Posted on 01/09/2003 4:58:22 AM PST by yoe
Reparations:
The Attempted Enslavement of the Mind
By By J.J. Johnson A 10th grader wrote to The Sierra Times:
Well, in class before the holiday, we were talking about our standpoint with the reparations. I happen to be against reparations for many reasons, but my teacher is strong for them. So I tell her that I am against the whole reparations movement and she gets pissed. She tells me that being against reparations tells her that I am a person who has no morals and I should transfer her class if I think otherwise. She also said that there is no possible way to get a passing grade on the paper if we are against reparations.To this high school sophomore, his fellow classmates and faculty:
This message was sent to me after this student's teacher asked the class to write an article about the CSX corporation and slavery reparations. No doubt this intelligent student got online and found articles on the subject, including my own "Slavery Reparations: The Continuing Deconstructing of America".
If this is what the teacher actually said, then this 'teacher' is also continuing the deconstruction. In her insult that he must agree with her or be judged to have no morals, and receive a failing grade should he disagree (not to mention transfer out of the class), perhaps the issue of slavery as a whole should be reopened:
"Before you can enslave the body, you must enslave the mind."
This was among the many reasons that in many areas of the country (yes, not just the South) prior to the passage of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, blacks and all slaves were barred from learning and/or being taught how to read. The last thing a 'master' needed was for a slave or indentured servant to have the ability to educate themselves.
But in 2003, The student that wrote this letter to me, and anyone who receives similar threats, insults, and ultimatums, are being treated like a slaves. Their minds are being 'shackled' by their would-be 'masters'. This student is being told he may not have a different opinion than the "master" about "slavery reparations".
Many of those that call for such reparations benefit from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, affirmative action, forced relocation (bussing) and the equal opportunity law. All of these laws are based, at least in part, on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. .."
But there is part of the 14th Amendment that "reparation activists" refuse to acknowledge:
"Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."
This in effect, wiped the slate clean when it came to the issue of slavery. But in case there is any doubt, there is one clause in the Constitution that has never been repealed:
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed (by Congress) Art 1; Sec 9.
This means that no law or act can be passed to punish someone for a crime committed BEFORE the law was passed. This is the foundation of the argument for reparations. There is no person alive that held a slave and can be punished. There is no person alive that can make a claim of victimhood as a slave.
I will repeat what I said in my previous article: "As a black man, I have no choice but to stand with CSX railroad in saying this "suit had no merit and should be dismissed." But it should be dismissed by more than the court. This lawsuit should be dismissed by the American public and called the blatant attempt at extortion that it is."
You see, disagreeing with the notion of slavery reparations is not immoral, as this student has been told. 'Greed' however, is immoral. Attempted reparations is an example of such greed. People having no legitimate claim, attempting to extort money that they did not earn is, in my moral dictionary, called "theft".
The most important issue that should be addressed here, is the notion that no student should be forced to agree with a matter of opinion, as opposed to facts. This is enslavement of the mind. In a free society, faculty should welcome free thought - so we are told. Parents have the right, and even the responsibility to openly discuss these matters with their children, and students should be free to give their opinion. If any faculty member cannot accept various opinions on a given topic, then it is they who should transfer themselves into another class. And, if faculty has to make threats of failing grade to those who disagree with their 'opinions', perhaps they should be forced to find different careers.
It is clear that 'slavery' is acceptable to them when it serves their own interests.
© 2002 SierraTimes.com (unless otherwise noted)
Note that the "or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave" meant a claim by a slaveholder for the loss of his slave.
That said, there were many slaveholding blacks and this would apply to them, therefore, to make reparations pass the constiitutional test, claimnants would have to absolutely prove they didn't descend from a slaveholding black. And that can't happen. 
Sorry, I forgot to read this.
But there will be one or more huge social explosions before that comes to pass, and where we will end up after the dust settles, nobody can predict.
Yes, but that is not the way they are trying to frame the argument these days. They are not asking for "slaves" or former slaves to be "made whole". The claim is that all blacks today are still affected by "the lingering affects of slavery and racism". They say that "reparations" are the only way to heal those wounds and cure the affects. Its an unprovable claim, not to mention a silly one. It is simply based upon a subjective mindset.
When it comes to such suits against CSX and the like, no one could be compensated under the law because slavery was legal. Descendants surely could not.
Okay. then let's count the $6 trillion allotted to the Great Society as reparations. That should do it.
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