From ClownHall.com ( really Townhall.com as some articles are out there but this one actually is worth a citation): Senate Slavery Apology Last month, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 26 "Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans." The resolution ends with: "Disclaimer. -- Nothing in this resolution (a) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or (b) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States." That means Congress apologizes but is not going to pay reparations, as least for now. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed concerns about the disclaimer, thinking that it's an attempt to stave off reparations claims from the descendants of slaves. Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said her organization is studying the language of the resolution and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, said "putting in a disclaimer takes away from the meaning of an apology. A number of us are prepared to vote against it in its present form. There are several members of the Progressive Caucus who feel the same way." It goes without saying that slavery was a gross violation of human rights. Justice would demand that all the perpetrators -- that includes slave owners, and African and Arab slave sellers -- make compensatory reparation payments to victims. Since slaves, slave owners and slave sellers are no longer with us, such compensation is beyond our reach and a matter to be settled in the world beyond. Absent from the reparations debate is: Who pays? Don't say the government because the government doesn't have any money that it doesn't first take from some American. So which Americans owe black people what? Reparations advocates don't want that question asked but let's you and I. Are the millions of Europeans, Asians, and Latin Americans who immigrated to the U.S. in the 20th century responsible for slavery and should they be forced to cough up reparations money? What about descendants of Northern whites who fought and died in the name of freeing slaves? Should they cough up reparations money for black Americans? What about non-slave-owning Southern whites, a majority of whites; should they be made to pay reparations? And, by the way, would President Obama, whose father is Kenyan and mother white, be eligible for a reparations payment? On black people's side of the ledger, thorny issues also arise. Some blacks purchased other blacks as a means to free family members. But other blacks owned slaves for the same reason whites owned slaves -- to work farms or plantations. Are descendants of these blacks eligible and deserving of reparations? There is no way that Europeans could have captured millions of Africans. They had African and Arab help. Should Congress haul representatives of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Muslim states before them and demand they compensate American blacks because of their ancestors' involvement in capturing and selling slaves? Reparations advocates make the foolish unchallenged pronouncement that United States became rich on the backs of free black labor. That's utter nonsense. Slavery has never had a very good record of producing wealth. Think about it. Slavery was all over the South. Buying into the reparations nonsense, you'd have to conclude that the antebellum South was rich and the slave-starved North was poor. The truth of the matter is just the opposite. In fact, the poorest states and regions of our country were places where slavery flourished: Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia while the richest states and regions were those where slavery was absent: Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. The Senate apology is nothing more than political theater but it could be a slick way to get the camel's nose into the tent for future reparations. If the senators are motivated by white guilt, I have the cure. About 15 years ago I wrote a "Proclamation of Amnesty and Pardon Granted to All Persons of European Descent" that is available here. ------------ Send a copy to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
I think reparation payments is an excellent idea esp considering this economy. I suggest gift cards to Popeye's, the bling shop, a new bike, free lawyer consultation, perhaps a get out of jail card thrown in for good measure. C'mon, what else is there? We had a trial run with cash cards down in NOla after hurricane Bush ( you know he caused it).
Illogical premise. Perhaps the North became rich off the cheap labour of the South through indirect means?
Any self-respecting black would say "No!" to what would be the biggest handout in history. Is the loss of your dignity worth a big screen TV?
this might be the most ridiculous thing i have ever read on elitetrader. reparations were already paid 10 times over in welfare, medicare, etc... there is always an option of going to Liberia is someone doesnt like where they are right now.
Agreed, but it's far more than ten times. Blacks as a group receive $897 billion per year in social transfer payments, 13 times their net contribution to GDP. And this doesn't include further costs of crime they commit or inefficiency in the workplace. If anyone owes anyone reparations, it's the blacks owing whites.
those are some interesting facts, can you provide a source? its unfair to omit the fact of how much global recognition the US has gotten through entertainment the Blacks have provided... but unless we get invaded by Marsians and thats what they value the most, the future of the US looks really bad with changing demographics.
Lets do it! Lets give them reparations! Hmm..so how much should they get? Well I can tell you that in 1910ish a WHITE farm worker was making about 3 dollars per day. Now even though farmworkers were only making about 1 to 1.50 per day when slavery was abolished...lets be a little generous and give them 3 dollars per day. Now the average slave lived between 30 to 40 years. So say 20 years of that was spent farming on average before they died. So $3 x 365 days x 20 years = $21,900. Now we have to multiply that by the number of slaves at the time which was 3.95 million so that comes out to 86.5 billion dollars (i know what you are thinking...whoa..wait a minute..but dont worry...it gets better) So now we owe blacks 86.5 billion. Divide that by the number of blacks today (a little under 40 million) and each black person gets about $2,165 each Now...some will then say they want interest, but the interest they earned was getting a free ride on our social system, our education system, ect. On top of this...Since they have taken reparations, they must now go back to their country of origin(all of them) and apply for residence in the US now. Of course only the productive blacks will make it back in. By doing this, it will free up our jails, make our streets safer(since most crime is done by african americans) and free up billions of dollars in our welfare system. This 86.5 billion dollars in reparations would pay for itself in less than a year.
but wait, all the entertainers must contribute to the fund, after all they get rich off the white people. whoever accepts it is put on the next ship to Liberia.