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The British government has finally admitted to torture during its colonial days, and will pay reparations to families of 5,000 Kenyans abused during the 1950's Mau Mau rebellion
When will Kenya pay reparations to the families of White settlers and fellow Africans butchered by the Mau Mau?
Perhaps after the U.S. government pays reparations to the descendents of Loyalist Americans and Native Americans who were killed or driven from their homes during the American revolution.
Like never. Winning means not having to say you are sorry.
Some years back there were some tribal natives who sued the State of Maine for having stolen the land from the tribes. I do not know the final disposition of the lawsuit, but since Maine still appears to be under US control, I'm guessing it failed. I remember it for a remark made by the then governor of Maine who said that he didn't object to turning the state back over to the tribes, as long as the tribes had no objection to him presenting them with a bill for improvements.
This is a good move by Britian. It is a sign of maturity that a nation can admit to past wrongs and address them. It is something that less developed cultures, which tend to place a high value on 'face' often are resistant to admitting to anything that may feel shameful, in their past or present. Critical self analysis is a driver of progress in the developed world and is something that traditional cultures do not do well.
In any event, it wont matter. Kenya is hopelessly corrupt and these reparations will be squandered by that countries idiot leaders. So in the end its more a victory for British moral high mindedness (or presumptions thereof) than for the Kenyan people.
Kenya was one of a few British colonial territories where a non-negligable number of white settlers colonized a territory in Africa. The others were was Rhodesia, The Cape Province and Natal (both in South Africa). Decolonization was hard in these areas because the minority white population did not want to live in a nation with (1) a black majority, and (2) have to accept a minority position. They fought the African nationalists and the result was a nasty civil conflicts. In Kenya Jomo Kenyatta lead the Mau-Mau who paid white settlers back in kind for their raids and killings directed at Kenyas African tribes. As if it was a crime to be African and want to live in Freedom and Dignity on ones own native soil. The result was Kenya was one of the last British African possessions to get independence in 1963. In Rhodesia the white majority declared independence in 1965 and set up a Whites only Aparthied style government and heald on to power until the 1980s when they reaped what they sowed in the form of Robert Mugabe who was no Nelson Mandela. In South Africa Britain merged its Cape and Natal colonies with the the Boer Colonies of the Orange Free State and Transvaal to form the Union or South Africa. While Britain and its allies like Jan Smuts held power it was a mildly racist state with discrimination of blacks and coloured tolerated (In fact a famous Coloured South African was Mohandas K. Gandhi) . That all changed in the 1940s when Nationalist Afrikaners (also called Boers) took power and imposed Apartheid and all the evil it represents. South Africa was blessed that Nelson Mandela who spent 28 years on Robbins Island a a isolated prison somes times compared to Devil's Island off French Guiana. Lucky indeed that Mandela didn't come back looking for some payback for spending much of his adult life in prison for expressing his desire to be a FREE man.
Will black Africans pay reparations to the descendents of the black Africans who were sold into slavery?
Since none as been requested, none will be paid. In point of fact outside of a small minority of African Americans no monetary reparations have been requested only an effort to grant full rights of citizenship and a comparatively mild set of programs of enhanced opportunity. A rather modest request considering the history of American slavery and the racist institutions that supported both slavery and massive denial of civil rights.
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The Japanese for torturing American POWs?
The individuals responsible paid with their lives.
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The Germans for the Jews?
Benn there done that. The government of Federal Republic of Germany paid out approximately 3.45 billion marks. Additionally the FDR established a fund paid for by such German corporations as and Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Volkswagen AG, and Adam Opel AG to pay reparations for lost property, and compensation for slave labor to survivors of the Holocaust.
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WalMart for putting all those sporting goods stores out of business.....
I'm told that this is simply a feature of capitalism and as such not liable to claims of damages.
So having dismissed the trivialities, misconceptions and borderline mendacity can we move the actual topic along.
Thank you.
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