Taxcutter
12-31-2012, 10:22 AM
Does white guilt for slavery/Jim Crow in the US go on forever? Or has a balance been reached or exceeded.
Let’s approach it quantitatively.
The first slaves were sold in Virginia in 1619, but were considered indentured servants and freed after seven years. True slavery didn’t really begin in the colonies until about 1640. Because of the state of agriculture (slaves rarely were used for much else) the only significant number of slaves were in the southern colonies of Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware although there were a handful in New Jersey as well. So we had slavery in six colonies during the 149 year colonial/revolutionary period of 1640-1789. Six colonies x 149 years = 894 colony years.
During the antebellum Republic, slavery started out in the six original slave colonies and then the slave states of Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Louisiana (1812), Mississippi (1817), Alabama (1819), Missouri (1821), Arkansas (1836), Florida (1845), and Texas (1845).
So slavery mounted up in the period after 1789 as follows during the time prior to the 13th Amendment in 1865.
Virginia: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Maryland: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Delaware: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
North Carolina: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
South Carolina: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Georgia: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Kentucky: 1792 to 1865 = 73 years
Tennessee: 1796 to 1865 = 69 years
Louisiana: 1812 to 1865 = 53 years
Mississippi: 1817 to 1865 = 48 years
Alabama: 1819 to 1865 = 46 years
Missouri: 1836 to 1865 = 29 years
Florida: 1845 to 1865 = 20 years
Texas: 1845 to 1865 = 20 years
So added up the US racked up (76+76+76+76+76+76+73+69+53+48+46+29+20+20=) 814 state-years.
Jim Crow (governmentally enforced racial discrimination) only occurred in the eleven Confederacy states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. It began in 1877 when Reconstruction ended and federal troops returned government of the southern states to civil control. While Jim Crow was dealt a crushing blow by the SCOTUS case Brown v. board of Education in 1954, most people believe Jim Crow wasn’t finished off until 1964 with the Voting Rights Bill. So Jim Crow increased the debt by (11 states x (1964-1877)=) 957 state-years.
Adding up the white debt you get
Colonial Period: 894 state-years
Antebellum period: 814 state-years
Jim Crow years: 957 state-years
So totaled up you get (894+814+957=) 2,665 state years.
Against that are two entries.
Twenty-two states fought against slavery for the first two years of the war using exclusively white troops. Black troops did not appear on the battlefield (except as non-combat auxiliaries) until 1863. So we offset 22x2 =44 state-years.
Affirmative Action went into effect in 1961 due to Executive Order 10925, and has been in effect in all 50 states ever since, so this offsets the ‘white debt” by 50 x (2012-1961=) 2,550 state years.
White Debt: 2,665 state-years
White Credit: (2,550+44=) 2,594 state-years
So on New Year’s Eve 2012 we have an outstanding white man’s guilt of (2,665-2,594=) 71 state-years. There is no action pending against affirmative action so the white man’s guilt will expire in 1.42 years or (to put an exact date on it) on May 2, 2014.
After that date all white guilt becomes null and void. Today, it is not dead but is nearing its expiration date and is a feeble idea.
Let’s approach it quantitatively.
The first slaves were sold in Virginia in 1619, but were considered indentured servants and freed after seven years. True slavery didn’t really begin in the colonies until about 1640. Because of the state of agriculture (slaves rarely were used for much else) the only significant number of slaves were in the southern colonies of Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware although there were a handful in New Jersey as well. So we had slavery in six colonies during the 149 year colonial/revolutionary period of 1640-1789. Six colonies x 149 years = 894 colony years.
During the antebellum Republic, slavery started out in the six original slave colonies and then the slave states of Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Louisiana (1812), Mississippi (1817), Alabama (1819), Missouri (1821), Arkansas (1836), Florida (1845), and Texas (1845).
So slavery mounted up in the period after 1789 as follows during the time prior to the 13th Amendment in 1865.
Virginia: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Maryland: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Delaware: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
North Carolina: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
South Carolina: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Georgia: 1789 to 1865 = 76 years
Kentucky: 1792 to 1865 = 73 years
Tennessee: 1796 to 1865 = 69 years
Louisiana: 1812 to 1865 = 53 years
Mississippi: 1817 to 1865 = 48 years
Alabama: 1819 to 1865 = 46 years
Missouri: 1836 to 1865 = 29 years
Florida: 1845 to 1865 = 20 years
Texas: 1845 to 1865 = 20 years
So added up the US racked up (76+76+76+76+76+76+73+69+53+48+46+29+20+20=) 814 state-years.
Jim Crow (governmentally enforced racial discrimination) only occurred in the eleven Confederacy states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. It began in 1877 when Reconstruction ended and federal troops returned government of the southern states to civil control. While Jim Crow was dealt a crushing blow by the SCOTUS case Brown v. board of Education in 1954, most people believe Jim Crow wasn’t finished off until 1964 with the Voting Rights Bill. So Jim Crow increased the debt by (11 states x (1964-1877)=) 957 state-years.
Adding up the white debt you get
Colonial Period: 894 state-years
Antebellum period: 814 state-years
Jim Crow years: 957 state-years
So totaled up you get (894+814+957=) 2,665 state years.
Against that are two entries.
Twenty-two states fought against slavery for the first two years of the war using exclusively white troops. Black troops did not appear on the battlefield (except as non-combat auxiliaries) until 1863. So we offset 22x2 =44 state-years.
Affirmative Action went into effect in 1961 due to Executive Order 10925, and has been in effect in all 50 states ever since, so this offsets the ‘white debt” by 50 x (2012-1961=) 2,550 state years.
White Debt: 2,665 state-years
White Credit: (2,550+44=) 2,594 state-years
So on New Year’s Eve 2012 we have an outstanding white man’s guilt of (2,665-2,594=) 71 state-years. There is no action pending against affirmative action so the white man’s guilt will expire in 1.42 years or (to put an exact date on it) on May 2, 2014.
After that date all white guilt becomes null and void. Today, it is not dead but is nearing its expiration date and is a feeble idea.