Reparations for slavery in the US

Apparently, the movement for this is growing

What do you people think of this? I mean really, should the descendants of one group of people be forced to pay money to the descendants of another group of people for something that ended over 140 years ago (supposedly)? This issue certainly not black and white (no pun intended).

There is no doubt that slavery is/was wrong.

However....

How will paying some
people money erase this blight from our history?

Who pays the reparations? The US government? That means people who never had anything to do with slavery, and many of us who's ancestors had nothing to do with slavery will pay, including blacks who pay taxes (which will be the source of any reparations) will pay. The blacks will in essence be paying themselves reparations.

And who will be the benificiaries? Anyone who is black? Anyone who says they are black. There are a large number of blacks living in the US who's ancestors were not slaves. What if I look white but say I had an ancestor who was a slave in Virginia in the late 1700s making me 1/32 black? Am I entitled to reparations also?

What about the contributions of African countries to the slave trade (which was enormous)? Is the US going to invade Africa to ensure they pay their fair share of the reparations?

My ancestors may well have been slaves during the Roman Empire. Should the US invade Italy and force it to pay reparations to me?

And what about all the present day slaves (yes, they exist) in America? Who is going to free them, let alone pay reparations

Once again I'll admit slavery was/is wrong but can't everyone see how ludicrous this reparations idea is? It will only serve to further harm our badly damaged country and make race relations worse than they obviously are while really doing nothing for the black community.

It's time to move on and deal with our current day issues, of which we have many.

It's a really bad idea because of the fact there is nobody alive in america that was ever a slave or a slave owner. Also who would pay for it? The tax payers would and black people pay taxes too so they would in effect just be paying themselves.

Nothing will ever come of this. Just another instance of African American's segregating themselves, straining race relations, and the funny thing is, white people will still get blamed.
Message to all those wanting reparations. **** you. I don't owe you anything.

That episode of "Chappelle's Show" comes to mind, where everyone's granted a reparatons check, and they buy out liquor stores, fried chicken chains, and a dude drives off in a truck full of Newports. 😂

She says neither whites nor blacks will heal from slavery until formal hearings expose the full history of slavery and its effects — an effort similar to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission after apartheid collapsed.

We're (white people) are over it, and don't feel responsible for what we didn't do, and why should we?

It's times like this that I point out that the Jews would NEVER look for reparations from the Germans for what THEY endured, which in retrospect, is just as bad, if not worse. I appreciate the Jewish community being GRATEFUL FOR WHAT THEY HAVE NOW...not looking for state funding, or looking for hand outs because they think they're owed for something they never endured.

Only in America, or, in this case, the United States of Africa.

My ansestors have nothing to do with the slave trade 😐

Why should I have to pay?!?!?

Heck why should those whose ansestors were in the slave trade have to pay?

I mean its not like they are responsible for that acitons of the preocecors.

I mean thats like saying that if a girl's father is a murderer than she too is a murderer 🤨

That is total and complete BS.
Yes, slavery was wrong, but I am not going to fork up my own money that I worked for to pay people for something that happened over a century ago.

Believe me, I get enough shit already just being Southern with people calling me racist and on more than one occasion being accused of being in the KKK. There is no way in hell that my finances are going to suffer because of something my ancestors did. My pride already suffers from that.

This is another thing that annoys me. When I read this article I see
"As many as 60 blacks died, and thousands were driven from the city"
"as many as 300 blacks killed"
The article never says that so many Americans died. It says so many African Americans died. The people who are trying to help out the black people don't seem to notice that they are just exaggerating the difference between whites and blacks instead of trying to remove the difference.
Whites and blacks should be treated the same.
When they say "programs to support local black businesses and home ownership," they forget that there are many other Americans who aren't black, and aren't necessarily white, who need help starting their own business and paying for their homes. Why do they only support blacks and not all Americans? They continue to make differences evident. They should be supporting American business owners, because no matter our color, we are all Americans.

we deserve the reparation ermm or 140 years of whooping ya'll and calling you toby 😐

You weren't a slave. What the hell do you need my money for? Go get a job and make your own money.

Perhaps instead of paying reparations, we could actually make an effort to boost aid to programs that help to better educate minority children and to make them as socially competative as white children.

Originally posted by Nazgulinthedark
This is another thing that annoys me. When I read this article I see
"As many as 60 blacks died, and thousands were driven from the city"
"as many as 300 blacks killed"
The article never says that so many Americans died. It says so many African Americans died. The people who are trying to help out the black people don't seem to notice that they are just exaggerating the difference between whites and blacks instead of trying to remove the difference.
Whites and blacks should be treated the same.
When they say "programs to support local black businesses and home ownership," they forget that there are many other Americans who aren't black, and aren't necessarily white, who need help starting their own business and paying for their homes. Why do they only support blacks and not all Americans? They continue to make differences evident. They should be supporting American business owners, because no matter our color, we are all Americans.

It's what we call bias.

What about those who immigrated to america after the 1860s? Should they pay too?

No one should have to pay. Its not a serious movement. People should however be respectful of African Americans and thier contribution to society. Give them a little extra hand now and again to help make shure that they are being treated equally, instead of just glossing over racism like it doesn't exist anymore.

Originally posted by C-Dic

It's times like this that I point out that the Jews would NEVER look for reparations from the Germans for what THEY endured, which in retrospect, is just as bad, if not worse. I appreciate the Jewish community being GRATEFUL FOR WHAT THEY HAVE NOW...not looking for state funding, or looking for hand outs because they think they're owed for something they never endured.

Only in America, or, in this case, the United States of Africa.

jews do get reparations for the holocaust

but the other 6 million people (tho other half) who were killed in the Holocost don't.

Originally posted by Nazgulinthedark
You weren't a slave. What the hell do you need my money for? Go get a job and make your own money.

my great great granparents were ermm

Originally posted by Alliance
Perhaps instead of paying reparations, we could actually make an effort to boost aid to programs that help to better educate minority children and to make them as socially competative as white children.

well where I stay its the other way around

Originally posted by Alliance
No one should have to pay. Its not a serious movement. People should however be respectful of African Americans and thier contribution to society. Give them a little extra hand now and again to help make shure that they are being treated equally, instead of just glossing over racism like it doesn't exist anymore.

African Americans themselves are more racist and self-segregating to themselves and everyone else than white people could ever imagine.
Anywho, nothing will ever come of this, so it's really nothing to worry about. However, the more people become aware of this ridiculous gimmick, the more strained the relations we can expect in the future.

Originally posted by C-Dic
African Americans themselves are more racist and self-segregating to themselves and everyone else than white people could ever imagine.
Anywho, nothing will ever come of this, so it's really nothing to worry about. However, the more people become aware of this ridiculous gimmick, the more strained the relations we can expect in the future.

no cause we are joking around all the time, unlike ya'll we have fun with name calling ermm and how are we the most racist to ourselves? ever heard of the KKK?

Originally posted by SpadeKing
my great great granparents were ermm

My ancestors were French people who immigrated to the US in the 1600s and were persecuted and discriminated against until the early 1900s. My grandfather grew up speaking French in the US and was discriminated against. My mother wasn't allowed to speak French in public and not allowed to take French in high school because her dad was afraid of the same persecution he faced.
Now, tell me that I deserve a reparation because of something my dead grandfather went through. Exactly. It didn't happen to me, and slavery didn't happen to you, and neither of us deserve any money. Apparently we've been able to forget about what US citizens put French Americans through and have now made them equal to the rest of us.
Now why can't we do that with black people? Continuously people who support these reparations and the like make hypocrites out of themselves and instead of making blacks and whites the same, they make everyone even more different.

Originally posted by Alliance
Perhaps instead of paying reparations, we could actually make an effort to boost aid to programs that help to better educate minority children and to make them as socially competative as white children.

I agree with this.

The concept of "reparation" after so long strikes me as symbolically and economically as useless. Far better to admit "yes, bad things happened, and we can't change that. Far better to try and make sure it never happens again by using such money to help those who are facing social, cultural, educational segregation today."

Everyone should get reparations from everyone else. Problem solved.

Seriously, people alive now should Not be held accountable for what ancestors did a long time ago. IMO, that is a ridiculous proposition which only encourages a boo-hoo/poor-me/I'm-a-victim mindset. My ancestors had experienced slavery, persecution, atrocities, no homeland over a period spanning thousands of years--not the "mere hundreds" of years black Americans were subject to. Heck, my ancestors were enslaved probably long before Africans ever even saw a white face (and, as I understand it, slavery is an African invention, part of tribal warfare. The Europeans refined it).

Life isn't fair. Duh. But to make the best of it, it is up to each of us, with the choices we make, to determine the quality of our lives.