Slavery Reparations: Is it time?

[NickyJ]

In that case, Atlanta deserves reparations from the North for the burning of Atlanta.

I also demand reparations from England for taxing us without representation.

 

[bhsup]

I assume, if this ridiculous plan went forward, anyone who received welfare via EIC would have those payments deducts from any reparations they were deemed to be owed, yes?

 

[Joecoolyo]

We already paid the slaves reparations, we paid with 600,000 dead bodies!

 

[peter grimes]

Agree with VRWCAgent. Anyone who claims to be entitled reparations because of someting their long dead ancestors suffered well over a century ago is either a a greedy bastard or a complete idiot. Or both.

The idea is so cretinous it is not worth discussin, but just for laughs: would they track down who is a black person descendant from slaves as opposed to more recent free immigrants? What about, say, americans of haitian origin, who are descendants of slaves that were not enslaved in the US? What about someone who looks entirely white, comes from a slave-owning family, but has one distant slave ancestor? The possibilities for fun would never end.

How is it in Brazil?

I've heard that more slaves were trafficked into Brazil than into the USA. When did that stop? When was slavery made illegal? Was there ever a residual racial affect from the whole mess?

Personally I'd rather see more vigorous anti-poverty measures in the US than we have nowadays. And I'm in general pro-affirmative action. One of the problems with the whole direct payment idea is that a single ancestor who lived in 1850 may have several hundred descendants today. A cash payment even of $1,000,000 wouldn't have as lasting an impact as structural societal change such as better social safety nets and free education. Bang for the buck, and all.

 

[warpus]

The point of reparations is that the descendants of slaves are still, on average, less well off precisely because of their ancestor's enslavement. So the lack of people alive today that were slaves or slave owners is rather a side issue.*

But I'm against it anyway as there are better mechanisms to address that than feeding into a victimization complex. I support affirmative action / subsidized education based on poverty.

Plus, there were other horrible things that happened to Americans and/or people living on American soil in the last 200 years.

Why should only slaves get reparations? Because it's an emotionally charged issue?

 

[emzie]

So you are saying that if I talk to a bunch of seniors I might meet one who had a conversation decades ago with someone who knew slavery from even further back?

Sounds distant enough for me.

The point is that it's recent enough to still have large, noticeable effects on modern society.

Forget checks. The US owes american blacks a decent education, which they have systemically failed to provide for decades, not just from slavery. Once that stain of inequality is gone, we can call it even.

Any other form of reparations is just perpetuating the problem.

It's worth pointing out that we've really only extended full civil rights for Blacks over the last 50 years. Of course there are residual effects from that.

This is my opinion in a nut shell, though I'd go about it on an income basis rather than skin colour.

Plus, there were other horrible things that happened to Americans and/or people living on American soil in the last 200 years.

Why should only slaves get reparations? Because it's an emotionally charged issue?

Did you miss the "I'm against it as there are better mechanisms to address [past injustices]" part?

As an American, my great-great-grandparents dropped the ball when they ended reconstruction in the south. And then every generation from then to my parents failed to do a thing about civil rights. Just because legally we're all equal now doesn't some how fix what past generations failed to do anything about: extreme inequality persists because of my ancestors failures. So I support trying to fix their mistakes through subsidized education amongst other things.

 

[warpus]

Did you miss the "I'm against it as there are better mechanisms to address [past injustices]" part?

Nah, I was agreeing with you

 

[Joecoolyo]

how is it in brazil?

I've heard that more slaves were trafficked into brazil than into the usa. When did that stop? when was slavery made illegal? was there ever a residual racial affect from the whole mess?

If I recall correctly, 1887

 

[emzie]

Nah, I was agreeing with you

I think a lot of the slaves-deserved-reparations comes from the "40 acres and a mule" promise that never happened.

 

[Silurian]

How would you tell if someone was eligible.

One of my wife’s friends father was a black US soldier who stayed after WW2.
Would she get a share?
What about her children, grand children and one great grandchild (so far).

 

[Patroklos]

I think that is the Dutch. Slavery ended inBrazil when the Portugese were gone, in the 1840s I believe.

 

[NovaKart]

I think with the Japanese-Americans it was pretty different from slave reparations because they were able to track down individual families who were interned and it was a much shorter period of time in which that happened. With Native-Americans, I don't believe they get anything just because of their ancestry but if they belong to a certain tribe. The US government has had certain agreements with tribes who are dealt with as if they are foreign governments in some ways. Joining a tribe is a bit like acquiring citizenship of a foreign government, there are certain requirements beyond just ancestry.

 

[Dida]

Seek reparation from the Confederate States of America.

Speaking of reparation, the descendants of slaves should pay the USA reparation for freeing them from slavery and subsequently sustaining them with welfare.

 

[Joecoolyo]

I think that is the Dutch. Slavery ended inBrazil when the Portugese were gone, in the 1840s I believe.

No actually I was close, it was made illegal in Brazil in 1888.

Although Portuguese Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal abolished slavery in mainland Portugal on February 12, 1761, slavery continued in Portugal's overseas colonies, particularly in Brazil, until its final abolition in 1888.

 

[useless]

Seek reparation from the Confederate States of America.

Speaking of reparation, the descendants of slaves should pay the USA reparation for freeing them from slavery and subsequently sustaining them with welfare.

...Wait what? "Sustaining them with welfare"?

 

[emzie]

...Wait what? "Sustaining them with welfare"?

Welfare is what white people pay to black people.

Social assistance is what white people collect.

 

[useless]

Do people actually believe this, Contre?

 

[emzie]

Do people actually believe this, Contre?

Subconsciously, yes, I think people associate welfare with black people. Hence why there's talk of subtracting welfare received from any reparations payment.

 

[useless]

Wow I'm looking at this thread in a different light now...

 

[amadeus]

It's reasonable to assume that blacks receive more welfare, direct or indirect, per capita than whites. I doubt blacks receive more in absolute terms since there still are a lot more whites.

Is this question really about reparations, i.e. returning stolen property to its owners? Or is it about stealing from people today (blacks included) to set up a race-based wealth transfer scheme?