Reparations for african-americans

[Dis]

Yes I made a thread on this before.

But the issue isn't going away. There has been a lot of talk about this lately. People are stepping up their push for this.

And yes polls do show most white americans are against reparations. But guess what, most black americans support reparations. And they are what matters. What white people think doesn't matter. because as long as black people push for reparations, the issue will not go away. The issue must be addressed.

This thread won't discuss whether you support them or not. I already had a poll on that. Like I said, if you are white, it doesn't matter if you support them or not.

The issue is here to stay, and must be addressed. How would you solve this problem? Ignoring the problem isn't that good is it?

I think african-americans should get reparations- if they can prove they were directly decended from a former slave. And obviously only white people who are decended from former slave holders should have to pay. All of this must be verified by documents.

So my solution to the issue is as above. I make reparations legal given the above conditions.

You may think reparations are wrong, because people today are not guilty of slavery. But I realized recently that a lot of money was made off the back of slaves. That money did not disappear. That money is still out there, somewhere. If it can be found, and a rightful recipient can be found, then give it to them.

[Giancarlo]

I am all for equal rights and such, and utterly despise racism.

However, I don't see a point why the people of today have to pay reparations for crimes that happened many, many years ago.

[Dis]

because wealth is passed down generation to generation.

slave owners made wealth off the back of slaves. The decendants recieved the wealth of their slave holding ancestors. They should have to pay.

[Giancarlo]

I still don't agree... sorry...

[Dis]

normally I wouldn't support such an outlandish thing.

But then I realized, that wealth is still out there. People got rich off of slaves. That money didn't disappear. It is still out there, somewhere.

[loinburger]

This "sins of the fathers" bullocks is, umm, bullocks, or perhaps bullcrizzap, or whatever. As somebody who played the first Gabriel Knight game all the way through, I speak as an expert on the matter -- only the Shatenjager can resolve such a complicated issue.

[Giancarlo]

But they no longer use slaves.... and those who did are long gone now.

[David Floyd]

I think african-americans should get reparations- if they can prove they were directly decended from a former slave. And obviously only white people who are decended from former slave holders should have to pay. All of this must be verified by documents.

Two issues with this.

First of all, it is an obvious fact that descendants of slaves are better off being in the US than they would be in Africa. OK, fine, there are probably individual exceptions to this, but by and large, these people benefitted from slavery - they're here in the US rather than in Africa. This doesn't justify slavery, but it certainly doesn't make me think these people need reparations, either.

My smartass solution is this: for the black people demanding reparations, ask them if they would rather be in the US or in Africa. If they say the US, tell them to shut the **** up. If they say Africa, give them reparations in the form of a one way plane ticket on Air Rwanda.

My real solution, of course, is just say shut the **** up.

Secondly, if reparations should only be paid by descendants of slave holders, don't you run into a MASSIVE privacy issue? You'll have the government digging into the past of millions of Americans, whether they had slave owning ancestors or not, in an attempt to find who should pay and who shouldn't. And what if these people literally cannot afford to pay? Should we confiscate the homes of these people? Maybe put them on the street? Preposterous.

[Dis]

hmm, the privacy thing could be a concern. I agree that the goverment should never go snooping into a person's private matters. I would never support that.

Basically the solution I put up is bull**** anyways. We all know they will never find any proof. but it sounds better to support reparations. This is the way the U.S. goverment can sound sympathetic to the african-american plight without actually hurting anyone.

So that's why I say to legalize reparations with adequate proof. But put the burdon of finding the necessary proof on the person looking for these reparations (and their lawyer). The goverment should not be snooping into our pasts. That sets a dangerous precedent.

[David Floyd]

But put the burdon of finding the necessary proof on the person looking for these reparations (and their lawyer).

That's just gonna lead to either a)people hiring PIs all over the place and wasting more money than they are likely to get in reparations, or b)a huge backlog of court cases with a black guy claiming some random white guy's great grand uncle was a slave owner, and the white guy disputing the claim, etc., etc., etc. Utterly unworkable.

Besides, you don't think that the mere fact that blacks are living in the US rather than Africa is reparations enough? And certainly the ones who are on welfare (not to imply that all blacks are on welfare, many whites and other races are too) - surely they've already gotten enough money out of the system, right?

[Victor Galis]

Punishing someone for crimes their ancestors committed is not only wrong, it's also unconstitutional. I certainly would never pay any reparations, though I moved to this country 11 years ago.

[David Floyd]

There's also the minor matter that the slave owners were not violating the law, so ex post facto concerns come into the equation as well.

[Dis]

well you are right David, but we can't actually tell them that

for some reason they get offended at that.

we have to appear sympathetic.

I don't think they will ever find any proof. Although in theory that money should be out there, money was virtually untracable back then. land deeds are a little more accessible. And that can be traced in public records I think.

[Gatekeeper]

I guess the blood price paid by this nation during the Civil War wasn't enough. A little green goes a lot further than oceans of red, eh?

On a more serious note, I support affirmative action and special economic zones for areas of the nation that need it — and, oftentimes, those areas include significant Native American and African-American populations. That's it, though. I will never support cutting checks to individuals or groups.

The best way to get ahead in the world is to do it yourself. If that honestly doesn't work, then that's where affirmative action and SEZ comes in (among other things). All of that will be destroyed should the reparations movement get what they want.

Gatekeeper

[Dis]

Originally posted by Victor Galis
Punishing someone for crimes their ancestors committed is not only wrong, it's also unconstitutional. I certainly would never pay any reparations, though I moved to this country 11 years ago.

this is not punishment.

think of it this way.

A person is who they are because of the hard work of their ancestors. Wealth is passed on generation to generation. In american, each successive generation tends to get richer.

In theory, that wealth that was obtained from the backs of slaves was passed down the family.