What do you think of slavery reparations? Are you for it or against it?

Question

I have a research project to complete and I need people's opinions on this controversial issue. I am half-and-half on the topic and I am very open-minded towards anyone's feelings...so PLEASE SHARE! so i can prepare a bomb thesis statement and research paper! THANX! :)

a "bomb" thesis is a slang term..lol it means "good, exceptional" yeah..i was hoping that i didnt have to explain that but oh well...lol

Answer 1

I read this question late, I hope you are still taking answers. In theory they seem right. Being realistic and practical reparations are a disaster. Is the US Gov. or corporate America started to award reparations to everyone they ever wronged, persecuted, took advantage of, brutalized, and profited unfairly from, the country would go broke.

Just to name a few, from African Americans, to Native Americans, to the Asian Americans, to Irish Americans, to more recently Hispanic Americans, the USA and it's business structure have brutalized them all.

Combine that with proper and fair distribution and it becomes a nightmare real quick. More over, how would we spread responsibility? To everyone should responsibility be spread? Hard to say. Using slavery as an example since it's the subject of your paper, who do we spread the financial burden of payment?

On the surface it would seem easy. The government and corporate America, right? I can't sign on to that. Many of the corporations that are the biggest today e.g. Wal-Mart and Microsoft were not even businesses during that horrible time in our history. How about the people in Africa who sold people in to slavery? Should they be tracked down and invoiced?

The custom of slavery came from Europe and many of the slave trade ships hailed from there. They would head to Africa; either kidnap or buy people and sell them for slavery. So we can invoice the Brits and the African nations along with our government and Wal-Mart? It gets complicated. Too complicated to be a logical solution.

The words logical solution brings the question, logical solution to what? Revenge? Punishment? It would seem that punishing people and companies three or for generations later whether they be in the USA, England, or Africa, sort of seems late?

My family was in County Mayo Ireland at the time. Should my family be punished? Should we pay? We came to the USA in the 1940's to work in the mines in PA as victims for a short time ourselves. Us Irish were too poor to care about anything other then eating back then. Thanks to the lessons learned by our country taught by slavery, it was not a long-term victimization. Easy for me to say, I wasn't born until 1963 long after the mines were mined dry.

It's not that reparations are not deserved. In my opinion slavery and the years and years of racism that followed are some of the darkest of our history. In some cases of our present. The complicated question is too whom, by whom. Since it would be almost impossible to make reparations in a fair and just manner, does that leave any shred of integrity and justice to the idea?

I look forward to reading the other answers to this question. I wanted to write mine before I read others.

Regards,
Tom

I have now read the other answers. Some insightful, some not. I do have to say that the subject you chose to write your paper on has the potential to give you the ability to write an outstanding paper.

Why do I say that? As I read the answers it struck me how personal some of the people took the subject. It seemed that some forgot that you are simply writing a paper and were looking for input of opinion. These people that forgot seemed to feel threatened and answered as if they fought the battle daily of whether they had to pay reparation money out of their own pocket.

With this kind of fire in a subject you have a true opportunity to write a great paper. Take that opportunity and write a real winner that will raise questions as well as answer questions. There is no better paper written then the factual balanced paper that leaves me asking questions about subjects that I thought I knew my position. That's right, make people and yourself think with your paper! You have that opportunity. Enjoy writing and I wish you well. Once the paper is written maybe you would consider sending me a copy. [e-mail] I would be pleased to read it.

Tom

Answer 2

I think it is a bad idea for a few reasons. First, I don't think there is anybody alive today who was (directly) harmed by the legal slavery that went on back then. So to make reparations today is to apologize to the wrong person.

Second, I think we all need to move on. What happened in our history was terrible, and we are still in the process of eradicating racism and prejudice from our social fabric. Anybody who says "racism doesn't still exist" is naive. But making reparations for something that long ago moves us backward, not forward. While we are still living with the distant reverberations of slavery, making reparations for it now will only rub salt into the wounds we are trying to heal. We need to let go of the past and never forget it so we do not repeat it.

Third, I think anybody who is white who actually thinks it is a constructive thing to make reparations for slavery this long afterward must have some heavy issues regarding their own feelings toward blacks, and they need to deal with that and figure out why they feel so guilty, instead of finding some artificial external fix to make themselves feel better.

We cannot truly apologize for what our ancestors have done. We are not them and what's done is done. We can only promise not to be @ssholes like they were and work toward a better future where all people are seen as equally deserving of respect and dignity.

Answer 3

If there are any slaves existing today, I think reparations should be done right away. However, there are no more slaves around in America at this time and so reparations should not exist either.

It's like saying I want to buy Cheetos because I want to support Frito Lay, but Cheetos don't exist anymore and the money would just go to a greedy company who would gladly take the money and make more Fritos.

It's just not going to support the cause anymore because there is not cause to support.

It would make a difference to someone who has actually experienced a loss due to being a slave and no one on this good country at this time can in all fairness say they were victims of slavery. It's just not going to support the issue that reperations me made, but they'll take the money, who wouldn't appreciate free money?

The association of it being to make ammends for what happened in the past, it's wrong. You can't pay someone to make you feel better.

Reperations are being made everyday, we have black history month, we have black men running for congressmen and senators, one seriously considering running for president, we have famous black actors, famous black women...you couldn't say these things 50-60 years ago.

They have been given their freedom, they are living the American dream, they are succeeding.

They are making their own money, just like everyone else in this country.

Answer 4

I think reparations should only be paid to the living where they are due at all. The idea of paying reparations to relatives many times removed from those who were slaves is completely stupid idea. Lets face it what will it achieve, nothing? It will only make some greedy people wealthier than they deserve and do nothing for today's slaves - and yes there some people who are still working in some form of slavery. Think of India and other parts of Asia. Also, of the women of Easter Europe who are sold into prostitution.

Answer 5

I believe companies who have built their empires off of the backs of slaves should have to pay reparations to any living direct descendants of those slaves. Those companies owe it to them.

Granted, the time for reparations may have been in the past, but even if slaves had considered the possibility of receiving reparations, there's no way in hell reparations would have been awarded. It's only "too late" (as some people argue) because it hasn't been paid through and beyond the generations that were a part of it. The only argument right after emancipation was probably "I ain't gonna give a n***** none of my money!"

However, could reparations be considered "back-pay" by some people (emphasis on SOME people), and might that have the affect of negating or "undoing" slavery in their minds?

Answer 6

Ok where do we begin.
The Greeks worked slaves to death in mines 5000 years ago.

Did you never see the film 'Gladiator`?

Pope Gregory seeing some slaves for sale in Rome asked who they were. He was told they were Angles (English) and replied No... Angels.

St. Patrick was a slave stolen by the Irish from the English/Welsh boarder.

As for the Africans - well why not have the families of the chiefs who sold the slaves to the Spanish, Portugeese and English pay reparations to the descendants of the slaves in the Americas and the West Indies.

Or is your question rhetorical?

Answer 7

now not a Republican (now a Conservative) yet i won't help 'Reparations for Slavery' for the undemanding reason that there at the instant are not any slaves nevertheless alive to grant reparations! Your assessment to the Germans and Jews isn't a stable or comparable occasion. in fact a stable assessment is our community American Indians and the German/ Jewish concern. The Jewish concern replaced into extra a repayment for 'confiscated sources and valuables' with the aid of the Nazis and a super form of of the households have been /are right now affected. As for Obama and his non-help, in case you look at extra, you would be able to discover something lots extra chilling than you're prepared to have faith! seem into 'Black Liberation Theology' and evaluate it to the practices of Rev. Wright's Church. next bear in mind that Obama and his kinfolk many times attended this church for 2 many years and in result recommend those practices! After learning this, come again to YA and pose a query!

Answer 8

Warning- Not politically correct

No, its over. America is no longer a white and black country we are a melting pot. If we regurgitate the past then we will regurgitate the things that have come along with it. The civil war and the civil rights movements were necessary and a blessing to this country. However, there are some black movements that have hurt our country and blacks, such as the black panthers and Jesse Jackson.
Everything should be done with moderation, and the end of slavery is the reparations. Because real reparation would be to ship everyone back to Africa.
There are many other blessings to be counted.

Answer 9

Reparations are a good idea... If you can find somebody who was actually a legal slave in the United states... or even the child of a legal slave, we should consider making reparations to them.

But since slavery ended almost 150 years ago, the time has passed. Today the idea of the government making reparations for slavery is as unlikely as giving the American Indians all of their land back.

Answer 10

Yes, I think our ancestors should pay your ancestors what is due. However, they should also deduct housing, food, clothing, and medical care after computing wages based on the wages of the time period they worked.

On the other hand, I don't believe the descendants of slaves have any claim on the descendants of former slave owners, much less the rest of us. Legally debts must be settled within a certain time frame of death. This has always been the law.

I remember hearing something about slaves who were leased to the White House and how their descendants were trying to claim reparations from the government. That's just stupid. The lease was paid to the owners and only the owners of the slaves can be sued. Even if they pushed it through, the only money they could possibly get was the standard wage of the day plus interest and that standard wage would have to be reduced by the cost of housing and upkeep the owners were forced to pay. Then that money would have to be split between ALL living descendants of that person AFTER the lawyers took their fees. In my opinion the only one that would get rich off that suit would be the lawyers.

Oh, and the money would have to be paid by ALL the descendants of the slave owners. I can imagine my third cousin getting this letter..... "Because your ancestor, Henry Tilghman of Williamsburg, owned a slave named Robert Black (see attached deed) and such slave was leased to the White House for three years at the monthly hire of $60.00, you are required to pay the 102 descendants of such slave a 45th share of said hire, totalling $48 plus $312.48 in interest. This settlement of $16,221.60 will be evenly split among the 102 descendants of Robert Black as payment in full for this debt."

You can see how stupid that is. Each person would get $159.04 cents BEFORE legal expenses and nada after.