'The Case for Reparations'

[Peter1469]

You're all over the map, dude.

He is just covering all of the bases.

[The Sage of Main Street]

He is just covering all of the bases.

Which means I hit a home run.

[Peter1469]

Which means I hit a home run.

I can grant you that.

[Refugee]

I read the article.

Bull $#@!ing $#@!. I refuse to pay someone for a wrong they did not suffer nor did I commit.

My ancestors lives probably sucked a lot along the way, where are my reparations?

No, the concept is bull$#@!. Nobody in this generation owes anyone else anything. Sorry this $#@! happened to your ancestors, wish it didn't. Life's a $#@!, there is no justice sometimes.

Penalizing the innocent to benefit the unharmed isn't the right way around it.

How true. The Americans were once under the yolk of the British. The British under the Roman Empire and the French in 1066. Slavery in the west has gone and so has colonialism. There are no excuses any more.

[Adelaide]

An argument for reparations could have been made 50 years ago. That time has come and gone.

In any case, why do I have to pay for something I never engaged in? Not that it matters anyway, because it still would have nothing to do with me, but my family came to America in the early-mid 1900s and were poor as $#@!. Not only did they never engage in slavery, they may have had ancestors that were glorified slaves over in Europe.

The best reparations for black people would be the end of the drug war and other government $#@!ery, be it in the form of discrimination or "help." We all need to be treated as equals by the law and government.

Without comment on whether their should be reparations, I don't think time matters. In the last several years my government finally started making apologies and reparations to aboriginals for the Indian Residential School system - even Pope Benedict XVI apologized. Then there was $350 million for a foundation to help heal, an additional $40 million for the foundation and a $1.9 billion compensation package. Every person subject to the system will get $10000 plus $3000 for every year in the system. Up to $275,000 will go towards anyone who was abused physically or sexually. People who were hurt as a result of, say, a parent being in the system is able to be assisted by the foundation that has been set up.

I don't think it's ever too late to apologize for these types of situations, and to make reparations where it can make a difference as it effects later generations in a multitude of ways. I think the difficult thing with reparations for slavery in the US is that you'd have to prove you are a descendant of a slave - I'm not sure how easily that could be done. I think it's also a very large number of descendants which would be hard to handle and you'd have some inefficient and costly department created to try and sort it out. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to offer things like scholarships en masse. Only so many people would apply each year making it easier to document and verify, and it goes towards something that is positive and that many people (regardless of ethnicity or family history) can't afford. I think it could also potentially stop young teenagers from making a choice in a low income neighbourhood of just saying "$#@! it, I can't afford it anyways" and turning towards things like gangs instead of school. I don't know - if reparations were made I'm not sure how it could be handled without creating a mess.

[Perianne]

I don't think it's ever too late to apologize for these types of situations, and to make reparations where it can make a difference as it effects later generations in a multitude of ways. I think the difficult thing with reparations for slavery in the US is that you'd have to prove you are a descendant of a slave - I'm not sure how easily that could be done. I think it's also a very large number of descendants which would be hard to handle and you'd have some inefficient and costly department created to try and sort it out. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to offer things like scholarships en masse. Only so many people would apply each year making it easier to document and verify, and it goes towards something that is positive and that many people (regardless of ethnicity or family history) can't afford. I think it could also potentially stop young teenagers from making a choice in a low income neighbourhood of just saying "$#@! it, I can't afford it anyways" and turning towards things like gangs instead of school. I don't know - if reparations were made I'm not sure how it could be handled without creating a mess.

I came here in 1961 from Finland. No one in my family ever harmed any blacks, just as no blacks have been slaves since then. How about we all take personal responsibility for ourselves and quit blaming lack of success on something that happened over one hundred years ago?

[The Sage of Main Street]

I and my descendants should be drawing disability checks for the next 200 years because of my Post tPF Stress Disorder.

[Mister D]

Without comment on whether their should be reparations, I don't think time matters. In the last several years my government finally started making apologies and reparations to aboriginals for the Indian Residential School system - even Pope Benedict XVI apologized. Then there was $350 million for a foundation to help heal, an additional $40 million for the foundation and a $1.9 billion compensation package. Every person subject to the system will get $10000 plus $3000 for every year in the system. Up to $275,000 will go towards anyone who was abused physically or sexually. People who were hurt as a result of, say, a parent being in the system is able to be assisted by the foundation that has been set up.

I don't think it's ever too late to apologize for these types of situations, and to make reparations where it can make a difference as it effects later generations in a multitude of ways. I think the difficult thing with reparations for slavery in the US is that you'd have to prove you are a descendant of a slave - I'm not sure how easily that could be done. I think it's also a very large number of descendants which would be hard to handle and you'd have some inefficient and costly department created to try and sort it out. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to offer things like scholarships en masse. Only so many people would apply each year making it easier to document and verify, and it goes towards something that is positive and that many people (regardless of ethnicity or family history) can't afford. I think it could also potentially stop young teenagers from making a choice in a low income neighbourhood of just saying "$#@! it, I can't afford it anyways" and turning towards things like gangs instead of school. I don't know - if reparations were made I'm not sure how it could be handled without creating a mess.

Time is crucial and apologies are ritualistic at best and meaningless at worst. If you didn't actually suffer you deserve nothing. I'm not buying this mysticism about effects multi-generational effects that cannot be overcome.

Quite frankly, the entire discussion just lowers my opinion of blacks generally.

[Kalkin]

Which means I hit a home run.

Not really. Bases are covered by the team on defense, who try to prevent home runs.

[Kalkin]

Without comment on whether their should be reparations, I don't think time matters. In the last several years my government finally started making apologies and reparations to aboriginals for the Indian Residential School system - even Pope Benedict XVI apologized. Then there was $350 million for a foundation to help heal, an additional $40 million for the foundation and a $1.9 billion compensation package. Every person subject to the system will get $10000 plus $3000 for every year in the system. Up to $275,000 will go towards anyone who was abused physically or sexually. People who were hurt as a result of, say, a parent being in the system is able to be assisted by the foundation that has been set up.

I don't think it's ever too late to apologize for these types of situations, and to make reparations where it can make a difference as it effects later generations in a multitude of ways. I think the difficult thing with reparations for slavery in the US is that you'd have to prove you are a descendant of a slave - I'm not sure how easily that could be done. I think it's also a very large number of descendants which would be hard to handle and you'd have some inefficient and costly department created to try and sort it out. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to offer things like scholarships en masse. Only so many people would apply each year making it easier to document and verify, and it goes towards something that is positive and that many people (regardless of ethnicity or family history) can't afford. I think it could also potentially stop young teenagers from making a choice in a low income neighbourhood of just saying "$#@! it, I can't afford it anyways" and turning towards things like gangs instead of school. I don't know - if reparations were made I'm not sure how it could be handled without creating a mess.

Why should my taxes go to pay reparations to someone I've never wronged? Even sillier, to the descendants of someone I've never wronged. What if someone is descended from a mix of slaves and slave owners? Would they pay reparations to themselves?