Obama Opposes Reparations

[razorsharp]

<p>

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.</p>

<p>The man with a serious chance to become the nation’s first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.

</p>

<p>[My</a> Way News - Obama says he opposes slavery reparations, apology](<a href=“HeadlineAlley”>HeadlineAlley)</p>

<p>Will this finally end the call for reparations?</p>

[mini]

<p>It will cost a LOT more to improve schools, health care, and economy for all.</p>

[simba]

<p>“It will cost a LOT more to improve schools, health care, and economy for all.”</p>

<p>You can’t improve schools unless you improve ‘attitude’.</p>

[aapride]

<p>Welleducation is imporatnt so I agree with Obamaon this point. But our community needs to chnage their attitude and celberate academic success rtaher than focusing on sports and dissing education.</p>

[mini]

<p>“You can’t improve schools unless you improve 'attitude.”</p>

<p>You can spend a lot of money over a period of generations to improve attitude, and it works too.</p>

[aapride]

<p>The current admission quota system will not last forever. If Obama gets elected than their will be calls against the quota system. Kids need to perform and must have higher SAT, GPA and AP scores than Asian or Jewish kids.</p>

[calmom]

<p>Let’s be honest here, Obama’s position on this has always been consistent –> he wants money to go to HELP PEOPLE NOW rather than some token relief. From the article you linked to: </p>

<p>

The man with a serious chance to become the nation’s first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.</p>

<p>“I have said in the past - and I’ll repeat again - that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed,” the Illinois Democrat said recently.

**Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. **Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters.</p>

<p>“Let’s not be naive. Sen. Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life,” said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. “In light of the demographics of this country, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he’s done.”</p>

<p>But this is not a position Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004.

The National Urban League - a group Obama is to address Saturday - avoids the word “reparations” as too vague and highly charged. But the group advocates government action to close the gaps between white America and black America.

Obama says an apology would be appropriate but not particularly helpful in improving the lives of black Americans. Reparations could also be a distraction, he said.</p>

<p>In a 2004 questionnaire, he told the NAACP, “I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, ‘We’ve paid our debt,’ and to avoid the much harder work.”

</p>

[pmrlcomm]

<p>Apologize to any living slave. Give them reparations. Everyone else can pound salt. Every country has, at one time or another, oppressed groups of people. There’s enough blame to go around and you can’t pay people for what happened to their ancestors. It’s not the same government and it isn’t same group of slave owners. If I recall the reparations to those held in the internment during WWII the money only went to those actually there. Not relatives.</p>

[DocT]

<p>“You can spend a lot of money over a period of generations to improve attitude, and it works too.” - not from what we see!</p>

[interesteddad]

<p>What’s to oppose? Nobody was really seriously considering more reparations were they?</p>

[mini]

<p>““You can spend a lot of money over a period of generations to improve attitude, and it works too.” - not from what we see!”</p>

<p>'cause we haven’t done it. For 70 years now, the government (through Social Security) has been redistributing wealth from Black males to white women. My mother is very thankful. Not reparations, just giving the money back that was taken would bankrupt the budget.</p>

[simba]

<p>“You can spend a lot of money over a period of generations to improve attitude, and it works too”</p>

<p>Only in la la land.</p>

[ucsd_ucla_dad]

<p>

For 70 years now, the government (through Social Security) has been redistributing wealth from Black males to white women.

I hope you’re not seriously trying to imply some government conspiracy here. I assume you’re just referring to the fact that, on average, white females live longer than black males. Of course, white females also live longer than white males.</p>

[mini]

<p>Why should there be a conspiracy? Simply equity, combined with the fact that it was well-known that Black males were employed in the most dangerous occupations and had the poorest health care. It doesn’t have to be a conspiracy for government economists to know (and to actually compute) what makes the system work.</p>

<p>Who would ever need to “conspire” against Black males? Much like slavery (though not the system of bonded labor that existed until after World War II), a conspiracy would be wholly unnecessary.</p>

[parent2noles]

<p>So much for 40 acres and a mule. Rats. I was hoping that the edict of General Sherman would have been applied to Manhattan, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere.</p>

<p>Oh well… :(</p>

[Bullet]

<p>Mini, so it sounds like you’re against Social Security. What would you like to see instead?</p>

[Bullet]

<p>I beleive it was Liberia. And I’m not so sure it was a “gift” after the Civil War.</p>

<p>Wikipedia, here I come! Now if only I could believe a small portion of what is posted on that site!</p>

[Bullet]

<p>I believe it was Bush I or Clinton, but yes, we did pay reparations to Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps during WWII. I think the amount paid was $40K, plus the market value of whatever was taken (adjusted for inflation). Could be worngon the President or the amount (it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong), but we definitely did pay.</p>

<p>The Palestinian situation is a whole other story, dealing with two other sovereign peoples.</p>

[Bullet]

<p>As to Liberia’s history, I believe the plan was started by the leaders of the Abolitionist movement. Sounds nice, but again to me it’s another low point in our history of race relations: “Yeah, we want you free, we just don’t want you free AND living here” just isn’t as noble as I would have liked.</p>

[barrons]

<p>Mini is all for helping black people, He just chooses to live in one of the whitest cities in Washington.(Under 2% Black)</p>