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Reparations....who already got paid??
me

Posted on 04/19/2002 5:11:21 PM PDT by Sungirl

Question.....

I heard someone the other day say that some slaves that were freed WERE given 40 acres and a mule. IF that is TRUE..... My question......if reperations are supposingly owed ....Are they going to go back and research to see what slaves were ALREADY paid and trace them to todays ancestors?? We wouldn't want to pay someone who's family was already paid ....right?


TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: reperations; slavery

1 posted on 04/19/2002 5:11:22 PM PDT by Sungirl
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To: Sungirl
Actually, the "40 acres and a mule" offer was issued by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, who decreed that land in South Carolina be set aside exclusively for the use of freed slaves.

Unfortunately he had absolutely no authority to make such a mandate, and as such there exists no legal promise of "40 acres and a mule". Someone should tell that to all of the reparations whiners.
2 posted on 04/19/2002 5:17:17 PM PDT by Dimensio
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To: Sungirl
           On this day in 1865, in the midst of his 'March to the Sea' during the Civil War, General
           William T. Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton met with 20 Black community
           leaders of Savannah, Georgia. Based in part to their input, Gen. Sherman issued Special Field
           Order #15 on January 16, 1865, setting aside the Sea Islands and a 30 mile inland tract of land
           along the southern coast of Charleston for the exclusive settlement of Blacks. Each family
           would receive 40 acres of land and an army mule to work the land, thus "forty acres and a
           mule." Gen. Rufus Saxton was assigned by Sherman to implement the Order. On a national
           level, this and other land, confiscated and abandoned, became the jurisdiction of the
           Freedman's Bureau, which was headed by Gen. Oliver Otis Howard (Howard University).
           In his words he wanted to "...give the freedmen protection, land and schools as far and as fast
           as he can." However, during the summer and fall of 1865, President Johnson issued special
           pardons, returning the property to the ex-Confederates. Howard issued Circular 13, giving 40
           acres as quickly as possible. Upon his knowledge, Johnson ordered Howard to issue Circular
           15, returning the land to the ex-Confedera
3 posted on 04/19/2002 5:18:31 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: gcruse
Thanks...

So no one ever got to keep any land?

4 posted on 04/19/2002 5:22:21 PM PDT by Sungirl
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To: Sungirl
I think that the point is that they were never entitled in the first place. It was "given" to them by somone who never had the authority to grant it in the first place.

The "40 acres and a mule" is a common supporting argument for reparations. Take that away and they're left with people whining about something that happened to their dead ancestors that was perfectly legal at the time.
5 posted on 04/19/2002 5:25:56 PM PDT by Dimensio
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To: Dimensio
Ok..Thank you.
6 posted on 04/19/2002 5:30:20 PM PDT by Sungirl
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To: Sungirl
What's not generally realized is that every job held by a slave was a job not held by a poor white. In other words, poor whites were victims of slavery, too. Obviously not as much as slaves were, but victims nonetheless.

So... reparations for the descendents of poor southern whites, anyone?

7 posted on 04/19/2002 6:28:43 PM PDT by Grut
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To: Sungirl
This thread isn't exactly in line with what you're asking about, but it's too good an article not to share, in case you missed it. History does NOT support reparations

An excerpt :

The statistics commonly offered to substantiate this charge dwell on present-day disparities in black vs. white achievement. For instance, we're told that the continuing breakdown of black families is the direct legacy of slavery, since enslaved families were routinely split up and sold. In fact, slave families were almost always kept together, and in 1870, only five years after slavery was abolished, 80 percent of black children lived in two-parent homes. The black illegitimacy rate hovered around 20 percent for decades; by 1950, it had dropped to 9 percent. In 1965, however, the federal government began offering poor mothers government checks if they could prove there was no working male at home. The result? By 1975, the black illegitimacy rate had skyrocketed to 70 percent.

Historical statistics on educational performance also cast doubt on slavery as a handicap. In 1940, American blacks enjoyed an 80 percent literacy rate -- better than some European countries. In 1985, after decades of busing, which destroyed black community schools, the Educational Testing Service evaluated the literacy skills of young adults age 21-25. Only 40 percent of the blacks demonstrated prose literacy.

And let's keep an eye on the blacks who got $30 million US taxpayer dollars "by mistake". Let's see if the IRS really goes after and gets that money, by prosecution or threat thereof, and fires the 12 black Atlanta-based IRS agents that abetted the fraud. And there's the situation with the black owned farms antidiscrimination claims, where three times as many blacks as there are farms within the US claimed to be farmers and victims of discrimination. Some of whom collected those fradulant claims.

I'd say those folks "got their reparations."

8 posted on 04/19/2002 6:38:25 PM PDT by kaylar
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To: Sungirl
We've paid out $6 trillion in welfare reparations since 1960's.
9 posted on 04/19/2002 7:00:02 PM PDT by T. Jefferson
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To: T. Jefferson
Just an oddball question...has any descendent of a southern family gone to court to sue over crop or stucture damage caused by Sherman's run through the south in 1865? We know thousands of buildings were destroyed during his little campaign. Let's see....federal government officals destroying personal property.
10 posted on 04/20/2002 11:10:27 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Dimensio
people whining about something that happened to their dead ancestors that was perfectly legal at the time.

Will people in the future feel the same way about abortion?

11 posted on 04/20/2002 11:43:35 PM PDT by babaloo999
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To: babaloo999
but I am against the reparations scam.
12 posted on 04/20/2002 11:45:16 PM PDT by babaloo999
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To: babaloo999
Will people in the future feel the same way about abortion?

Probably. They'll be right too, even though abortion is wrong. You certainly won't see criminal charges filed against abortion doctors in the future even if abortion is outlawed because such charges would be unconstitutional.
13 posted on 04/21/2002 11:29:44 AM PDT by Dimensio
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To: Sungirl
Sherman proposed 40 and a mule. It (the govt) didn't follow through with the proposal. Hence, part of the reparations speeches you read or hear now is 40 acres and a Lexus. Recommend reading Battle Cry of Freedom (can't remember author) and Terrible innocence (author?). Both are about the war the latter about Sherman.

SOR

14 posted on 04/25/2002 6:25:08 PM PDT by Son of Rooster
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To: Sungirl
My ancestors came to America in 1895 - 1900, AFTER slavery.
NONE of my (white, European) ancestors EVER owned
slaves or exploited African-Americans in ANY way.

WHAT was the going rate on those forty acres and mules at that time?

Since my genetic code has existed on this continent for OVER 100 years;
that land and those mules were STOLEN from ME.
I have been BRUTALLY oppressed.

I have already hired an attorney.
Mark my words, there's going to be hell to pay for this!

15 posted on 04/25/2002 6:56:48 PM PDT by XLurk
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To: T. Jefferson
We've paid out $6 trillion in welfare reparations since 1960's.

Define "reparations" as you use it.

AFAIK, nothing has been paid out in the form of "reparations" as people have defined it of late. If Jesse Jackson has his way, he, and other so-called "civil rights leaders" will be the only ones to get paid - just like now, considering Jesse continues his campaign of extortion.

And let's not forget that he is now starting to show his compatriots how to extort money, too.

16 posted on 04/25/2002 7:12:24 PM PDT by mhking
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To: XLurk
I could get REALLY ugly if I wanted to.

While I can trace multiple ancestors to slavery, I can also directly trace my American Indian ancestry back more than 500 years, and indirectly back literally thousands of years.

I am a direct descendant of Chief Tuskaloosa, which means that I could technically go beyond "reparations" and claim all of Alabama, Mississipi, and much of Georgia, Louisiana and northern Florida.

Y'know: "All o' ya! Outta the pool! This is ALL mine!"

17 posted on 04/25/2002 7:36:12 PM PDT by mhking
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To: mhking
...I could get REALLY ugly if I wanted to...

I'll concede the point.

There is simply NO WAY for justice to ever be achieved on earth until that first (now long-dead) homo sapien who was discriminated against (for whatever reason) is avenged.

It doesn't matter what any given INDIVIDUAL achieves or creates in the world, nor that individuals character. b

All that matters is what the current MORAL CONCILIATOR has to say concerning the state of wealth distribution.

I have worked my a** off since I was 15 years old.
I worked myself through college.
I have WORKED for EVERYTHING I now have (however pathetically meager).

I Will NOT pander to your Marxist Parasitism.

I, personally, OWE YOU NOTHING, MOT&*% FU*%^!.

YOU are now telling me that I OWE YOU something because of the happenstance of my (or your) race - over which I (you) have NO CONTROL.

F*&^ Y%&*!!

I OWE YOU NOTHING. EAT S^&* and Die.

Clearly you have NO CONCEPT WHATEVER of what it means to be an AMERCICAN.

LEARN, OR GET THE HELL OUT.

18 posted on 04/26/2002 1:51:36 AM PDT by XLurk
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To: XLurk
Me thinks you don't get sarcasm very well.

I don't feel anyone owes me a damned thing, save a bit of respect. I don't owe anyone else a thing, save maybe a bit of hospitality when you come visit.

Yes, the ancestry that I pointed out in the earlier message is true. I can trace multiple ancestors to slavery, not only that, I can trace to specific plantations. Nothing beyond that point, however. I can also trace my AmerIndian heritage back more than 500 years. And yes, I am directly descended from the Chieftain that ruled the tribal nation encompasing most of what is now the Southeastern US.

And if I used the logic that the poverty pimps use, then I could very easily look at some prime real estate somewhere here in the Southeast and go try to make a case. After all, there is something similar going on in northern Indiana and Illinois with the Miami Indian tribal claim of more than 5 million acres of land. (All they want is to open a land-based casino in exchange for not exercising their land claim, but that's another story)

Needless to say - while I was looking for a reaction, that wasn't the one I had in mind...

19 posted on 04/26/2002 6:40:00 AM PDT by mhking
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