Posted on 08/17/2004 2:38:57 PM PDT by unspun
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
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You may be on to something. He sure had me fooled -- for years!
That tinkling sound you hear? Oh, don't pay it any mind. It's just the scales falling off my eyes.
This idea of his is going over like a lead balloon.
Only at this board. The other conservative sites have enough sense not to embarrass the conservative movement by taking this guy seriously.
Bush didn't give Oprah a tax break because she's black.
Maybe the Native Americans are too busy running their casinos to both telling him. There are some who are doing pretty well with their casinos --- something I'm not allowed to have --- but I don't begrudge them.
This proposal isn't for "blacks."
As a pro-life speaker Keyes is excellent, as a politician and TV host he stinks. To be the former, you don't need to tell good lies. You have to be a good liar to be a politician and be on TV.
And if voters vote for him based on that assumption and he breaks the 60 vote stranglehold will you agree it was a good move?
Oh, if ony Mike Ditka hadn't left us in our hour of need. Why oh why. How could he have done this. Then we would have had a chance!!!!!
I'm with you, "Chuck". ; )
Then why didn't he say that, instead of throwing it out as an afterthought after sucking up to blacks by saying he'd exempt two entire generations of blacks from taxes simply because there were slaves in America?
Plus, he can't even spell it.
Why do you suppose there are those here who blindly support tax breaks for a particular race?
Is it because people are offering support based on his religion so strongly, they can't see this is racism?
The "Folks" in southern Illinois won't vote for him because of this "gaffe" if it is one... and he never had the chicago vote to begin with.
Yep and I'm willing to bet that most people don't want to go down that road. Now I'd be for reparations if I thought it would get certain to stop sabotaging me at work *LOL* They might not imagine me to be so privileged as they THINK I am! I can think of things that aren't reparations but would definately benefit a lot of black people,esp. those living in the big cities where schools tend to be lackluster shall we say. How about vouchers for instance? Star Parker used to be a vouchers advocate. I think he should drop this idea and pursue other things that would be more welcome.
Because many, many blacks, especially in urban areas, think reparations is just around the corner, and he's trying to get their attention.
Yes,you did. Go read your own post.
Was that statement made today? I guarantee he must have read his email before he said that hehe!
It's not? Why does he propose exempting two generations of black people from income taxes simply because there were, once upon a time, slaves in America?
Of course it's for blacks, with an afterthought of "oh, well, we'll do away with income taxes".
I don't think it's a RC conspiracy.
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