At the base of things, the argument for Reparations for Slavery is compelling. "We" brought these people here from their homeland, forced them - at the point of a gun - to give their lives in service to Americans (whatever that meant), and gave them nothing in return when they were emancipated, except for the dubious pleasure of living "free," penniless, and hand-to-mouth, in a country that begrudged them their very existence.
God Bless America!
With many conspicuous exceptions, the results have not been pretty.
There was some talk initially of granting the freed slaves, "40 acres and a mule," and that was a good concept - I think there was even enough undeveloped land out "West" to make this a reality - if it had been done in good faith (which wouldn't have happened).
The conundrum of translating "40 acres and a mule" in 1865 into cash today is un-solvable, unworkable, and not economically feasible. Hell, we have Americans today who are descended from both slaves ("enslaved people:" in the PC vernacular) and slave owners. I would venture to say that most "Blacks" in America today have more than a few drops of southern white blood in them.
But "40 acres and a mule" could be compared to a "good education" today. Statistics that are not entirely obsolete indicate that a college grad makes hundreds of thousands more in his lifetime than a non-grad.
So what if "we" offered every descendant of slaves a professional/technical/trade education, free of charge? In essence, "we" would guarantee either a meaningful college education, or education in a technical specialty, or training in a productive trade, to those who demonstrate that they want it.
The taxpayers would be entitled to some reasonable constraints, requirements, and limits. The college education would require that the student be prepared for college, that s/he take a career-path major (no phys ed, ethnic studies, philosophy, etc.), that it be completed in good standing and in four years. If a state school is not reasonably close to where the student lives, room & board would also be included. Similar requirements would exist for technical and trade programs.
Tenth Amendment notwithstanding, this would be a FEDERAL program. The qualifying education would be up to the individual states, with the Feds reimbursing the states for the costs of the qualifying students in Community Colleges and State 4-year colleges.
Obviously, many details would have to be worked out, but I think the concept is the only one that could gain sufficient support on both sides of the aisle. As for the fact that not everyone is cut out for advanced or trade education, there is no reason why almost every FAMILY of Blacks could not benefit from this program, and that would be sufficient.
God Bless America!
With many conspicuous exceptions, the results have not been pretty.
There was some talk initially of granting the freed slaves, "40 acres and a mule," and that was a good concept - I think there was even enough undeveloped land out "West" to make this a reality - if it had been done in good faith (which wouldn't have happened).
The conundrum of translating "40 acres and a mule" in 1865 into cash today is un-solvable, unworkable, and not economically feasible. Hell, we have Americans today who are descended from both slaves ("enslaved people:" in the PC vernacular) and slave owners. I would venture to say that most "Blacks" in America today have more than a few drops of southern white blood in them.
But "40 acres and a mule" could be compared to a "good education" today. Statistics that are not entirely obsolete indicate that a college grad makes hundreds of thousands more in his lifetime than a non-grad.
So what if "we" offered every descendant of slaves a professional/technical/trade education, free of charge? In essence, "we" would guarantee either a meaningful college education, or education in a technical specialty, or training in a productive trade, to those who demonstrate that they want it.
The taxpayers would be entitled to some reasonable constraints, requirements, and limits. The college education would require that the student be prepared for college, that s/he take a career-path major (no phys ed, ethnic studies, philosophy, etc.), that it be completed in good standing and in four years. If a state school is not reasonably close to where the student lives, room & board would also be included. Similar requirements would exist for technical and trade programs.
Tenth Amendment notwithstanding, this would be a FEDERAL program. The qualifying education would be up to the individual states, with the Feds reimbursing the states for the costs of the qualifying students in Community Colleges and State 4-year colleges.
Obviously, many details would have to be worked out, but I think the concept is the only one that could gain sufficient support on both sides of the aisle. As for the fact that not everyone is cut out for advanced or trade education, there is no reason why almost every FAMILY of Blacks could not benefit from this program, and that would be sufficient.
