Posted on 03/22/2002 6:03:57 PM PST by What Is Ain't
The United States is a country in denial, according to Randall Robinson, author of "The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks."
Robinson, a proponent of reparations for slavery, told about 200 people Thursday night at the University of Florida's University Auditorium that the country has not acknowledged the history of slavery or the widespread repercussions of oppression.
His speech was part of a two-day conference sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and Relations, an organization affiliated with UF's Levin College of Law.
"It is as if slavery never happened," Robinson said.
The wounds of oppression, he said, can only be healed through reparations. He is not a proponent, however, of individual checks sent to individual families. Instead, Robinson called for a concentrated effort which would funnel money into every facet of black communities, including public school systems. He also called for further acknowledgment of black history. A people without a past, he argued, are a people without an identity.
Robinson said the process of reparations will take a cycle of four generations before it can have the desired effect. He said he is hoping to get that process started by filing lawsuits across the South.
Not unlike a runner who is shot in the leg before a track meet, he said, black America is trying to compete in a race that cannot be won without serious help.
Byron Cherry, president of UF's Black Law Student Association, said the speech made him want to learn more about the debate over reparations.
"I won't pass judgment tonight because I think that would be foolhardy," Cherry said.
But Cherry said he is now ready to read some of Robinson's books so he can form an opinion.
After multiple ovations that erupted throughout his speech, Robinson brought his speech to a close with a quotation from William Faulkner:
I have to agree with Randall, black slave owners, well their descendants anyway, deserve reparations for the loss of their property.
"It's as if the sins of the father cannot be visited on the son," jlogajan said.
A statement more racist than this would be hard to find.
What about the Vietnamese, mr. Robinson? How about the Chinese, Slavs, Cambodians, Russians, Jews that ALL had their pasts torn from them and ARE PROSPERING.
This guy is such a smug pr*ck. I wonder about guys like him who are so meticulous in their moustache grooming.
Horowitz came to MSU the other night and was terrific and lucid without the insanity and non-sequiters of Mr. Robinson. Or is he also a Reverend?
The white interviewer was too stunned to reply. :)
Like shooting fish in a barrel!
LOL! Don't hold your breath serf-baby.
Dear Sen. Daschle:
I write you with a heavy heart on behalf of my people, and the pressure and oppression placed on them by the American government and Americans at large.
My people came here two centuries ago when a foul famine destroyed their homeland, and when they arrived, their civil liberties were horribly stripped away when they were denied employment because of who they were. We were cruelly characterized as being dumb and mocked by almost every newspaper in this country. I cannot allow the memory of this hurt to slowly fade away, and I need your party's help in redeeming the memory of my ancestors. I speak of course, of the Irish-Americans.
When we arrived on your supposedly "free" shores, we found signs in shop windows that proclaimed "No Irish Need Apply." We mocked as stupid by the newspapers, with endless ethnic jokes. And worst of all, the oppressive New York Democratic Machine told my ancestors where to live, where to work, and how to vote, in exchange for a limitless supply of an addictive drug known as "whiskey". (This drug was freely supplied to my ancestors by the Democratic ward bosses to entrap them and confuse them into submission to their leaders.)
In short, since my people have been mistreated and oppressed by Americans, yes, even by your own party, I request you immediately begin Federal legislation to provide reparations to every American with any Irish background. Since this may be hard to verify, you can simply send a hundred million dollars in small bills to my home address, and I will see it gets passed around. Oh, and a bottle of whiskey, the really good kind that Ted Kennedy gets.
My your party be out of power a half hour before the devil knows you've lost the November elections, you pandering whiners! Say "hi" to Al and Tipper on the unemployment line!
50's O'Dad
Yes, I'm in favor of reparations. I think every black family in America owes me LOTS of money. I'd say about ten million dollars to me, personally should cover it.
BTW, how about an Irish 7-course dinner?
A six-pack and a potato.
Yeah, into "non-profit" groups run by the likes of Jackson, Sharpton, and, of course, Randall Robinson.
What a coinky-dink!
Notice to the professional victims and money-grubbers: We gave. Some gave all. We bought YOUR ancestors' freedom with OUR ancestors' blood.
Ungrateful wretches.
I drove through Johnson City, Texas awhile back and did not barf, but my stomach turned.
Their bottom line was more democRATS, and they won.
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