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Agreeing that this country owes African-Americans is not an admission of guilt but a recognition of what they suffered. Right is right and wrong is wrong. So if the government mandates it, that’s fine with me.
"This country" does nothing without first harming its current citizens. Exactly everything the government does first requires harming some number of citizens in order to fund whatever that thing is. Thus, reparations represent a very focused effort to harm all US citizens in order to create the political illusion of an apology. It is political self-flagellation taken to a financial extreme.
So a previous wrong will be somehow "corrected" with a current wrong? Really?
In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. The legislation offered a formal apology and paid out $20,000 in compensation to each surviving victim. The law won congressional approval only after a decade-long campaign by the Japanese-American community.
It's funny how the US was able to address the wrongs committed by our Government towards a immigrant group but we still can't do that with black America who are our citizens and a part of the American fabric since its founding.
The key to that handout is that the survivors received the money. If slavery was abolished 40 years ago then I would say yes, lets apologize and offer a payment to the surviving people that were held in bondage.
Reparations for something that no one alive was responsible for or lived through as the victim is ridiculous.
Shame on the Democrats for bringing up this nonsense and pandering to the Black voters.
I can see it now. The day after the election the Black voters would line up for their payout and the new Democrat President would say "reparations? I will take that under advisement.." in other words it would never happen because of the complexity.
If it was possible we should focus all our efforts to root out the people, the families that owned slaves 150+years ago and trace the family tree to today and those people should be made to pay, if they can. I suspect there are many descendants of slave owners that have very little today.
There is no way the American tax payer should give one dime to this charade.
Right - my husband looks positively Nordic, but when we had his DNA test done, he has some West African - note, that's not North African or Subsaharan African, that is WEST African - DNA. Well, his ancestry is from Louisiana, so he really had a little bit of everything in him - though he has blonde hair, blue eyes, and looks like a Viking basically. Does he get to pay himself reparations?
Are you white. Perhaps you could pay him using some of the money from his job. Thats Fair i think But don't forget to check your DNA that could change things.
Here you are again with more proof of your inability to speak with conviction. “You and your cronies”. Who exactly are my cronies here? Exactly what cabal is it that you believe I belong to? Are you so narcissistic that you can’t possibly believe that another individual might challenge you on their own, without “backup”? Your words indicate that that indeed is the case.
Additionally, I already knew you were a Caribbeaner because in the past you and I have had several conversations here about St. Thomas and Lindbergh Beach. I remember them quite clearly, and it’s not my fault that you don’t. Saving face? Wow. You really think highly of yourself.
Let me remind you of your statement:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATX Wahine
That’s your right. Use it. Enjoy it. Spend your life writing ridiculously long missives on internet websites to complain about how bad your people have it. The fact that you have the time, ability, and freedom to do all these things makes your constant complaining somewhat ironic. But you go!
So once again, you and others have assumed my background on this thread simply because I am not opposed to reparations. This thread is full of challenges and debating so spare me the narcissistic nonsense.
“Caribbeaner?” Who in the world even uses that term? It’s Caribbean or West Indian. So now you remember conversation we have had since being reminded that I am not African-American. Well, good job.
Now you know this has nothing to do with my people.
It isn't just about slavery... There has been another century-and-a-half of US policies that perpetuated unfair practices that disproportionately affected the descendants of slaves. Sundown towns, redlining, lynchings, employment discrimination, wage inequities, poll taxes for voting, etc... All of these things were allowed to continue while African-Americans "supposedly" had the same rights as white people. This affects black people who are still on this earth and has been perpetrated by people who are still living.
A lot of that is bogus. The lynching narrative is titally bogus. Whites and blacks and Indians all were lynched, and 90% of the time it was because they actually committed a capital crime. Everyone had to pay the poll taxes. Et cetera.
And what about everythibng going the other way? All the aggression by blacks against others? All the taking of trillions of tax dollars etc.? What about the crazy anti-white hatred, propaganda, and discrimination against whites now?
Are you white. Perhaps you could pay him using some of the money from his job. Thats Fair i think But don't forget to check your DNA that could change things.
Yeah, I think he will have to pay himself something. Or maybe he will be exempt. What a great idea all this is!
And yes, I am white as white can be. In fact, my DNA test says that I am 100 percent European and most of that is Northern European and none of it is even Southern European, so I don't even have any Spanish or Italian ancestry. White white white.
And you know what? I didn't ask to be born lily white. I didn't earn it. I didn't own slaves. I am not prejudiced and in fact my parents raised my brothers and me with the concept of prejudice being disgusting - and that stuck. I mean, I don't know what else I can or should do to "even the playing field" other than treating others as I want to be treated myself. No one I have ever known ever owned a slave. No one I have ever known WAS a slave, or had parents who were slaves for that matter.
I agree with whoever said this earlier - if we're looking at reparations, maybe we should start with the Native Americans. Or maybe we should just shelve the idea of punishing people for the sins of their distant ancestors.
My family has been in the US since the 1640s. Yes, there were slave owners in the mix. There were also non slave owners. Rich, poor, Confederate, Union, Revolutionist, Tory, you name it. My ancestors fought in every single war throughout American history. For that matter, several of my adult children have served and are still serving in the US military.
But you know what - not a one of them, NOT A ONE, took a drop of welfare or housing during the Depression. In fact, just for the record, though many in my family through the ages have been working class, I know of not a single person who ever took a drop of public assistance ever. Oh, wait, I take that back - I used to get free cheese when my husband was enlisted in the military, but when he became an officer we couldn't get free cheese anymore. Dang it.
As for myself, my white husband - and yes, he looks completely European and had no idea what secrets his DNA held - is part western African. And Jewish for that matter.
Also, what do we do about my biracial kids who are half AA and half European American? Do they pay themselves? Do I pay them? What?
By the way, my husband and I have been paying for something for decades. Taxes - federal, state, and local. Not only that, we also pay $1000 a month for health insurance, but hey, pregnancy is covered! (I don't have a uterus and my husband isn't going to get pregnant, so we know of course that we're paying for someone else's pregnancy but hey, it's covered.) Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining about paying - I'm just pointing out that my family has a long history of paying - in dollars, in blood, in sweat, and in tears.
Please refer to the article posted with regards to the military benefits available only to white service members in the past. However, I am grateful to your husband and children for their sacrifices.
Not sure what the specifics would be but since the U.S. adhered to the one drop rule, your kids would likely receive something for their AA side.
I don’t deny your family’s history of payment. My point is simply that when many whites point to government programs as being for African-Americans, they conveniently forget how they benefited from them to the exclusion of others for decades. The white middle class was basically built off of government programs.
In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. The legislation offered a formal apology and paid out $20,000 in compensation to each surviving victim. The law won congressional approval only after a decade-long campaign by the Japanese-American community.
It's funny how the US was able to address the wrongs committed by our Government towards a immigrant group but we still can't do that with black America who are our citizens and a part of the American fabric since its founding.
I'd be ok with government paying every living 18th or 19th century slave $20,000, assuming they personally came by to pick up the check.
So if a person is biracial, they get a pass? If one parent is "white," and one parent is "black?"
Good question. I’m not sure how that would work. But perhaps black/white individuals would also receive reparations due to the one-drop rule used in the past.
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But don't forget to check your DNA that could change things.
