# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [February 27, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/81 "2019-02-27T19:33:07Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I fail to see any disagreement. In fact, the societal problems that I point out are addressed with AA, although perhaps incompletely, would be only barely addressed if at all by cash payments. I apparently see them kind of opposite the way you do, if I’m reading you correctly – in my view, AA is the short/medium-term, very imperfect (but still necessary) fix to a profoundly unequal society; reparations is meant as the long-term, comprehensive demonstration that society has finally accepted the profound misdeeds of the past (including and most significantly the policies/practices of the recent past that harmed living Americans) and is finally trying to actually apply justice for it as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/82 "2019-02-27T19:40:58Z")
Okay, you’re seeing reparations as an ongoing, regular set of payments, not a one-time thing? And that’s \*without \*identifying who gets it, or how much, and how that’s decided, or how to address racism against, and by, people whose ancestors weren’t even here yet. I don’t see where you find AA, and its structural economic and other societal benefits, to be any \*less \*broad or \*less \*fair than whatever your concept of reparations may be (and I think you owe that to us, btw). And that’s without even getting into AA’s effects on groups other than race that have historically suffered discrimination. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/83 "2019-02-27T19:55:35Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Okay, you’re seeing reparations as an ongoing, regular set of payments, not a one-time thing? Not necessarily. I’m seeing it as a process that starts with actual investigation and fact-finding, but it may or may not end with a single payment, a series of payments, community investment, or many other possible conclusions. > [@](#): > > And that’s \*without \*identifying who gets it, or how much, and how that’s decided, or how to address racism against, and by, people whose ancestors weren’t even here yet. All of this would be part of the process, at least as I envision it (which is basically my understanding of how TNC envisions it). > [@](#): > > I don’t see where you find AA, and its structural economic and other societal benefits, to be any \*less \*broad or \*less \*fair than whatever your concept of reparations may be (and I think you owe that to us, btw). And that’s without even getting into AA’s effects on groups other than race that have historically suffered discrimination. AA is giving preference to specific races/ethnicities/genders/LGBTQ/etc., because without those preferences, many of those folks will not have anything close to a fair and equal chance at success. In fact, even with AA, they may or may not have a fair and equal chance at success, because it’s such a clunky and imperfect, scattershot solution… but I’m an AA supporter because I believe our society would be profoundly worse, with profoundly more unfair chances at success, without it, right now. But the ultimate goal should be a truly fair and equal society in which there would be no need to give such preferences at all. I think the process of reparations may be absolutely necessary to achieving such a society – I’m not sure how it could be possible without it. It’s probably not the only step needed, but IMO it’s necessary to at least start the process, which would begin with investigation and fact-finding, if we’re ever going to achieve that society. And that’s because of those reasons I reiterated in the post from myself I quoted a few posts above. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/84 "2019-02-27T20:07:45Z")
It doesn’t help you to dismiss all the central features of your proposal as TBD, certainly not \*while \*denigrating a more comprehensive and, almost necessarily, fairer and more effective system that we’ve had in place for some time. The goals you state are, in fact, included in the goals of AA, except that yours address race only. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/85 "2019-02-27T20:11:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It doesn’t help you to dismiss all the central features of your proposal as TBD, certainly not \*while \*denigrating a more comprehensive and, almost necessarily, fairer and more effective system that we’ve had in place for some time. The goals you state are, in fact, included in the goals of AA, except that yours address race only. I’m a proponent of AA, just for different reasons (apparently) than you are. I don’t believe AA does anything to accomplish what I think the process reparations is necessary to accomplish. Do you oppose the idea of comprehensively investigating how various discriminatory policies and practices have done financial harm to living Americans? Because that’s what I’m advocating right now. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/86 "2019-02-28T02:04:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There’s also a claim that slavery was \*already \*paid for, by the lives of over 600,000 people in the Civil War. FWIW. In a thread filled with terrible arguments and simplistic analysis, this assertion still manages to stand out as uniquely ridiculous. The level of discourse in this debate is incredibly depressing, from **Elvis** ’s appeal to the Civil War dead, to **Shodan** ’s “What if a black guy assaulted my grandmother?”, to **DrDeth** ’s “redlining wasn’t government policy.” It’s as if some multi-monikered bot were created for the specific purpose of making all of the worst possible arguments against reparations. It’s also incredible how Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article has been cited by a number of people as an important intervention in this debate, and yet, if we are to assess the arguments in this thread so far, it seems like **iiandyiiii** is about the only person who has actually read and understood the argument that Coates was making. Coates himself concedes the practical difficulties involved here, and he even suggests that maybe money itself isn’t the most important thing. One of the things he sees as central to the whole issue is an honest historical appraisal and an honest national discussion of the problem itself; unfortunately, the evidence in this thread suggests that he might be pissing into the wind. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/87 "2019-02-28T03:21:13Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Payments to the Japanese who were interned totaled 1.3 billion. To do something similar for black Americans would cost at least 700 billion. That means that every African American man, woman, and child would get a one time payment of roughly $20,000. To make it revenue neutral, we could increase everyone’s taxes by 15% for one year. Or repeal the Trump tax cuts for two or three years. Seems plausible. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/88 "2019-02-28T05:04:09Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > … **DrDeth** ’s “redlining wasn’t government policy.” … Because it wasn’t. Not as we think of redlining. They just risk rated areas, which had a unfortunate but unplanned effect. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/89 "2019-02-28T05:10:38Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I One of the things he sees as central to the whole issue is an honest historical appraisal and an honest national discussion of the problem itself; unfortunately, the evidence in this thread suggests that he might be pissing into the wind. Because we all know there have been injustices to minorities (and not just the blacks, we would also need reparations to the Chinese too as well as others), but as America has become more and more mature those injustices have been fixed. Maybe not as fast as they should have been, but they have been. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/90 "2019-02-28T07:21:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Because it wasn’t. Not as we think of redlining. They just risk rated areas, which had a unfortunate but unplanned effect. You’re funny. They risk-rated areas based, in considerable measure, on racial and ethnic makeup, and the riskiest areas were often ineligible for FHA backing on the mortgages. So the government created a system of risk assessment that was largely racial and ethnic, and then decided which mortgages would receive government backing based on its largely racial and ethnic criteria. I guess it’s possible that you could, if you squinted really hard, conclude that redlining was thus not governmental, but I prefer to stick with the plain and fairly reasonable assessment of the evidence. None of this is to say that private entities didn’t use the government maps for their own, independently nefarious racial purposes, but to deny the government’s role in redlining and housing segregation in America in the decades after the Depression, or to dismiss it merely as an unfortunate unintended consequence of race-neutral analysis is, quite frankly, ridiculous. A lot of the conversation in this thread reminds of an [article](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498536077/interactive-redlining-map-zooms-in-on-americas-history-of-discrimination) I read not long after Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay came out in 2014. > [@](#): > > **How To Tell Who Hasn’t Read The New ‘Atlantic’ Cover Story** > > **1. They talk a lot about slavery.** > > \ > > **2. They talk about the logistics of reparations.** > > \ > > **3. They talk about affirmative action or welfare.** LOL. Nailed it! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/91 "2019-02-28T08:00:42Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > … > A lot of the conversation in this thread reminds of an [article](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498536077/interactive-redlining-map-zooms-in-on-americas-history-of-discrimination) I read not long after Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay came out in 2014.LOL. Nailed it! Read it. Not impressed. And the whole thing _IS_ logistics. Because if it is sending a “sorry” card with a $5 Gift card in in, that is trivial. If it is sending $2 Million to every minority or the estimated $6.4 trillion, which is half again the gross budget, that’s another story. Or even $60 trillion. And here’s the thing- once we start down that road, we have to pay to the Chinese, to the Irish, to the Jewish people, and _especially to the Native Americans. We morally should give back all of America to the Indians._ Are you willing to do that? So, the best thing is to **not start down that road.** > **[The Case For Reparations: 40 Acres and a Mule Would Cost America at Least...](https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/05/23/case-reparations-40-acres-mule-cost-america-least-6-4-trillion-today/)** > >   By David A. Love If you were to guess how much the United States owes Black people in economic damages for slavery, how much would it be? In the \*YES! magazine published a fascinating infographic that illuminates the subject of reparations. It begins with a calculation that King made if America would stand by its promise of 40 acres and a mule, which is $20 a week since the late 1700s for 4 million slaves. The total was $800 billion, which in today’s dollars is $6.4 trillion. Just to put it in perspective, this year’s federal budget is projected at $3.9 trillion. U.S. gross domestic product in 2014 was $17.4 trillion. So, this sounds like a significant deal of money, except for the fact that this is a conservative estimate. Other calculations are far higher. For example, as the infographic shows, the National Legal and Policy Center placed reparations at $15 trillion, which would involve paying $500,000 to every slave descendant. Time magazine columnist Jack White estimated that Blacks are owed $24 trillion, which amounts to unpaid wages denied to 10 million slaves, doubled for pain and suffering with interest. Further, Dr. Denis G. Rancourt, a former physics professor at the University of Ottawa, determined the minimum amount of reparations is $59.2 trillion. He calculated that value of the stolen labor was $3.7 trillion, or 2 million slaves working 10 hours a day, 365 days a year for 70 years (between 1790 and 1860) at a rate of $7.25 an hour. Applying a 2 percent interest rate compounded annually, he reached the $59.2 trillion figure.\* $60 Trillion. Ten times the annual US budget. Ok, everyone take what what you owe in taxes- the gross- and add a zero at the end. So yeah,\* logistics. \* ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/92 "2019-02-28T10:23:51Z")
Thing is new factors are always going into this that didnt exist years ago. For example - Asians in the USA. Years ago this was a black vs white issue. But now we have issues of Asians also competing with and getting discriminated against in college admissions like at [Harvard](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harvards-discrimination-against-asian-americans-must-end/2017/08/08/446ebd6a-7bb1-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html?utm_term=.8d268dc15404) by blacks. Why should an Asian student who’s family only came here recently, lose out on a spot in college just so a black student should get AA? Another is gentrification. In the past and as Coates says, redlining was used to keep people from getting loans to build in “bad” areas so many blacks were confined to ghettos. But now even those “bad” areas are considered prime real estate in many cities so outsiders, mostly non-black, actively seek out those cheap properties and buy up everything they can and then tear down the old houses and build their new McMansions and condos. They totally redefine the community. The cheap houses and apartments are soon gone. So the game and who’s playing in it, and the rules, are constantly changing. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2019, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/93 "2019-02-28T10:30:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Because it wasn’t. Not as we think of redlining. They just risk rated areas, which had a unfortunate but unplanned effect. The idea that redlining’s negative impacts on black people was “unplanned” is about as plausible as the idea that it was “unplanned” that Jim Crow laws might harm black people. What do you think was meant by “lower grade population” in the _government policy_ documentation that guided redlining and similar housing/lending discrimination policies? [The Racist Housing Policy That Made Your Neighborhood - The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/the-racist-housing-policy-that-made-your-neighborhood/371439/) If you think this had nothing to do with race, then you’re being profoundly gullible. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/94 "2019-02-28T13:29:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No, I most certainly did not. Yes, high risk loan areas were a Government idea. But “redlining” as used by banks to discriminate vs banks was not. In any case, The Government then stepped in, fined the most egregious of the banks, then changed the law so it couldnt happen again, That was in 1964- 1975. > > So, how is the US Govnt responsible? Yes, Redlining turned out to be a mistake, but was corrected. The guilty banks were fined and indeed, victims sued and got damages. > > Thus reparations for redlining are bogus as the banks have already been fined and victims have already collected. There were other, more insidious forms of racism that were almost indisputably aimed to black Americans. Even with the very kinds of public assistance programs that were developed for the express purpose of helping poor people - including blacks - there was pretty clear evidence of institutionalized racism that factored heavily in how those programs were administered. Note that when I say institutionalized racism, I am not exclusively referring to the United States government or just the state governments (like those in the South, for example); institutionalized racism represents the racism and racist influences that exist and permeate society as a whole. After the New Deal, welfare programs were essentially divided into two types: social insurance programs and other programs that were means-tested. The means-tested programs were administered largely by states, with individual state rules and state-level enforcement. New York, for instance, had a one-man in the house rule which meant that if there was even evidence of a male having resided in the home - even temporarily - an inspector making a surprise visit could deem that family ineligible. Suffice it to say that in the Jim Crow South, there were similar forms of discrimination. And even in the case of social insurance, in Jim Crow states, for instance, many blacks were denied employment, which meant that they couldn’t contribute to these programs. If they were employed, they were often paid in cash. It’s been proven that if politicians advocate for the expansion of social welfare, it’s best not to put a black face on it, which is why Lyndon B Johnson spoke about the hardships of Appalachians and poor elderly whites when selling the Great Society. Conversely, it’s also true that if you want to attack welfare, then you put a black face on it, such as when Newt Gingrich referred to Barack Obama as the “food stamp president” Institutionalized racism against blacks didn’t end in 1865 or even 1965; it’s still very much a reality that black Americans are dealing with today. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/95 "2019-02-28T13:38:30Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Do you oppose the idea of comprehensively investigating how various discriminatory policies and practices have done financial harm to living Americans? Of course not. That’s been done many times, and continues to need to be done. AA is a result of that realization and that effort. > [@](#): > > Because that’s what I’m advocating right now. Then why do you say you disagree with me? ---
**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:** [February 28, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/96 "2019-02-28T13:49:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Of course not. That’s been done many times, and continues to need to be done. AA is a result of that realization and that effort. There have been efforts, but I’m unaware of any comprehensive, large-scale and detailed study that puts dollar figures to how various discriminatory policies and practices have harmed living Americans. I think that should occur. > [@](#): > > Then why do you say you disagree with me? Because you keep saying that you’re against reparations. Reparations, as TNC argues (and he’s the modern architect, or popularizer, of any significant popular movement for reparations today) would be a process that would start with such a study, and would not necessarily end in monetary payments to black Americans. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/97 "2019-02-28T15:19:23Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Personally, and off the top of my head, I’d advocate for a controlled, long-term experiment – take a single small town or community of African Americans, give those that have been financially impacted by the policies studied reparations based on the level of harm, and study that community for the next 10 years or so to see what the impact is. During these 10 years, a lot of people who could claim reparations would be dead. On top of it, it doesn’t matter whether it has a positive impact or not. Even if all the money is spent on cocaine and hookers, it’s still money that is owed to these people for having been victimized. I fail to see the point of such an experiment. (As long, as I wrote previously, as we’re talking about indemnities for damages personally incurred, not for something your grandfather, or someone with the same skin color as your grandfather has been victim of.) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/98 "2019-02-28T15:23:26Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Just suggesting but what about having reparations paid out over the course of several decades in the form of income tax credits and refunds? Which would mean that people who have been subjected to discrimination laws wouldn’t receive these reparations since after several decades they would all be long dead. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/99 "2019-02-28T15:36:43Z")
From my perspective, it’s not so much about the money as it is about the United States and the American people finally admitting that what they did was horrible and wrong. I don’t think the chump change that Germany gave Jews in Israel and elsewhere makes up for the Hollocaust. And obviously the US isn’t going to ever pay blacks enough to make up for slavery – it’s impossible to make up for something like that, especially after so long. But the United States HAS to admit what they’ve done – commit a horrible, unspeakable crime against humanity. You can’t put a price tag on the enslavement of millions, the lives lost, the rapes, the beatings. But you CAN make enough of an effort to show that you understand that what you did was wrong, you understand the magnitude of it, you REGRET it, and you are doing your best to make up for it. That’s the difference between Germany on the one hand, and the United States and Japan on the other. Like Japan, the United States has never grappled with the magnitude of its crimes. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reparations-are-never-going-to-happen-so-why-do-some-democrats-come-out-in-favor-of-them/830186/100 "2019-02-28T15:41:57Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > During these 10 years, a lot of people who could claim reparations would be dead. On top of it, it doesn’t matter whether it has a positive impact or not. Even if all the money is spent on cocaine and hookers, it’s still money that is owed to these people for having been victimized. I fail to see the point of such an experiment. > > (As long, as I wrote previously, as we’re talking about indemnities for damages personally incurred, not for something your grandfather, or someone with the same skin color as your grandfather has been victim of.) The point of such an experiment would be to (hopefully) show that reparations could be possible, plausible, and very positive and beneficial for both their community and society as a whole. In terms of gaining support, which would be necessary for any chance of it occurring, it very much matters whether it “has a positive impact”. [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=4) [Next 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=6)