'The Case for Reparations'

[midcan5]

Please do not comment unless you read the article.

"Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole." Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Case for Reparations - The Atlantic

"And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today." Deuteronomy 15: 12–15


"White children, in the main, and whether they are rich or poor, grow up with a grasp of reality so feeble that they can very accurately be described as deluded--about themselves and the world they live in. White people have managed to get through their entire lifetimes in this euphoric state, but black people have not been so lucky: a black man who sees the world the way John Wayne, for example, sees it would not be an eccentric patriot, but a raving maniac." James Baldwin

 

[Asclepias]

Most of the whites on this board believe there is no need for reparations. You should see the arguments against it. I was amazed at the ignorance even though there is a precedent already set for this.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

Most of the whites on this board believe there is no need for reparations. You should see the arguments against it. I was amazed at the ignorance even though there is a precedent already set for this.

The Japanese were never slaves, they were not brought here against their will, they were never bought and sold like chattel. There is no precedent.

 

[Oldstyle]

Most of the whites on this board believe there is no need for reparations. You should see the arguments against it. I was amazed at the ignorance even though there is a precedent already set for this.

One of my ancestors was killed fighting for the Union in the Civil War...does that mean I get reparations as well?

 

[blastoff]

Please do not comment unless you read the article.

"Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole." Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Case for Reparations - The Atlantic

"And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today." Deuteronomy 15: 12–15


"White children, in the main, and whether they are rich or poor, grow up with a grasp of reality so feeble that they can very accurately be described as deluded--about themselves and the world they live in. White people have managed to get through their entire lifetimes in this euphoric state, but black people have not been so lucky: a black man who sees the world the way John Wayne, for example, sees it would not be an eccentric patriot, but a raving maniac." James Baldwin

Screw your article in particular and the insanity of reparations in general.

Instead of your whining victimhood bullshit why not invest your time and energies within the segments of the black community that have turned into murderous shooting galleries and and out-of-wedlock baby factories, neither of which stem at all from whites or others. It's blacks alone draging your culture to the bottom of a cesspool, and only blacks can change it.

 

[boedicca]

I read the article yesterday.

It is yet more Race Baiting Industry Hustle to justify the government looting people of their hard earned money and any wealth they are disciplined enough to accumulate.

 

[DGS49]

The trouble with reparations is that those who seek them have not been wronged and those who would have to pay them have done no wrong.

Regardless of one's sense of "justice," this seems perverse.

 

[midcan5]

'This week Bill speaks with Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic about his cover story on why America needs to reconcile with its racist past.'

Facing the Truth: The Case for Reparations | Common Dreams

"You start out in 1954 by saying, “******, ******, ******.” By 1968 you can’t say “******” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a by-product of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “******, ******.” Lee Atwater, Republican strategist, 1981, describing the Southern Strategy

'Kevin Phillips, who popularized the right’s 'Southern Strategy,' was quoted in The New York Times Magazine in May 1970 as saying that "the more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans.""

 

[Meathead]

It's a race pimp thing.

 

[Politico]

If I knew anyone in the last two generations of ancestors had owned or knew anyone who had been a slave I would support paying reparations. But there aren't any so I don't.

 

[sameech]

There is no doubting that blacks in America have suffered greatly, and as a whole, still suffer the legacy of being denied the intergenerational wealth accumulation and all that go with that. America, through government, has been trying to correct that course, but it is something that will take generations to come and reparations simply will not change that or speed it up one day, one hour, or one minute.

I do not support reparations for a number of reasons. 1) No amount of money can even come close to cleansing us of that part of our legacy 2) Any amount of money will cause many, too many, to think the slate is wiped clean, will make racism acceptable again in their eyes, and be grounds to disassemble the programs that are trying to right the ship for the black community 3) the money would largely be wasted on consumption that will add no value for the next generations who will also try to claim more money 4) we simply cannot afford any program that would have a meaningful effect and 5) as someone with both Native American and Irish blood in me, I acknowledge that while different than the plight of blacks, a great many of us come from bloodlines that suffered great ills, and I simply cannot claim that I am entitled to one dime of another person's labors today for sins of someone else in the past.

Life is inherently unfair, and some of us have been dealt a crappier hand than others. The best we can do as a society is to try to make the path a little less difficult today for each other as we find ourselves today. Our righteousness is in what we do for ourselves today, not in what was done to our forefathers in the past.

--Sam

 

[westwall]

Please do not comment unless you read the article.

"Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole." Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Case for Reparations - The Atlantic

"And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today." Deuteronomy 15: 12–15


"White children, in the main, and whether they are rich or poor, grow up with a grasp of reality so feeble that they can very accurately be described as deluded--about themselves and the world they live in. White people have managed to get through their entire lifetimes in this euphoric state, but black people have not been so lucky: a black man who sees the world the way John Wayne, for example, sees it would not be an eccentric patriot, but a raving maniac." James Baldwin

Until they figure out a way for the 300,000 white men who were killed freeing them to have their families repaid for the loss of their loved ones it's a non starter.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Heck, they owe us money for destroying our cities and killing twice as many whites per year.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

There are no slaves alive today and no children of slaves. Further no one in today's America ever had a slave or supported slavery. This is a no go. It is nothing more then an attempt to raid the Governments coffers to enable more votes for democrats. Further exactly what would the criteria be for paying these reparations? How many blacks are there now in this Country that were not descended of anyone from the 1800's?

As for a precedent? There is none. Claiming there is is nothing more then a lie designed to garner support for a foolish idea.

 

[Two Thumbs]

reparations is not about justice, it's about vengeance.

and the best revenge is living well

so grow the fuck up and grasp the idea that no one owes you a fucking thing.

least of all me

 

[S.J.]

Then blacks would have to pay white America back for all the welfare, education, government hiring, etc. that was done at the expense of whites. I think that would probably amount to much more. And that doesn't count reparations for all the crime committed against whites.

 

[longly]

This part of the Constitution refers to treason but the principle applies to all laws made by Congress. A child can not be punished for the actions of the father or a descendant for the actions of an ancestor:

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted


The principle is also mentioned in the Bible.

 

[ScienceRocks]

You can take your "reparations" out of my cold dead hands. Fact.

 

[Mad_Cabbie]

Very sad that people can't move on from this. Free stuff has not fixed inequality, nor will it ever.

My advice is to put aside your hatred of whites and let it go.

No one can fix your problems, like YOU can.

 

[Oldstyle]

Generally speaking, every new minority that emigrates to the US faces discrimination and unfair treatment. It was the same for the Irish...the Italians...the Chinese...the Japanese...and the modern day Hispanic. Yes, blacks were given the worst "row to hoe" but where they have differed from so many OTHER minorities is how they have consistently mistreated each other far more than the powers that be have. The way that you rise above discrimination is by being united. It isn't by fostering a culture that glorifies things that are harmful to your community.