WILLIAMS: And, of course, you do have a Ph.D from Harvard. Both you and Sen. Obama went to Harvard.And here is one, Dr. Keyes, that was asked of us off the air just before you joined us--just seconds before you joined us, in fact. One of our listeners would like to know about the very latest stance that you have regarding slave reparations. There has been a lot of buzz about that--and explain to listeners, if you would, what your position is on the issue and where that issue should go.
KEYES: Well, I have consistently opposed what amount to extortion efforts by people who have been trying to go into court, get billions or trillions of dollars in settlements from their fellow citizens, and so forth, and I have said that I think that that is wrong. I have opposed that because I, frankly, believe that in those terms, the sacrifice of blood and treasure of the Civil War was sufficient requital for the terrible injustice of slavery. Lincoln, himself, regarded it as such, and I think we shouldn't be second-guessing Lincoln's judgment or the great sacrifices of the people who risked them, who gave their lives in that terrible conflict.
On the other hand, I have said repeatedly over the years, there was objective damage done and left by slavery--and over the course of time, you and I both know America has tried to address that damage. Forty acres and a mule right after the Civil War, all the way up through the Great Society programs under Johnson, Affirmative Action under Nixon.
I think there should be an awareness that slavery and its legacy left material damage in the black community as an objective fact, but they've always been wrong about how to address it. And in that context, I have put an idea on the table over the course of the years that I think not only arises from my conservative and Republican values, but would actually do what the Great Society and others things did not, would work with people in such a way as to free their incentive, give them incentives to work, to own businesses, to save and invest in the concrete and real market economy. And that is an example taken from the old Roman Empire, where, when a community was damaged, in a context where the government either abetted that damaged or should have prevented it, the community was given tax relief for a certain time.
And I think that that would have been the best approach, and may still be the best approach to this whole problem of how one deals with the damaging material legacy of slavery. . . .
FAST: Dr. Keyes . . .
KEYES: . . . exempt those who are the descendants of slaves, who bear the wounds, in fact, of that legacy, exempt them from federal taxation for a certain length of time. And in doing so, without taking money out of anybody else's pocket, you give them an incentive to work, to save, and invest, that would help to put a strong foundation under their future.
Except that the rest of us have to make up for the taxes that Michael Jordan (and presumably Alan Keyes) would not be paying.
Why does Oprah Winfrey need an incentive to save and invest?
Keyes is totally and completely wrong to buy into this "legacy of slavery" nonsense. There is not a single progeny of a slave alive today that is hamstrung by that fact.
It's a convenient excuse for black failure, however.