Flutterby™! : Reparations 2000-12-29 20:01:23+00

Reparations

2000-12-29 20:01:23+00 by Larry Burton 4 comments

Maybe reparation paid to descendants of slaves is something we should be doing, maybe it isn't but it sure does open up some money making opportunities for some.

Robert L. Brock, 75, a legal activist who for decades has been barnstorming the country spreading the word on reparations. He contends that black people are eligible for special tax rebates and, if they pay him $50 to fill out a claim form, they will one day collect a half-million dollars in compensation for all that slavery and state-sanctioned discrimination stole from African Americans.

Now, I'm not saying this fellow is a con artist just out to take $50 from people that probably could put the money to better use, but I've seen it done before.

Yup. I agree. I think black people contributed greatly to the growth of the United States. If they think they aren't receiving the benefits of living here in the US, well, I think we should "cash them out", give them some money (not $500K, that's too much). Then we should show them the door, send them somewhere else in the world where they can use that money to build a new life. I think we'd be well rid of people who hate the United States, and it'd be worth every penny to pay them off and ship them off.

If Robert L. Brock weren't just a cheap shyster he'd be addressing the causes of economic staticism. I think a hell of a lot of lottery winners have proven that $500,000 won't last a generation unless it's backed up with the attitudes and drive to have made the money in the first place, and the education to implement those dreams. Time after time we see that the attitudes of the parents determine how kids turn out. Time after time we see that money in schools is no substitute for parental involvement. If you're serious about economic stop the victim mentality, stop calling public assistance "entitlements". Where public schools are failing to teach basic numeracy and literacy rip control away from the school boards and give it back to the teachers. I'm not saying there weren't some real wrongs done via slavery, or via the social policies instituted during reconstruction that to some extent still exist to this day, but as long as we continue this feedback loop of dependence and need we're not going to change society at all. And that really sucks.

Hmmm...why stop with blacks? Why not force Missouri citizens to make reparations to Utah Mormons for driving them from their land? And how far back should we seek reparations? Should we declare war on Congo, and seek reparations from the descendants of the black chiefs who sold other black POW's into slavery? Do whites who can demonstrate that their ancestors arrived after slavery ended get to take a tax deduction? And what about blacks who own land that was originally owned by Indian tribes? Should those blacks be forced to make reparations to Native Americans? At a certain point, I think that you introduce new injustices as great or greater than those the victims originally suffered. I think that efforts like these get traction because people anthropomorphize groups like "blacks" and "whites." Crimes are committed by individuals, and individuals should be held responsible. Should blacks be held accountable as a group because a black man named John T. Booker, 25, a native of Detroit, boosted a Honda Civic on January 23, 1992? If not, why should all modern whites be held accountable because Jesse Williams, 42, a native of Richmond, bought 2 slaves for $100/slave on December 08, 1832? Maybe we should tally up how much annual ("black on white" - "white on black") crime costs, and subtract/add that from the sum "whites" allegedly owe "blacks"...