. I am against agreeing to pay a undisclosed amount of money to solve problems \*in the past- \*many of whom have already had some sort of solution. > > Once we solve all of\* today’s\* problems, for things happening RIGHT NOW, maybe we can delve into the past. Until then, things like “reparations” are just a distraction from current real world problems \*now. > > - But, what if, things from the past are causing us problems now? Do we ignore the root cuase of those problems because we only want to look at now, or do we actually try to see where these problems have come from? If there is a problem that we can identify originated before any of us are born, does that absolve us of responsibility to address it? ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/287 "2019-03-10T22:59:14Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Slavery was legal. We have a constitutional prohibition against ex poste facto laws. On what grounds would you sue? There need not be a law in order to establish that a property owner is holding property illegimately. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/288 "2019-03-10T23:10:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Feel free to read the thread, or any of the many other threads about reparations on which I’ve contributed, to find out. I’ve spoken about it in great detail. > > Or read the essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates – I’ve generally been following his lead. Did Coates ever respond to Walter Williams’ arguments other than complaining that he had already made them? Seriously, a lightweight culture critic and comic book writer is your guiding light on this? There has to be some legitimate intellectual making a case somewhere. I thought Coates’ 15 minutes were up two years ago. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/289 "2019-03-11T00:06:54Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Did Coates ever respond to Walter Williams’ arguments other than complaining that he had already made them? From what I can tell, Williams’ arguments had virtually nothing to do with what Coates actually wrote. Williams didn’t even mention redlining, at least in the articles I read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186.md?page=14)