Alan Keyes on Reparations (AK contextualizes his comments)

The Illinois Leader ^ | 8-17-2004 | Chicago Bureau

[unspun]

Alan Keyes on Reparations

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

By The Leader-Chicago Bureau (admin@illinoisleader.com)

CHICAGO -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes has just released a statement clarifying what appeared to be a surprising position he took at a news conference yesterday.

"I think a cogent argument could be made for reparations in principle," Keyes is quoted as saying to reporters yesterday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Chicago Tribune expanded:

Keyes gave a brief tutorial on Roman history and said that in regard to reparations for slavery, the U.S. should do what the Romans did: "When a city had been devastated [in the Roman empire], for a certain length of time--a generation or two--they exempted the damaged city from taxation."

Keyes proposed that for a generation or two, African-Americans of slave heritage should be exempted from federal taxes--federal because slavery "was an egregious failure on the part of the federal establishment."

The response from conservatives was immediate. "Who downstate will now vote for Keyes?" wrote IllinoisLeader.com reader Randall Mead of Springfield today. "I certainly won't."

This afternoon, Keyes released the following statement, clarifying his position:

I have consistently opposed the effort to extort monetary damages from the American people. As I have argued in the past, the great sacrifices involved in the Civil War represented the requital in blood and treasure for the terrible injustices involved in slavery. In this form the so called "reparations" movement represents an insult to the historic commitment that many Americans made to the end of slavery, which included the sacrifice of their lives.

I have also consistently maintained that the history of slavery, racial segregation and discrimination did real damage to black Americans, left real and persistent material wounds in need of healing.

In various ways through the generations since the end of slavery, America has tried to address this objective fact, but without real success. This was at least in part the rational for many elements of the Great Society programs of the sixties, and for the original and proper concept of affirmative action developed under Republican leadership during the Nixon years.

Unfortunately, the government-dominated approaches of the Great Society, which purported to heal and repair the legacy of historical damage, actually widened and deepened the wounds. They undermined the moral foundations of the black community and seriously corrupted the family structure and the incentives to work, savings, investment, and business ownership.

The idea I have often put forward to address this challenge involves a traditionally Republican, conservative and market-oriented approach: removing the tax burden from the black community for a generation or two in order to encourage business ownership, create jobs and support the development of strong economic foundations for working families.

This has the advantage of letting people help themselves, rather then pouring money into government bureaucracies that displace and discourage their own efforts. It takes no money from other citizens, while righting the historic imbalance that results from the truth that black slaves toiled for generations at a tax rate that was effectively 100 percent.

I have also made it clear that while I believe that the descendants of slaves would be helped by this period of tax relief, my firm goal and ultimate objective is to replace the income tax, and thereby free all Americans from this insidious form of tax slavery. It is well known that this is one of the key priorities of the Keyes campaign.

In response to Keyes' statement, conservative Jack Roeser of Family Taxpayers Network told IllinoisLeader.com, "I expect Keyes would say this is one of those interesting subjects to be talked about among people sharing ideas. Reparations is an impractical concept. Everybody in every category has been wronged in one or the other, and you cannot single one out."

Roeser continued, "Keyes is a man of ideas, and I expect he gets into discussions like this that are proper in their proper place, but that he would never vote for reparations. The problem with American politics is that people don't get into deep discussions."

© 2004 IllinoisLeader.com -- all rights reserved

______What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this story? Write a letter to the editor at letters@illinoisleader.com and include your name and town.

[SJackson]

He can spin it all he wants, all it is is more pandering. And it is just as wrong when conservatives do it as when liberals do it.

You're right, this is a divisive issue, with no legitimate foundation.

[Catspaw]

The "burden" on the treasury would be miniscule, while still making a moral statement.

Let's see your numbers.

[sinkspur]

Keyes is for reparations. Period. Saying this is some master plan to cut taxes is preposterous on its face.

[Texas Federalist]

Tell you what, pay the descendants of slaves reparations by taking the money out of the pockets of the descendants of slave owners.

That would be unjust, because they have not committed any wrong, and the actual slaveholders are long ago dead.

And the descendants of slaveholders have had no wrong done to them. The actual slaves are long ago dead.

More money in the hands of taxpayers, any taxpayers, is a good thing. Less money in the hands of government bureaucrats is also a good thing.

Does the end always justify the means? Even at the expense of a vastly unjust tax system? So you would be in favor of abolishing income taxes on all Democrats? How about abolishing income taxes on males, people named Bruce, and people from New Hampshire? The real tax rate determined by the rate of government spending. Cutting taxes on a particular group only changes the tax allocation unless you cut spending as well. Even cutting taxes across the board changes the tax allocation from people living today to people living in sometime in the future if there are no corresponding spending cuts.

[B Knotts]

Exactly. He is telling blacks that instead of checks, the answer is a tax environment in which they can prosper.

While certainly controversial, it makes some sense, as a means of shifting black voters' mindset away from welfare-stateism but some people here hate Alan Keyes so much, they refuse to consider his idea seriously.

He is trying to get the attention of black voters in Chicago, and peel off enough to make the race competitive. This could work, although it's still a long shot.

[NYCVirago]

Say what you will, Alan is at least looking out for the little guy.

Are you kidding me? I'm one of the middle-class taxpayers who will get stuck footing the bill for Shaquille O'Neal to have to pay no income taxes, if Alan Keyes has his way.

[Texas Federalist]

It is not an issue,blank, except to Johnnie Cochran and his ambulance-chasing jive brothers.

And apparently Alan Keys (who had a shred of credibility before he said that a racist media kept him from contending in 2000 Republican primary and then proposed this nonsense).

[SJackson]

By the way, I personally heard Alan Keyes say today that abolishing the Income Tax is his number one priority and repealing the 17th, restoring the balance of powers and representation for the sovereign state governments is also a goal. He also thanked God on the air for President Bush. And I do too.

I'll probably vote for the guy, but you don't abolish the income tax on the basis of race, priority one is dead nationally, as well as in Illinois.

The 17th? Ping me AFTER "No Child Left Behind" has been successful, those in America, including Republicans, think the 17th is one hole away from the bar. He's going to be fun though, the kind of candidates we need to see.

[B Knotts]

I think you underestimate the popularity of reparations as an issue among blacks.

[NYCVirago]

As I've said before, the issue is not "reparations", it's "tax cuts", and Keyes has come up with an ingenious way of morphing one into the other.

It is not ingenious; it's insulting and insane. The best way to propose tax cuts is to, well, support tax cuts for *all*, not reparations. I swear, Alan Keyes could decide that partial-birth abortions were a good thing, and his supporters would still try to justify his position!

[sinkspur]

Don't forget one thing: we've been told for five years if ONLY a "real, true" conservative can get on the ticket, it's a big time win, so there's a lot riding on this, hence the blinders, etc.

Trust Keyes. He supports reparations, then supports them again in his clarification, but I'm told he is clearly not supporting reparations, but is supporting tax cuts for people who don't pay taxes.

Once again, you and I are just too stupid to see the brilliance of Alan Keyes!

I'm ready to barf!

[Truthsearcher]

I'm supporting tax cuts, yes, even tax cuts for rich millionaires, because I don't operate based on envy.

[Catspaw]

body>

From today's Crossfire (starting at 3:30 p.m. CDT).  No mention of Keyes' ultimate objective is to replace the income tax, and thereby free all Americans from this insidious form of tax slavery.

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0408/17/cf.00.html

CARLSON: All right. I want to ask you question then, Ambassador Keyes. I take you serious, I take your ideas seriously and I agree with most of them. So I was shocked the other day to see you give a press conference endorsing the idea of reparations for slavery, for tax breaks for descendants of slavery. You said, pointing out that your opponent Barack Obama is not descended from slaves and you are. This struck me as a kind of essential betrayal of the beliefs you've been espousing in public for the last 20 years.

KEYES: Not at all. I have taken a strong position against schemes of extortion from the fellow citizens of people here in America, based on the idea that somehow or another that would be requital for slavery. And I made clear over the years that I think the blood and treasured sacrifice during the Civil War constituted that requital.

But I have also made clear every time I was asked that there was objective damage done to black Americans by the slave system. And there have been frequent efforts in American history not thus far successful to address the wounds that were left by that legacy.

What I have laid on the table repeatedly is a thoroughly Republican, thoroughly conservative approach that is actually borrowed from ancient history in terms of what the Roman empire used to do to respond to damaged communities. You give them tax relief. You give them a tax break to make up for the fact, for instance in this case, the black folks toiled for generations at what was effectively 100 percent tax rate.

And by doing this, you unleash their enterprise. Give them an incentive to work. Give people an incentive to own businesses without taking pennies out of anybody else's pocket, you're able to create an environment where people are encouraged to work and put a strong foundation under themselves instead of putting money in a democracy to dominate their lives that undermines the moral foundations of their families and destroys their economic incentives.

As a matter of fact, it's a thoroughly conservative, thoroughly consistent Republican approach to a very serious challenge.

[blanknoone]

They are evenly split over reparations.They are evenly split between demanding it and not caring about it. And they also have the notion that the D's in general support it. It is a winning issue for D's among blacks in general.

[Texas Federalist]

He is telling blacks that instead of checks, the answer is a tax environment in which they can prosper.

I'm sure Alan Iverson and Tiger Woods are tired of receiving welfare checks. I hope that Alan Keyes forges an envirnment in which they can prosper.

[NYCVirago]

Real Politik is compromise. As I said, I would oppose it on principle, but it would be smart politics. And if footing the bill is transferring the huge tracts of gov't land into the private sector, I'll foot that bill any day.

What's the Real Politik in this? the liberal Obama opposes reparations and looks like a statemsan; the "conservative" Keyes supports reparations and looks like a race-baiting nutcase. This will not create one net vote for Alan Keyes -- for every black who falls for this nonsense, there will be plenty of white swing voters and even Republicans who are turned off by it.

[Howlin]

Whatever would you and I do if not for all these brillant people to explain this all to us.

I wonder who's explaining it to the voters in Illinois?

[B Knotts]

What is wrong with reparations, per se? Like I said, my objection is only to sending out checks. Weren't black families financially harmed by their ancestors being owned by other people?

[Jim Robinson]

Well, I'm not so sure he's all that serious about pushing the income tax relief issue. But it does make for an interesting debate. Will be curious to see how the libs respond.

[Luis Gonzalez]

It's not a tax cut, it's a race based tax exemption using the notion that the same government that was willing to rip the nation apart in an effort to end the institution of slavery, should now be held accountable for the evils of an institution that existed prior to it.

The Federal government addressed the "importation" issue in the Constitution, and fought a war to end slavery. Slaves benefited from the actions of the Federal government.