Posted on 07/08/2009 5:01:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
Last month, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 26 "Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans." The resolution ends with: "Disclaimer. -- Nothing in this resolution (a) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or (b) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States." That means Congress apologizes but is not going to pay reparations, as least for now.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed concerns about the disclaimer, thinking that it's an attempt to stave off reparations claims from the descendants of slaves. Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said her organization is studying the language of the resolution and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, said "putting in a disclaimer takes away from the meaning of an apology. A number of us are prepared to vote against it in its present form. There are several members of the Progressive Caucus who feel the same way."
It goes without saying that slavery was a gross violation of human rights. Justice would demand that all the perpetrators -- that includes slave owners, and African and Arab slave sellers -- make compensatory reparation payments to victims. Since slaves, slave owners and slave sellers are no longer with us, such compensation is beyond our reach and a matter to be settled in the world beyond.
Absent from the reparations debate is: Who pays? Don't say the government because the government doesn't have any money that it doesn't first take from some American. So which Americans owe black people what? Reparations advocates don't want that question asked but let's you and I.
Are the millions of Europeans, Asians, and Latin Americans who immigrated to the U.S. in the 20th century responsible for slavery and should they be forced to cough up reparations money? What about descendants of Northern whites who fought and died in the name of freeing slaves? Should they cough up reparations money for black Americans? What about non-slave-owning Southern whites, a majority of whites; should they be made to pay reparations? And, by the way, would President Obama, whose father is Kenyan and mother white, be eligible for a reparations payment?
On black people's side of the ledger, thorny issues also arise. Some blacks purchased other blacks as a means to free family members. But other blacks owned slaves for the same reason whites owned slaves -- to work farms or plantations. Are descendants of these blacks eligible and deserving of reparations? There is no way that Europeans could have captured millions of Africans. They had African and Arab help. Should Congress haul representatives of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Muslim states before them and demand they compensate American blacks because of their ancestors' involvement in capturing and selling slaves?
Reparations advocates make the foolish unchallenged pronouncement that United States became rich on the backs of free black labor. That's utter nonsense. Slavery has never had a very good record of producing wealth. Think about it. Slavery was all over the South. Buying into the reparations nonsense, you'd have to conclude that the antebellum South was rich and the slave-starved North was poor. The truth of the matter is just the opposite. In fact, the poorest states and regions of our country were places where slavery flourished: Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia while the richest states and regions were those where slavery was absent: Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts.
The Senate apology is nothing more than political theater but it could be a slick way to get the camel's nose into the tent for future reparations. If the senators are motivated by white guilt, I have the cure. About 15 years ago I wrote a "Proclamation of Amnesty and Pardon Granted to All Persons of European Descent" that is available here.
What about the enslavement of Irish and poor Brits forced to be servants in the colonies — including the North American colonies — in the 1600s?
These are tried and true methods of the race baiters - keep up the drumroll that we are a racist society and America will never be different.
Jesse and Al depend upon this for their livelihoods.
I would think the 660,000 men who died during the Civil War would’ve been enough reparation to satisfy these creeps. But, the hell with American History and up with feel-good nonsense. A waste of congress’s time.
No, I am all for Congress and Senate wasting their time on these things. That way they will do less harm.
Walter Williams nails it. Slavery never produces real wealth except for a very few. Now if we could only apply that lesson to today’s situation, say the modern day importation of cheap labor. Hmmmm
Those who practiced slavery should apologize. Those who were slaves should receive the apology.
Exactly what I was thinking!
None of those who did are alive today
Those who were slaves should receive the apology.
None of those who were are alive today
To force people who never had anything to do with slavery to pay people who never were slaves is legalized theft.
Keep it up Washington.........
Every republican senator should be voted out for this one action. First, don’t apologize for me. I didn’t do it. Second, how do you apologize for something anyone else did? And third, when will I get my apology for my God being killed? And who should apologize? Actually, it was pre-ordained, but you get my drift.
You want to start up a new civil war, try to transfer more wealth from the hard working people of America to those who have been nothing but a drain on the economy since the Great Society - which was essentially the over-the-top reparations program that was so successful in the past.
Bullets WILL fly.
Not a complete list perhaps, but these are some of the topics that can truly ignite a Civil War in no time at all.
Amen.
And the trillions in social welfare payments and reverse discrimination for the past 60 years.
Reparations have been paid many times over. It's time to stop this madness.
He already has his reparations, including a private air armada taking him out for pizza when ever and where ever.
Possibly a reparations program that would undo the terrible injustice of transporting a captive from Africa to the United States would be the offering of passage money back to the original homeland of those unhappy to be American Citizens.
I am quite confident that the varied countries of the African continent would gladly welcome back their lost children.
Of course the first plane would transport back very famous Americans named Jackson, Sharpton, and Wright. I believe that would be the flight to Zimbabwe. I can just picture the welcome ceremony.
Nothing but a set up for future reparations. Zero is quite happy that Ortega ‘doesn’t blame him for things that happened when he (Zero) was a few months old’. But Zero is completely comfortable blaming, and encouraging others like him to blame, me for things that happened 100 years before I was born. This way of thinking will be the downfall of the USA.
Until fairly recently, the accepted position, even among liberal academics, was America’s “original sin” could only be expiated by the shedding of much blood. Now, it’s cold, hard cash.
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