Do all black people deserve$$$ because slavery happened???

Question

I saw it on Yahoo News today. The government wants to pay black people because of slavery.

Answer 1

Actually the government does NOT want to get into this mess! But some lawyers sure do. Imagine the mess of figuring out who has a qualifying ancestor and who came to this country after 1865 or who's ancestors died fighting AGAINST slavery. The machinations would be endless and every thirty years it would start up again as each lost generation claims to be "hurt" by the offenses so many years ago. But to the LAWYERS, it's an endless stream of billable hours, so they're lovin' it. I sincerely hope is fizzles because at this point it is unjust to take money from some people and give it to others when NONE of them was involved in the event. I would challenge any award as a violation of my civil rights.

Answer 2

That is a tough one. I have been reading the other answers and they all seem hateful. Well most of them do. I think that the African American people in this country may not have experienced it themselves nor their grandfather. However they live with the knowledge every day of what happened to their ancestors. It has affected the whole race. Being white it is hard to relate to this. For example: African Americans still spend more money on clothes than any average white person. This is a direct result of the slavery days where they had to wear rags. If we think that they are not affected in so many aspects of their lives than we are dense. It is sad that their culture was so warped by slavery. On so many levels. Their everyday lives still have the stink of slavery upon them. As white people we would have to walk a mile in their shoes to understand this. There is still a long way to go to achieve racial harmony. Should the blacks recieve reparations? Can money change the past. I do not think so. Maybe the money should be spent better. Social programs that teach tolerance and acceptance to all Americans.

Answer 3

It's not just blacks man. It's asians in Canada too (japanese), hispanics, and you name it. If they can find a reason for government compensation, they'll try it in court. It's quite sad but how can you blame a government that wasn't even around back in the slavery days. You're not even compensating the people that went through the hardship. This is what you call scaming the government and being greedy. Outright dispicable!

You don't see me as an Syrian Arab trying to get compensation because the USA imposed sanctions on Syria, where I lived for 8 years of my life, which caused a lack of some necessities, like bananas :P. Maybe I should take it to court and see where it ends up. You never know how much tax payers' money I could get :P. LOL, just kidding. I don't approve of such stupidity and selfishness. Three words describe it all for me: GET OVER IT!

Answer 4

Unless there are any slaves alive today then no! Saying that black people today should get money because thier ancsetor were slave is a joke. They were never slaves, and I think many of them have no clue or education of what slavery was. Some blacks only think about how to make money with the least amount of work possible. I say thay should get off their lazy ****** asses and go get a ******* job!

Answer 5

Well, do all people born in Irac deserve to be treated as terriorist? NOOOOO!!... I'm black but i didnt work in the fields picking cotton and hoeing grain so therefore i dont need or deserve the money. BUT.. if say my grandmother worked in the fields, which she did, during slavery and say she has died recently and she was suppose to receive money and none of her children were alive and i was the only kin next in line then I would get the money.

The money should only go to people that worked during slavery and segregation those are the ones that should get paid.

Answer 6

On one hand I dont think they deserve it as they are decendants of slavery and did not directly experience it. Their parents did not experience it, and their grandparents did not experience it. Plus, a number of the black people are not former slaves but more recent African immigrints. Not all blacks were slaves.

However, slavery was wrong and overcoming the problem of race in the US is a big social problem. I am not sure that compensation will solve the problem, but it might help a little.

Answer 7

If this was in current time then it's possible but when slavery occurs more than 100 years ago long before people of today were born, why should we pay for somebody else's mistake. Do we collect from the dearly departed, I think not. I like to put in another perspective, if you get a letter from a lawyer saying great relative from another life long ago was accused of a crime and asked you to pay restitution would you agree?

Answer 8

Sounds like "the government" is desperately trying to court the Black vote. Should Roman citizens pay me because my ancestors were Slavs (where do you think the word "slave" came from?)? Of course not. The government as it was 150 years ago, the government that tolerated slavery, doesn't exist any more.

Answer 9

Slavery Reparations .......


On the Web I find that Henry Louis Gates Jr., the chairman of Afro- American Studies at Harvard, is demanding that whites pay reparations to blacks. It's because of slavery, see. He is joined in this endeavor by a gaggle of other professional blacks. I guess he'll send me a bill, huh?

I feel like saying, "Let me get this straight, Hank. I'm slow. Be patient. You want free money because of slavery, right? I don't blame you." I'd like free money too. Tel l you what. I believe in justice. I'll give you a million dollars for every slave I own, and another million for every year you were a slave. Fair enough? But tell me, how many slaves do you suppose I have? In round numbers, I mean...Say to the nearest dozen. And how long were you a slave?

Oh. In other words, I owe you reparations for something that I didn't do and didn't happen to you. That makes sense. Like lug nuts on a birthday cake.

Personally, I think you owe me reparations for things you didn't do and never happened to me. I've never been coated in Dutch chocolate and thrown from the Eiffel Tower. I'll bet you've never done it to anyone. I want reparations. Kinda silly, isn't it?

But if we're going to talk about reparations, that's a street that runs in two directions. You want money from me for what some other whites did to some other blacks in another century. How about you guys paying whites reparations for current expenses caused by blacks? Not long ago blacks burned down half of Los Angeles, a city in my country. Cities are expensive, Hank. Build one sometime and you'll see what I mean. Whites had to pay taxes to repair Los Angeles for you. You can send me a check

Answer 10

Uh...no. And...no. And, oh yea - NO.

Giving favors to black people today is basically reverse racism. What about the rest of the minorities in this country? Remember those Native Americans that we STOLE LAND FROM and gave SMALL POX blankets to way before black people came to this country?

I'm not black or white but I am a triple minority. And to hark back to a previous comment - I think that Affirmative Action should be banned too. Black people entered the same work force as white people before WOMEN were considered equal to men.