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<p>This is a great goal, but I am POSITIVE that we cannot depend upon a nanny state to accomplish it. </p>
<p>Government will not solve our problems. Government IS our problem.</p>
<p>As for Obama, I totally agree with him on this. Besides, there is no such thing as “reparations” for crimes like slavery. It simply is not possible.</p>
<p>Bullet:
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<p>In the Japanese internment situation, you have a relatively timely action where an entire nation was represented by the offending government. In the matter of slavery, the majority of American families who would pay were not even here when the crime was committed. Additionally, many families who were here lost loved ones who were fighting against slavery. There is little to compare between the two situations.</p>
<p>Another matter to consider is that a high number of Americans who would have to fund such reparations came from situations abroad where their own families could claim reparations for crimes which brought them here.</p>
<p>Reparations is another “dream deferred.” I think our government is of the belief that an apology is sufficient. Obama is on target when he says that all money is best directed at improving education, healthcare, and,hopefully, providing decent facilities in areas populated by poor African-Americans.
Of course, I would love to have a diamond chain similiar to Little Wayne.</p>
<p>spideygirl, I’m not for a direct payment to ease America’s guilt, but I am willing to listen to both sides when it comes to the problem. </p>
<p>Sure, there is not one single person alive today that was a slave or a slave owner. But believe it or not, I heard something quite profound from Al Shaprton on the subject. (And yes, I know your rolling your eyes and screaming “HIM!”, and I usually do the same myself, but like I said, this was one time I found that what he was saying actually made me think.) </p>
<p>The Reverend Al’s point; what about the years of Jim Crow policies that prevented the African American from achieving equality in tthis country years after slavery was abolished? What about the fact that until the 1960s, most African Americans were forced into segregated (read “neglected and lower funded”) schooling systems that ensured they were at a disadvantage? Or even the right to vote, or compete on a level playing field. Yes, slavery is ancient history in this country, and there is no legal precedent or legitimate reason to pay people today for something that happened generations ago. Bt there is an entire population of theAA community over the age of 50 who had to live in a country whose policies directly impacted their ability to succeed, policies that ensured they would fail.</p>
<p>Just food for thought…</p>
<p>Bullet, thank you for that post.</p>
<p>I do think that the overall concern from people like Obama who are not on the “reparations” bandwagon is the sense that it would be a band-aid solution that would not truly address the needs of many. </p>
<p>With my legal background, I tend to think in terms of all of the class action lawsuits where the net result for the injured class is some trivial amount of money, like a $30 check because I was overcharged bank fees for years and years. So I’m wondering what the dollar figure is for “reparations” – and how you spread that over all of the people who be entitled to them – and would it be enough to really help anyone? And what about the families who are descendents of slaves but who are now part of the middle class. Obama is not a descendent of slaves, but his children are – should they get reparations? I think that is the lens he is looking through – I am sure that living in a pocket of relative wealth on Chicago’s south side he is very aware that there is a big difference between the African American children growing up in poverty and the African American children like his own who are growing up in privilege. </p>
<p>I do think that our country owes a debt to the African American community due to the legacy of slavery and discrimination, but I don’t think a check in the mail is going to fix that. The same money spent on social programs targeted to the still-needy individuals who arguably are still suffering from that legacy is probably a better investment.</p>
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NO families who would pay were present when slavery existed in America. And none of the slaves are here either.</p>
<p>BTW, I AM a McCain supporter, and mostly for other issues, but this is one issue where I believe Obama is 100% spot on. </p>
<p>Forgive the trite slogan; but I would rather see us apologize for a shameful history by giving the AA community a hand UP, not a hand OUT. Have a plan that changes there LIVES, not their temporay LIFE STYLE. Make up for past lack of opportunities by ensuring they have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field NOW. What is done with that opportunity is entirely up to them…</p>
<p>I agree with you entirely – though I am guessing from our political differences we would probably disagree on what the “hand UP” consists of. But to start, since this is a college board, I do think that the biggest difference that can be made for the future is to invest in improved educational opportunities for African-American youth living in impoverished areas.</p>
<p>It’s not as if Liberia was ours to give to the slaves even if some of them may have had ancestors that came from there.</p>
<p>CalMom, I think you’d be suprised by my choices for a Hands Up. I too beleive eduacation is key, as any policy that impoves the people of America can only have positive impacts on our society as a whole. Do get me wrong, I’m not 100% altruistic,I want everyone to succeed and improve because itmakes my country that much better (and my tax burden that much easier).</p>
<p>Mathmom, if the slaves were anyones to take, why couldn’t they be given Liberia? It was probably part of some empire who cut a deal with the US.</p>
<p>After the slave trade was abolished around 1820 worldwide, there were many AA roaming around the world free, and frightening people. A group was formed that sent these world wide freed slaves to Liberia. It was a more complicated happening than I just described, but you can google. It didn’t just exist for slaves in America.</p>
<p>I think the issue is whether it was legal or not legal rather than morality;</p>
<p>The reparations to the American-Japanese is that they were American citizens or registered aliens or even nonregistered, but were denighed the process of the Constitution and existing laws. </p>
<p>The problem of slavery is that, Slavery at that time was not against the Constitution or then existing law.</p>
<p>The bigger issue is whether the US Government, will enforce the existing treaties with the First Nations.</p>
<p>Slavery was abolished world wide in the 1820’s. I don’t know the exact date.</p>
<p>It was abolished in the US much later, but I don’t believe slaves were allowed to be taken from Africa after the world wide abolition. If they were, what was the purpose of it? </p>
<p>Just us Americans being different or doing our own thing?</p>
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<p>Thanks for that quote, Bullet. Every once in a while, Ole’ Reverend Al really does have something thought provoking to say. Who woulda thunk it?:rolleyes: I happen to fail into the category he speaks of (though I’m only 51 years old). </p>
<p>I see no point in reparations. Not even an official government apology would mean terribly much to me. The day I’d like to see dawn would be the one wherein black people stop internalizing the messages of inferiority, which are still being conveyed daily through the larger society, and within the black community itself. I can tell you forthrightly that I was one of those little black kids who would have picked the white doll when asked “which one was the “good” doll?” I still work daily to negate all the toxic messages that I internalized throughout childhood. </p>
<p>I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’d like to see a spiritual healing for black Americans. There’s a reason why Doll Test results are the same more than fifty years after the original experiment was conducted. I think a lingering and toxic sense of inferiority (though it’s largely subconscious), still accounts for much of the underachievement and self destructive behaviors that plague many AfAm communities. It’s something that’s so painful for many of us, that some of us are unwilling to tackle it head-on—which is why Bill Cosby drew such criticism for his attempts to open a dialog about the fallout of this internalization. It’s like a miasma of shame that everyone steadfastly tries to ignore. That’s something that has to be addressed from within the AfAm community, something that will require a great deal of emotional fortitude that many people do not seem to currently possess. Anybody who has spent years in therapy, tackling the fallout from an abusive childhood can glimpse what a huge undertaking such healing work must be.</p>
<p>So no, reparations won’t even come close it addressing the problems that racism and self-loathing create. And I do indeed believe that’s it’s ultimately self-loathing that accounts for much of the violence and self-defeating behaviors being exhibited by many AfAm kids in poor communities—self-loathing arising from internalized racism. </p>
<p>No, I don’t want a check. I want many in the larger society to stop seeing blackness as some kind of “pathology” as they smugly dwell within their majority status, wondering “why black people just can’t seem to get their act together”. Responses from the usual suspects, demonstrating that they haven’t grasped a word I just said are definitely anticipated. Whatever…:rolleyes:</p>
<p>Back to the original politics. The One answered a question that nobody was asking. This whole issue smacks of one his campaign raised so he could appear to be taking a stand against “his people”. Sista Souljah with a big yawn, timed to deflect the charges of dealing the race card from the bottom of the deck.</p>
<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>
<p>He could spend some of that energy in helping the native Indians. They seem to have worst than blacks in WA.</p>
<p>I know what you mean. These periphery issues are getting annoying. I wish McCain would start talking about what economic, education, social policies he stands for instead of only talking about Obama. It’s like he has a crush or something.</p>
<p>That’s not the way Republicans roll. They have a simple message: Democrats are for bigger government, higher taxes, and waving the white flag in the war on Terror.</p>
<p>It’s a simple contruct that can be used to answer any policy question in a way that leaves about half the country nodding and saying, “damn right”. Add a healthy dose of painting the Democratic as a buffoon (Democratic nominees always provide plenty of fodder) and it’s easy to see why Democrats simply don’t win Presidential elections.</p>
<p>Well, I guess if half the country really likes what the last 8 years have been like, then they can keep nodding and saying “damn right” to four more years of Bush. I’m thinking a lot of the Bush voters are feeling pretty contradicted and annoyed about now. With worse to come as we get closer to November.</p>
<p>momof2inca Bush is not running.</p>