Posted on 06/21/2002 11:47:58 AM PDT by Drew68
Tom Sowell, an economist and columnist who happens to be black, has a knack for cutting through the baloney. "The most important thing to keep in mind about (black) reparations," he said, "is that it is never going to happen. No Congress is going to pass, and no president is going to sign, a bill that takes money from the great majority of American voters to pay a debt that they don't feel they owe."
The moral and legal arguments for reparations simply aren't persuasive, except to those who have to something to gain or to liberals with an insatiable guilt complex. I won't rehash that debate here; others have adequately covered it on these pages. In any case, the massive redistribution of wealth that would be required from non-African-Americans (including Asians, Hispanics, Arabs, Eskimos, etc.) to African-Americans, renders the whole discussion preposterous from an economic standpoint. A decade ago, Kwame Afo, vice president of a group called New Africa, sought a payment of $133,000 to every African-American man, woman and child living in this country. The price tag for that would have been $4 trillion, costing each non-African-American family about $60,000. More recently, Washington, D.C., lawyer Robert Brock filed a class-action lawsuit demanding $250,000 in gold bullion for each of this nation's 35 million African-Americans, along with taxpayer subsidies to an unnamed country in Africa, where they might choose to resettle. That comes to a tidy $10 trillion -- not including the payments to the new African homeland. That's the equivalent of our nation's entire gross domestic product, and five times the total budget of the federal government. Some alternative plans, marginally less ambitious, don't add up either. African-Americans anxiously awaiting this gravy train would be well advised not to hold their breath.
So what do you do in this society when you can't have your way through the legislative process? You go to court, seeking an activist judge or irrational jury to grant you, by judicial fiat, what the body politic refuses. Enter black activist and lead plaintiff Deadria Farmer-Paellmann and her New York lawyer Edward Fagan. Their lawsuit names three companies -- FleetBoston Financial, the railroad firm CSX and Aetna Insurance -- and promises to add another 100 companies in the future. The companies are charged with profiting from the institution of slavery, and the class-action plaintiffs are seeking billions in reparations for the 35 million descendants of slaves now living in America.
The legal merits of this case are nil. None of these corporations even existed in the days of slavery. The alleged transgressions are those of long-defunct business ancestors who were, nonetheless, operating under the law when slavery was legal. Aetna's predecessor, for example, is charged with insuring slave owners against the loss of their human property. So? As deplorable as we might find slavery today, this was a lawful business transaction at the time. You simply can't go back in history and retroactively rewrite the laws of past generations to modern standards. Other frivolous charges in the suit should be summarily dismissed under the statute of limitations. But the strategy goes beyond the hope of winning this case in court. This comes right out of Jesse Jackson's playbook of institutional intimidation and extortion. Fagan envisions boycotts, shareholder lawsuits and even race riots. Activists are planning a "Millions for Reparations" march on Washington in August. They're hoping that the 100-companies-to-be-named-at-a-later-date will quickly cave in and pay up.
Condoleezza Rice calls slavery "America's birth defect." It's regrettable, but it's behind us. It certainly shouldn't be forgotten, but there's no future in wallowing in it -- especially as a never-ending excuse for underachievement by those capable of doing better today. The reparations movement is a grandstanding, cynical ploy by self-appointed black "leaders" to justify their own existence. It will serve only to inflame passions and widen racial divisions, while doing nothing to benefit African-Americans or the national interest.
Mike Rosen's radio show airs daily from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Never is an awfully long time.
Over the past year or so I've found that I much prefer listening to Rosen over Rush. Too bad his show isn't syndicated - I think he'd do well.
First of all, the American taxpayer is the one being asked to foot the bill for this. Unfortunately the American taxpayer is increasingly becoming a small, politically incorrect group... the relatively affluent.
Furthermore, this is largely percieved (perception is all that matters in politics) as a "whitey owes us" type situation. Although white people are the majority, if current trends continue there will be a non-white majority made up of many different groups. Even though blacks will never be THE majority group, these new immigrants are constantly encouraged to see themselves in opposition to whites (and America in general). In light of these realities, I think all of these non-white groups can be reasonably be expected to be demagogued (we have no shortage of those) into supporting reperations. At the least supporting reperations will allow them to "get whitey". At the most it will establish a precedent by which THEY will be able to demand reperations for percieved historic greivances. All that is required to qualify for reperations at that point, is that one be a member of a politically correct group.
If nothing else this issue will become the new way to define republicans and conservatives as racist. Ex, "You don't support reperations, you must be a racist!!!"
First of all, the American taxpayer is the one being asked to foot the bill for this. Unfortunately the American taxpayer is increasingly becoming a small, politically incorrect group... the relatively affluent.
You are correct on what group largely foots the tax bill, however, I agree with Sowell (as quoted by Rosen) that reparations won't pass. Conservatives and liberals disagree on most things, yet even white liberals seem to draw the line in the sand when it comes to reparations. One certainly hasn't heard any pro-reparations arguments from significant white liberals.
As far as the other point of your post --that one day whites will be outnumbered and outvoted, I don't think this will happen in our lifetime or in our childrens' lifetime. While non-whites certainly are growing, I think that growth will be arrested (by force if necessary) before whites allow themselves to be outnumbered.
Furthermore, as Rosen mentioned, reparations would be levied on all ethnic groups with the exception of blacks. Why would asians, hispanics, indians, etc. vote to take a chunk out of their income and give it to an racial group that many of them aren't particularly fond of in the first place just to get back at whitey?
That was one of the possibilities I consider about this. And it was an ugly one.
Whatever advances have been made in the elimination of racism, would take a serious setback.
I think you are right. From what I've read, Asians aren't fond of them either (I think the Rodney King riots highlighted this animosity between the two groups quite well). If anything, other ethnic groups are going to side with whites on this issue.
In short, blacks favoring reparations are not going to just anger whites, but will outrage every other ethnic group as well, further alienating them from their place in America.
Blacks have much to lose and little to gain --particularly since like Sowell said, reparations ain't gonna happen.
They really need to ask themselves if it will be worth it.
Just feel sorry for the innocent American blacks who didn't want anything to do with this gimme con game that day.
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