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Posted on 07/10/2003 8:03:44 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Bush's Speech Boosts Reparations Movement
With his speech on slavery Tuesday, President Bush has unwittingly boosted the demands by Jesse Jackson and company that modern-day taxpayers be forced to fork over cash to American blacks because of what happened not to them but to their ancestors.
"It's probably the closest a U.S. president has come to apologizing," said Walter Fields, publisher of NorthStar Network, a black online news service.
Even Bill Clinton backed off on making a P.C. "apology" after a storm of protest shot down the idea.
"If we are recognizing this as one of the greatest crimes in history, there had to be criminals," Fields said.
Lawrence Hamm, president of something called People's Organization for Progress, told the Bergen, N.J., Record: "We need two things from an American president. One is an apology, and two is reparations."
"When do we complete the cycle and repair the damage that has been done?" Fields said.
Cashing In
But wait, there's more. A pro-reparations group issued a statement Tuesday applauding Bush's speech and linking it to the movement.
"I applaud President Bush's statement made today on Goree Island that slavery was 'one of the greatest crimes in history.' Our lawsuit against 19 blue-chip corporations for slavery reparations is based on this fact," said Restitution Study Group's Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, described as the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuits filed for reparations from businesses.
Restitution Study Group's press release says, "As with President Bush, international law recognizes that slavery was a crime against humanity for which there is no statute of limitation." And no limit to the depths of those corporate, and thus consumer, pockets.
"The president's statement should send a message to defendants in the lawsuit that the truth about slavery being a crime is reaching all levels of society. Corporate defendants should not be able to continue profiting from their crimes," Restitution Study Group continues.
"Furthermore, within the last year, the defendants have violated consumer protection laws by communicating false and misleading statements to their consumers about their slave labor practices. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are consumers of the defendants, as are other members of the plaintiff class. We expect these matters to go to trial too."
Reparations activist Conrad Worrill said, "We urge President Bush to back up his passionate words about slavery with reconciliatory action by supporting HR 40."
HR40 is a bill that Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., has been introducing into Congress since 1989. It would create a commission to study the effects of slavery on the descendants of African slaves.
Just Pay It, Don't Say It
Other pro-reparations groups refuse to find comfort in Bush's words. "This was no more than the obligatory visit to Africa,” Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, told BET.com.
"President Bush literally followed in the footsteps of President Clinton by acknowledging that slavery was a crime, yet remaining opposed to reparations or affirmative action. It’s not enough to acknowledge the crime, unless you’re willing to acknowledge the consequences of the crime,” Booker grumbled.
Unless the president makes taxpayers cough up millions or billions, according to Booker, "Bush is almost making light of the severity of slavery.”
William Fletcher Jr., president of TransAfrica, had this unusual view, according to MSNBC: "Whether it's called ‘reparations’ or ‘reconstruction assistance,’ something is needed in order to return peoples to their own history.”
People of African descent "were ripped out of history, and they need to be reinstated where they otherwise would have been,” said Fletcher.
Huh? Does Fletcher want black Americans "reinstated" in Africa's poverty, starvation, disease and genocide?
Time for 'Evil' U.S. to Rescue Africa
On the other end of the political spectrum, Jon Alvarez writes today on ChronWatch.com: "Talk about irony. The evil, imperialistic empire also known as the United States of America (as the liberal media and political left portray America) is now being called upon to enter the fray in Liberia and save that country from its own demise. An African colony designed to be a haven for freed American slaves, is now in need of protection from ... itself. Not to mention the fact that the U.N., who should be heading up this effort, is also calling for America to lead such an effort despite condemning us for acting in the same manner against Iraq. Maybe the United States of America is just too nice for its own good. ...
"Where are Jesse Jackson and the NAACP in all of this? Why have they been so silent as thousands of their kinsmen have been massacred? It couldn't possibly be because there's no money in it for them, could it? Maybe Jackson does not want to bring more attention to the recurring theme of African atrocities committed by Africans on their own continent? One thing is certain: African-Americans that currently enjoy life in the United States need to re-evaluate their attempts to extort money in the form of slave reparations. They should be thankful after witnessing the brutality and harshness of life in Africa that their ancestors were brought to this land. Which would you prefer for your ancestors, slavery or being hacked to death by murderous warlords?"
As I recall, B.C. did "apologize" for slavery and was equally warm to the idea of "reparations" for descendants of slaves.
Didn't the president run as an opponent of "reparations" to descendants of slaves? Governor Perry did, but Democrat Tony Sanchez merely said that he would "study" the question of reparations were he to have been elected.
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Bush was never in and never gave a speech in Liberia
Hello Theodore R. I think you might have made a mistake in the title. Don't sweat it it happens to all of us :-)
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Naw...... only to those that feel a need to rewrite the orginal title provide by the author.....
Posted here with additional comments if'n anyone is interested in them.....
| Bush's Speech Boosts Reparations Movement ^ |
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| Posted by truthandlife On 07/09/2003 5:59 PM CDT with 45 comments |
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Very true. But what Jesse, Inc. will never admit is that those criminals were black Africans themselves. And their descendants have no money to pay reparations.
Absolutely not true. Pres. Bush acknowledged the realities of past slavery, but the thrust of the speech was forward, future. The input of Africans on American shores continues to help our country as a whole become a land of justice and freedom for all. He ended with the words: "This untamed fire of justice continues to burn in the affairs of man, and it lights the way before us."
The irony here is that modern reparation-seekers are doing exactly what slave owners did in the past--profit from the toils of working men and women.
"Whether it's called ‘reparations’ or ‘reconstruction assistance,’ something is needed in order to return peoples to their own history.”
Money taken from workers today cannot "return peoples to their own history". People make their own history. What's done in the distant past is done, and we can only move forward. I would ask the reparations seekers, what do you want to be remembered for? As someone who delayed the progress of black advancement by convincing blacks that they must live on the dole, that somehow a lottery check from uncle Sam will make everything all right? Or as someone who made their own destiny and rose above the injustices of the past to enjoy true equality and the rewards of accomplishment? I think I know what Jesse Jackson and the folks in the article above have chosen.
And that's not even getting into the mega-quagmire question of who pays, and who receives?
Yes, and they are all dead.
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