US Considers Reparations For Slavery

[Tornado Queendom]

I think that reparations for slavery are a bad idea, because we don't need MORE Debt.

What if instead we required people to work and all the money went to
Oh wait

GIVE HIM ALL OUR MONEY! WE'LL REQUIRE THEM TO WORK AND THE MONEY GOES TO REPARATIONS!
Seriously, though. That will lead to MORE debt, and is just putting it on the taxpayers.

[Holy Tedalonia]

My great-grandmother ultimately became racist thanks to seeing a lot of African Americans seeking welfare. Since African Americans tend to be lower income and poorer, having to rely on welfare to get by in the USA. Imagine what reparations would do.

[Risottia]

My family didn't come over to the US until AFTER slavery was abolished, so I don't see how I owe reparations. Another issue I see is, how do we prove who was a descendant of a slave? Also, how much damage do we plan to do to our economy in this VERY futile and disconnected attempt to right hundreds of years of wrongs?

I have an alternative solution that will do much the same thing, without the economic damage. Since the US Government was responsible for allowing slavery, anyone that can prove that they are the descendant of a slave is allowed to give sitting politicians a good, swift kick in the shin.

What about politicians whose families immigrated to the US only after slavery was abolished, politicians who are descendants of slaves, and politicians whose ascendants fell while fighting against slavery?

[Scomagia]

It is a documented fact that the current prosperity and power of the US is largely based on taking land from Native Americans and putting African slaves to work on it. The profits from this thievery extended from the cotton fields of the Mississippi basin to the textile mills and manufacturies of New England. No one who has benefited from the strength of the US economy can claim to have no connection to slavery; we are all implicated.

That being said I prefer Ta-Nehisi Coates's solution:

- All African-Americans are automatically registered to vote upon turning 18. No paperwork needed.
- The votes of all African-Americans count for 5/3 of a vote.

I favor this partly because no amount of money could begin to repay the descendants of those who had their land, labor and liberty stolen from them in order to "make America great."

Nah, you can keep that racist bullshit to yourself.

[Western Vale Confederacy]

It is a documented fact that the current prosperity and power of the US is largely based on taking land from Native Americans and putting African slaves to work on it. The profits from this thievery extended from the cotton fields of the Mississippi basin to the textile mills and manufacturies of New England. No one who has benefited from the strength of the US economy can claim to have no connection to slavery; we are all implicated.

That being said I prefer Ta-Nehisi Coates's solution:

- All African-Americans are automatically registered to vote upon turning 18. No paperwork needed.
- The votes of all African-Americans count for 5/3 of a vote.

I favor this partly because no amount of money could begin to repay the descendants of those who had their land, labor and liberty stolen from them in order to "make America great."

Nah, you can keep that racist bullshit to yourself.

"It isn’t racist if it’s against white people!" - racist people

[Gun Manufacturers]

My family didn't come over to the US until AFTER slavery was abolished, so I don't see how I owe reparations. Another issue I see is, how do we prove who was a descendant of a slave? Also, how much damage do we plan to do to our economy in this VERY futile and disconnected attempt to right hundreds of years of wrongs?

I have an alternative solution that will do much the same thing, without the economic damage. Since the US Government was responsible for allowing slavery, anyone that can prove that they are the descendant of a slave is allowed to give sitting politicians a good, swift kick in the shin.

What about politicians whose families immigrated to the US only after slavery was abolished, politicians who are descendants of slaves, and politicians whose ascendants fell while fighting against slavery?

Keep in mind, they're still politicians. Are you seriously suggesting they've done NOTHING to deserve a good, swift kick in the shin?

[The Two Jerseys]

Rice Krispie treats

I get and enjoy this reference.

I'm surprised it took 17 pages to come up.

[Neo-Routhengard]

I can say this would be a pass to me, but it would depend on how they would implement the reparations. I dare say if it's the monetary dole-out type, the measure should be dropped straight to the trash can. We should be teaching people to fish, not to give them fish.

[The Republic of Fore]

I'd still be against it. They don't deserve free money for something they never personally experienced.

If you like you could think of it the reparations going to the slaves and then being inherited by their closest living relatives.

Besides, congressional salaries are still paid by the taxpayer, and government assets were purchased with taxpayer money. No reparations period.

Not even if it doesn't cost you, personally, anything?

---

Nope, those aren't comparable scenarios. One is a family passing on what they earned, the other is money being stolen to give to people who did nothing to earn it because "wah your ancestors were mean to us!"

Slaves earned plenty of money that they were never paid. Instead that money went to the slave owners, who passed it on to their children, while the slaves had nothing to pass on to their children.

1. I think of it as an unnecessary waste of money. Which it is. If you never experienced slavery, then you don't deserve reparations for slavery.
2. It does personally cost me something. My money still had to be wasted to purchase the asset being sold, or pay the salary of the congress person being cut. Just because It's not directly costing me anything now, doesn't me that it won't at all. Even if every dime of it was printed, I'd still be against it. We have more important things to worry about than giving freebies.
3. That's their problem. Not mine.

[Ifreann]

If you like you could think of it the reparations going to the slaves and then being inherited by their closest living relatives.

Not even if it doesn't cost you, personally, anything?

---

Slaves earned plenty of money that they were never paid. Instead that money went to the slave owners, who passed it on to their children, while the slaves had nothing to pass on to their children.

1. I think of it as an unnecessary waste of money. Which it is. If you never experienced slavery, then you don't deserve reparations for slavery.

Why not? Inherited wealth is a thing. Some people lack it today, not because their forebears were shiftless layabouts, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. Some people have it today, not because their forebears were hard-working entrepreneurs, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. The effects of slavery didn't go away when the last slaves died.

2. It does personally cost me something. My money still had to be wasted to purchase the asset being sold, or pay the salary of the congress person being cut. Just because It's not directly costing me anything now, doesn't me that it won't at all. Even if every dime of it was printed, I'd still be against it. We have more important things to worry about than giving freebies.
3. That's their problem. Not mine.

I like how you shift you shift from "We have more important things to worry about" to "That's their problem. Not mine".

[The Republic of Fore]

1. I think of it as an unnecessary waste of money. Which it is. If you never experienced slavery, then you don't deserve reparations for slavery.

Why not? Inherited wealth is a thing. Some people lack it today, not because their forebears were shiftless layabouts, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. Some people have it today, not because their forebears were hard-working entrepreneurs, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. The effects of slavery didn't go away when the last slaves died.

2. It does personally cost me something. My money still had to be wasted to purchase the asset being sold, or pay the salary of the congress person being cut. Just because It's not directly costing me anything now, doesn't me that it won't at all. Even if every dime of it was printed, I'd still be against it. We have more important things to worry about than giving freebies.
3. That's their problem. Not mine.

I like how you shift you shift from "We have more important things to worry about" to "That's their problem. Not mine".

1. Bad things happening to you in the past, or to your ancestors doesn't entitle you to free money. Life isn't fair. Boody-hoody hoo get over it.
2. We as a nation do have actually important things to worry about. Giving handouts, because whining about things that happened nearly 200 years ago makes middle class white people feel special isn't one of them. Everyone in America will suffer if we don't fix social security. Black people will survive fine without reparations. But hey, if you're so worried about paying reparations nothing is keeping you from opening your own wallet. You care about it so much? Then feel free to use your own money. Don't whine that I should give you mine.

[The Grims]

Why not? Inherited wealth is a thing. Some people lack it today, not because their forebears were shiftless layabouts, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. Some people have it today, not because their forebears were hard-working entrepreneurs, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. The effects of slavery didn't go away when the last slaves died.

I like how you shift you shift from "We have more important things to worry about" to "That's their problem. Not mine".

1. Bad things happening to you in the past, or to your ancestors doesn't entitle you to free money.

But your ancesyors doing bad things to others DOES entitle you to free money ?

[The Republic of Fore]

1. Bad things happening to you in the past, or to your ancestors doesn't entitle you to free money.

But your ancesyors doing bad things to others DOES entitle you to free money ?

Your ancestors earning money entitles them to do what they want with it.

[Solomons Land]

It is a documented fact that the current prosperity and power of the US is largely based on taking land from Native Americans and putting African slaves to work on it. The profits from this thievery extended from the cotton fields of the Mississippi basin to the textile mills and manufacturies of New England. No one who has benefited from the strength of the US economy can claim to have no connection to slavery; we are all implicated.

That being said I prefer Ta-Nehisi Coates's solution:

- All African-Americans are automatically registered to vote upon turning 18. No paperwork needed.
- The votes of all African-Americans count for 5/3 of a vote.

I favor this partly because no amount of money could begin to repay the descendants of those who had their land, labor and liberty stolen from them in order to "make America great."

I had to rewrite this stay reasonable and moderate; when I saw this thread and saw that, my eyes popped out of their sockets. Making one race have more rights than another, regardless of what that race might be, is racism. A policy that is not racist, but actually changes rights of men based on race, especially when it comes to the Democratic process, is a terrible idea. I cannot see a way that would end well.

Also, at risk of everything I said being disregarded due to ad homoinem reasoning, I did a bit of reasearch into Ta-Nehisi Coates. His writing, specifically a message he wrote saying roughly that Former President Barak Obama is part of a "racist system activists should fight against" has been quoted ver batum by right-wing activists as mockery of liberals at large. Also, this may not be the most relevant criticism of him, but his name, Ta-Nehisi, is Egyptian for Nubia, which I found extremely strange.

[Kowani]

But your ancesyors doing bad things to others DOES entitle you to free money ?

Your ancestors earning money entitles them to do what they want with it.

When the defense of slavery is that the money was fairly earned...

[The Grims]

But your ancesyors doing bad things to others DOES entitle you to free money ?

Your ancestors earning money entitles them to do what they want with it.

Why ? Why should society not seize the money made by slavers, nazis,druglords etc etc but instead allow their families to benefit from their crimes ?

As people here said - those descendants could just get a job and earn money themselves instead of getting it for free

[Ifreann]

Why not? Inherited wealth is a thing. Some people lack it today, not because their forebears were shiftless layabouts, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. Some people have it today, not because their forebears were hard-working entrepreneurs, but because slaves aren't paid for their labour. The effects of slavery didn't go away when the last slaves died.

I like how you shift you shift from "We have more important things to worry about" to "That's their problem. Not mine".

1. Bad things happening to you in the past, or to your ancestors doesn't entitle you to free money. Life isn't fair. Boody-hoody hoo get over it.

Life certainly isn't fair, but we can make it so.

2. We as a nation do have actually important things to worry about. Giving handouts, because whining about things that happened nearly 200 years ago makes middle class white people feel special isn't one of them. Everyone in America will suffer if we don't fix social security. Black people will survive fine without reparations. But hey, if you're so worried about paying reparations nothing is keeping you from opening your own wallet. You care about it so much? Then feel free to use your own money. Don't whine that I should give you mine.

See, now I'm suspicious that you don't really care about there being more important things. I think that you think that that's a better sounding excuse than just saying that you oppose reparations in principle.

[Skarten]

Your ancestors earning money entitles them to do what they want with it.

Why ? Why should society not seize the money made by slavers, nazis,druglords etc etc but instead allow their families to benefit from their crimes ?

As people here said - those descendants could just get a job and earn money themselves instead of getting it for free

Let me guess, and then give it to the descendants of slaves?

[Skarten]

Another reason why this wouldn't work that you people ignore is that, surprisingly, slavery wasn't the only bad event that happened to a certain demographic. If we're giving reparations to slaves, why not also give reparations to every single demographic that's ever had something bad happen to them?

[Aellex]

Your ancestors earning money entitles them to do what they want with it.

Why ? Why should society not seize the money made by slavers, nazis,druglords etc etc but instead allow their families to benefit from their crimes ?

As people here said - those descendants could just get a job and earn money themselves instead of getting it for free

Doing so one century and a half done the line is rather fucking dumb and unfair, yes.
If you wanna seize someone's money because of their crime, you seize their money, not their grand-grand-grand-grandchildren's one.

[Andsed]

If you like you could think of it the reparations going to the slaves and then being inherited by their closest living relatives.

Not even if it doesn't cost you, personally, anything?

---

Slaves earned plenty of money that they were never paid. Instead that money went to the slave owners, who passed it on to their children, while the slaves had nothing to pass on to their children.

1. I think of it as an unnecessary waste of money. Which it is. If you never experienced slavery, then you don't deserve reparations for slavery.
2. It does personally cost me something. My money still had to be wasted to purchase the asset being sold, or pay the salary of the congress person being cut. Just because It's not directly costing me anything now, doesn't me that it won't at all. Even if every dime of it was printed, I'd still be against it. We have more important things to worry about than giving freebies.
3. That's their problem. Not mine.

Yeah these reparation would be a huge waste of money that could instead be used to improve the lives of millions of people of all races.

[Saint Arsenio]

The US government was rather involved in slavery.

It was also rather involved in ending it.

Yes, I agree that they were, in some way, part of ending it, but look at how many years it took for them to do it.

[Saint Arsenio]

My great-grandmother ultimately became racist thanks to seeing a lot of African Americans seeking welfare. Since African Americans tend to be lower income and poorer, having to rely on welfare to get by in the USA. Imagine what reparations would do.

Not all African-Americans are like this. I think your second statement is false. African-Americans don't "tend to be lower income and poorer." We also don't rely on welfare to get by, at least not all of us. There are times when you have to use "some" instead of categorizing ALL African-Americans as one. There are White/Caucasian people who use the Welfare system too. Not just Minority groups.

[Ifreann]

Another reason why this wouldn't work that you people ignore is that, surprisingly, slavery wasn't the only bad event that happened to a certain demographic. If we're giving reparations to slaves, why not also give reparations to every single demographic that's ever had something bad happen to them?

Why not indeed?

[Western Vale Confederacy]

Another reason why this wouldn't work that you people ignore is that, surprisingly, slavery wasn't the only bad event that happened to a certain demographic. If we're giving reparations to slaves, why not also give reparations to every single demographic that's ever had something bad happen to them?

Why not indeed?

You’re Irish, and probably in need of cash.

You’re not the most pragmatic when it comes to reparations.