[2ndDivisionVet]

They want what they want and logic & reason have nothing to do with it.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

It's true that the Civil War killed hundreds of thousands of Confederate and (preponderately white) Union soldiers.

It is also true that those who were killed in the Civil War would have had a lot more descendants if not for the war. The ones who had descendants down to this day, mostly were ones who survived the war.

It is also true that the institution of slavery was accepted throughout history and worldwide, up until the Christians - Protestants more than Catholics, and British more than other Protestants - rejected the institution of slavery during the Enlightenment. Southern Americans were simply uniquely situated to be the last to get the word, because they had a tiger by the tail, and knew it. But there is simply no other culture besides the Christian culture which has ever rejected the institution of slavery, and fought to end slavery as an institution (rather than opposing slavery only for themselves and their kin). The Battle Hymn of the Republic was, let's face it, a recruiting song for the Union Army. You will not find its like originating in any other language than English. Nor any at all, before the Enlightenment.

William Wilberforce

Black Rednecks and White Liberals - Thomas Sowell

Epistle to Philemon

Slavery and the Civil War.

[Hoodat]

How much in reparations will Obama have to pay?

[jmax]

The only reason Lincoln didn’t send them all back to Africa was that he knew there would one day be a National Basketball Association.

[Smokin' Joe]

I think every living slaveowner should give every living slave a year’s wages. Oh wait. They’re all dead. Nevermind.

[mstar]

I say they owe us money.

For the boat fare over here, the education, the lessons in faith to combat the African paganism's fruit of death (see modern Africa), the opportunity to be free, the opportunity to even work for a salary, and then all the freebies for the ones who, for one reason or another, couldn't make it. These unfortunates, or the slothful, were provided for, They were fed, clothed, and given some kind of roof over their head.

and for the high price of the battles fought, that bought and kept America free, a land of grace and plenty.
and for putting up with, surviving, and cleaning up after that mess in the WH.

Yep the time is here, time to pay up 'cause I owe a bunch of taxes footin' the above.

[Yaelle]

Everyone should read this short book, which is a decent compilation of quite a cross-section of ex-slave reminiscences. Some stories are hellish. Some are not. Every slave led a different life. But they were chattel and they were not free, and this was deadly wrong. Sadly, after the war, some suffered far worse when they were free and "worthless" than when they were owned and property but worth five figures.

All in all, I wish I could personally pay them all reparations. However, where they are now is a better place, and G-d has set things right. I am sorry for what happened to them. I am sorry for all people in the world who are denied their G-d-given freedom. [None of the slave stories I have ever read are as horrible as what happened to my family in the Holocaust, but all evil is still evil.]

Black liberals need to focus not on reparations because of what happened to their ancestors but on making the struggles of those ancestors worthwhile. Live; achieve; be moral, good, and strong. Read these stories of your brilliant and hardworking, thoughtful ancestors and live the lives these men and women could not.

When I Was A Slave