Should we make amends for slavery?

Question

As a white man I am deeply ashamed that other white men bought black slaves from Jewish merchants who brought them against their will to America. It seems to me that the only way to truly make amends for that is to repatriate every man, woman and child with African ancestry back to Africa. There they could live free and develop their full potential unfettered by the oppression of the white man.

Answer 1

If anyone ever demands reparations, that's exactly what should happen to them. After all, they can restart their lives and celebrate the culture that was supposedly "stolen" from them. Incidentally, my ancestors came here from Poland and Germany, and I know that we never even owned slaves.

However, on the topic of Jewish merchants:
I read the same thing in a few articles and books, although I can't exactly say how true that is. (But to be fair, Jews shouldn't point fingers at White slave owners from the past. I have a feeling there is truth behind what you said.) Assuming that‘s true, we still have to remember three things:
a. Blacks were enslaving the tribes they captured in tribal warfare for hundreds of years before Europeans and Jews even came to Africa.
b. Many slaves were sold to Europeans and Jews by other Blacks.
c. Many parents in Africa still sell their children into slavery today.

-Maybe the Black leaders should stop focusing on "getting back at Whitey" and should go help their own kind....? Their current actions show their own hypocrisy.

Answer 2

The best way to make any kind of amends is to first make sure that the same kind of stupidity doesn't happen again. We can't do that by making up rules and laws that arbitrarily assign values to people of different colors. We have to find a purpose for the human race so that we can say what each individual is a part of. Simply saying that everyone is equal is wrong in many ways, since we are not all equal in Nature's eyes. We are all unique and each individual has the natural right to try and live, and society, in order to be fair, must have laws that protect individuals. The current society which we think of as 'civilized' in the western world, is actually another form of slavery: the slavery to competitive money-based economics. Nobody in this society can simply live 'free' without money. Until they can, we cannot say we have determined what people are for, and thus, cannot say what makes individuals valuable in the LONG term (beyond the next paycheck or purchase) to the future of humanity or our universe. What is your Net Creativity?

Answer 3

Where are you from? Because slavery was over with a long time ago. That is a sad way of thinking! Wanting to seperate and demean people, maybe it's people like you that should be sent away to develop your full potential unfettered by the opperession of the free people!

I live here in the year 2006.

Answer 4

I say that people would like it better here than going to Africa. There they don't have as much of a chance to live. Also, it was the own Africans that sold their people for money. The leaders of africa would steal people in the night. So, all and all black people would appriciate staying here, and black people sold black people. White people just took the oppurtunity to work on the plantations, which was a major part of the early U.S. economy.

Answer 5

Now wait a minute, the African tribal leaders of most of the slaves sold them for trade of goods. (i.e. cattle) Its not like white people went to Africa and kid napped their slaves from hostiles. I am not saying slavery is right. Certainly, lets don't blame Jews.

Further, do you believe that most of the African American culture in America would want to go back to Africa? PLEASE. America is a great place. Most of Africa is falling apart and it treats its own people like dirt.

If you want to say your sorry for being white then get over it. The time of slavery has come and gone. Racism needs to just die.

Good Luck and Take Care

P.S. I am native American Indian and some how I am moving on in this life.

Answer 6

It is a good idea in theory....but what about the children that are slaves as we speak? Do they count? Or the women in other countrys? Or the people that are payed so poorly and taken advantage of in our own country? Almost every race or religion has been a slave at one time in history. So who do you decide to help? Do you help the African American's that are rich now that are decendents of slaves? You can't help everyone so how do you decide who to help? We should be more concerned about helping the slaves of the present then worrying about what happend in the past because we cant change it...we can only change the future. If your ashamed about what happend in the past use your energy to help the cildren that are slaves right now in country's like India and the Ivory Coast.

Answer 7

You sound like a bleeding heart liberal, did you have anything to do with slavery....I didn't

Actually Whites did buy slaves, from other blacks who sold them into slavery. You need to read up on this...Fact there are more blacks today in slavery in the world then what America and U.K did. They were treated much better too. Muslims are killing blacks by the thousands as the weeks pass this very year....
No one says a word....where are all the Black Leaders...
Why hasnt Jessie J gone to dalfor....Somalia, where Muslims are
killing Christian Blacks...

I say liberals are all talk, I feel your pain...yeah.....do something,
other than just feel.....

I have to admit, I just actually read your statment, it sounds like you are a racist...we did this once....voluntarily though, ever heard of Liberia, check it out..the flag is very similar to ours..


I have no guilt feelings, have always treated all races with respect. Anyone any race living in America has a better life than most of the world.....Try visiting some places....not the all inclusive either.....Anyone who applies themselves in America can make it....how bad do we want it....

Answer 8

The Dutch were Jews? The Dutch got them from other blacks. I have a clue for you it does not matter the color of our skin all had slaves at one point. At the time your stating men from Africa were raiding south Europe to get White slave too, and sell them in the mid east. Why do you not try to find out you has slaves today not 100 + years ago.

Answer 9

Well as a black woman I dont like a couple of the peoples responses to just "get over it". That said I also dont agree with "us" being repaid. If you were going to repay someone it should be the original ex slaves but since thats impossible no one should get paid. My boyfriend is white I think it would be absured for him to have to pay me anything (besides his boyfriendly duties) I wasnt enslaved and he didnt enslave anyone else.

Answer 10

There is no possible way for black people to be repaid for slavery. How do you repay for having mothers separated from there children and never finding them again? How do you repay someone who is dead for years of free labor? You can't do it. As a black person I don't want to be reimbursed for my great great great grandparents hard work. White oppression is always going to exist. Being black in America just means dealing with it and not using it as a crutch to just do nothing.