Reparation - Yes or No ?

Question

I am writing a paper and I am interesed to find out what other's think about the issue of reparation for slavery, segregation, and current forms of institutional racism?

Do you support reparation? Why or Why not?

What forms are acceptable? Affimative action in college entry? Forty-acres and a mule? Community investment projects?

Do have any great ideas about reparation you want to share?

Personally, I support the idea of reparation. Too often we remove ourselves from taking responsibility by saying it happened so long ago, but it wasn't long ago at all, and the poor are still unable to overcome the consequences.

Answer 1

I do believe in the concept of reparation, however, there are some mitigating factors:

1. We haven't had legal slavery in this country for over 140 years now. While you may not consider this a long time, with an average "generation" of thirty years, that would put four, and almost five generations since slavery. That IS a long time.

2. Reparation for slavery is a very different issue from reparation for segregation or "current forms of institutional racism." Slavery is a forced state of existence, regardless of your "race." While I believe in a more enlightened philosophy that excludes racism, there is no crime in being racist. All of us are, to some degree, predjudiced. Even if one could claim with complete honesty (and it would be few of us, if any at all) not to be racially predjudiced, we are still predjudiced based on gender, religion, political persuasion, and even the clothes someone wears. A white man killing another man is murder, which is a crime. This holds true regardless of whether or not the victim is white or black. However, a white man refusing a hire a black man, or disliking him, is not a crime. There is a great difference between forced and voluntary relationships, and it is one which the people of America very seldom acknowledge, but which makes a tremendous difference when it comes to law (although, unfortunately, even our laws do not reflect it). To give one example of many, of how this might go wrong, consider the current OEO requirements. An employer has to hire x number of blacks, hispanics, and women. But let's say that the employer is a technology-based company that does few if any sales to the end user. Being in that field myself, I can say that the number of competent males outnumbers females at probably four to one. This is not sexism, it is a simple fact. But if the employer is required to hire equal numbers of men and women, his business is in extreme jeapardy. There may not be enough competent women to be hired, and so he must hire incompetent women and attempt to train them (assuming that they even want to learn what he has to teach), which will drive his employment costs through the roof.

3. Many US citizens today had few or no ancestors responsible for slavery. My ancestors all came over (that I know of) after the civil war. They were dirt poor - as poor as descendants of slavery living in the projects today, and clawed their way up from nothing, without welfare or government handouts. Why should we be responsible for what neither we nor our ancestors perpetrated, to distant relatives of those who were abused on the same lands on which we currently live?

4. What about all those who died to bring about an end to slavery? At the end of the Civil War, the white population was every bit as badly off as the black one, if not moreso, from a financial standpoint. The average person's resources were completely depleted, and all the able-bodied men had been fighting (and many of them dying) in war. Should the descendants of the freed slaves have to pay reparations for the Northern soldiers who died believing that by doing so, they were creating a free world for people of all races?

5. You have said that the poor are still unable to overcome the consequences of slavery. What you forget is that it is not just the descendants of slaves who are poor. Personally, I was not born into wealth. Though I was not born with nothing, when I was young my father became unemployed, and my mother worked to support the family. We lived on a small farm, drove older vehicles, and had little property of any real value. For some time after I moved out, though in a rural area, I could not afford a vehicle, and so rode a bicycle seven miles each way to do a telemarketing job. I now own a small business and STILL can't afford the bills. My parents are broke and have no savings or retirement, and I expect that my mother will have to work until the day she dies. I don't expect anyone else to pay my bills, or those of my parents as they age. They may get a small amount of social security, but it's barely enough to rent a small apartment, let alone support their little farm. Around here (in upper Appalachia), this is an average scenario. Of the black people I know, they are no worse off than anyone else.

In conclusion, after this amount of time, and so much immigration, it is no longer possible to provide further reparations for those negatively effected by slavery in an honest and fair way. Whites and blacks alike, along with hispanics, orientals, and everybody else, have had to work hard for generations to take care of themselves and their families. At this point, any attempt at reparations for slavery would be impractical, and do more harm than good.

P.S. One place where reparations SHOULD be made is in the case of the Native Americans. They are still being held against their will on small and difficult plots of ground. They need to be given the option of either being integrated into society, or moved to far better and more plentiful ground. While the Indian wars were certainly not all the fault of the USA, this country was as much to blame as the Indians. Forget neither our wars of conquest on their territory or our blatant lies to them, or their cruelty and deceipt on so many occasions, in many cases slaughtering large numbers of women and children, often in barbarous and gruesome ways. Each tribe needs to be accounted for individually (in a "whose fault was it?" way). and reparations made accordingly. All should be given the choices of integration or relocation, and some should be given physical and financial reparations as well. While many citizens of the US were not responsible for what was done to them so long ago, they are still being held against their will - a very different scenario from the descendants of black slaves.

Answer 2

Reparation is good only up to a point. But it has been 140 years since the end of slavery and 50 years since the Civil Rights Act. I think 50 years is a good amount of time to get back on your feet. What needs to happen is the old city councilmen in the south need to be replaced by younger people, since they're mostly racist and part of the "good ol' boys."

I lived in Georgia for nine years so I know what it's like.

Answer 3

Nearly everyone in the United States today has the same opportunities to be successful as the next person. What good would reparations do? It would be just another form of an entitlement creating another form of "slavery".

Answer 4

ABSOLUTELY NO!!!! Please....lets all give this a rest...really...Its been 150+ years since slavery was rampant here in the States and about 50-60 years since the Great Civil rights movement which I fully support!! Its ridiculous to even think about going backwards in time to trace Slavery back and have the USA pay for reparations.
For what....nowadays Blacks or minorities have more rights than ever before in recorded history...If you truly trace the "roots" of slavery it started by the once Great Spanish Armada & the Dutch-Indies Companies who exploited the Slave trade business for profit...If I recall even the African Cheftains sold their own people as stock for trading supplies etc...To think that we the USA should pay for this type of stupidity is absurd indeed!!! Throughout all time slavery or bondage has always existed & the spoils of War have been distributed to the victors...always even in modern times!! Americans should be ashamed and embarresed by the ways they stole and innaliated the Native American Indians...the Only true Americans!! Blacks in America have more then ever before and the old days of good old boys of the South are a long forgotten ....good bye!!!

Answer 5

No, on past items. Yes for direct cases today.

Many people are poor with no ties to past civil actions.
Help them all, not a select group.

Biggest direct example is criminal's reparation in conjunction with crime in addition ot punitive sentencing.

Answer 6

We don't need to mess around with reparations, court proceedings, you did this to me crap. We just need to take care of the poor. All of them.

Answer 7

I'd compare the US to the Jews after the Holocaust.

Answer 8

Yes, anyone that can prove he was used as a slave, should be reimbursed.
To reimburse for present institutionalized racism, the USA does not have enough money to pay for!

Answer 9

No. My ancestors did not even live in the US during the period of slavery.