Posted on 05/12/2013 7:40:37 AM PDT by csvset
France’s justice minister has said she supports land reform in the country’s overseas territories to help the descendents of slaves, two days after President Hollande declared reparations for slavery were impossible.
Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has called on the French government to consider ways to redistribute land in its Caribbean overseas territories to favour the descendants of slaves, just two days after President François Hollande ruled out reparations for France’s role in the colonial-era slave trade.
“In the overseas territories there was a land grab, the general result was that the descendents of slaves were left without access to land. Therefore we should think about – without sparking a civil war – regrouping properties that were divided and about land reform,” Taubira said in an interview published in the Journal de Dimanche weekly on Sunday.
“There are steps that should be taken, without expropriations, and clearly explaining the reason behind the state’s push to purchase land,” Taubira added.
Vocal supporter
As a French MP representing her native French Guiana in 2001, Taubira authored a law that recognises slavery as a crime against humanity. More recently, as France’s justice minister, she was a vocal supporter of an approved bill legalising same-sex marriage.
Hollande’s unequivocal statement on Friday that France would not pay reparations for slavery sparked outrage among some groups.
The Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN), a leading French racism watchdog group, promptly said it would sue the state-owned bank CDC, accusing the institution of collecting billions of euros from Haiti as part of France’s dark legacy in slavery.
Call welcomed
But on Sunday the CRAN welcomed Taubira’s announcement, saying land reform was another important way France could atone for its past mistakes.
“I am overjoyed to hear of Mrs. Taubira’s announcement,” CRAN president Luis-Georges Tin told FRANCE 24. “It’s clear that Mr. Hollande is an uncomfortable position. He is coming off as a man who turns people away, who tells the victims of slavery ‘too bad’.”
Tin said that the kind of land reform his group has championed – and that Taubira has espoused – would not lead to expropriations, claiming the state owned many tracts of unused land in the overseas territories.
“Our colleagues overseas have heard the announcement loud and clear… we all expect to be contacted quickly by Mrs. Taubira and the government to figure out how to put this policy in place,” Tin noted, adding that the new announcement would in no way dissuade his group from suing the CDC.
Could we do the same with our feral youth?
I’m picking up a French MAS 1936 Bolt action rifle (7.5X54) from a friend next week)...absolutely Cherry condition.
Dropped once, never fired.
Because Haiti is a real success story.
They can have Devil’s Island.
So... will these ‘descendants of slaves’ end up giving the land back to the original owners because they can’t figure out how to farm it, like the South African ‘descendants of slaves’ ?
If you gave them 40 acres and a mule, they’d probably eat the mule.
You mean send them to Haiti and give them some land there ?
I think she has a point.
Why don’t we offer Detroit to them for their “slave” land grab. After all, it’s nothing more than a cancerous festering boil full of pus on America’s ass. We don’t want it....they can have it.
Problem solved.
We see how well this is working out in South Africa.
Mlle. Taubira, suppose we just give them your apartment and call it square. Surely you wouldn't have a problem with that, would you?
hmmmmmmmmm they may be onto something.
Anyone who wants ‘reparations’ from the US can be given a chunk of land in their original home country.
That presumes they can figure out basic slaughtering and butchering techniques.
Does the reparation movement care about all descendants of slaves or just those descendants who are brown? And where are the cutoffs? How far back should we go? What about those sold into slavery in Crimea? What about the more than one million Europeans captured in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, and England by Barbary corsairs for purchase by Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.
If they care about all slave descendants, I expect them to call for Egypt and Iraq to turn over land to Israel. Maybe the Israelis could move the Palesrinians into some of their new land, kill two birds with one stone. Those who benefit from the dastardly deeds of the pharoahs and Nebuchadnezzar ought to pay.
Send the descendants of slaves living in France back?
The motto of all liberals is “With my guilt and your gelt we can do anything!” She might be encouraged to sign over her country estate as well.
She should look into our Pigford settlements.
All of a sudden every Negro in the South was a farmer and demanded settlement.
Hey, 40 acres and a mule worked out so well for us, dinnit?
I'm stealing that as a tagline!
Maybe a little editing?
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