Reparations = Rape A Nation

Nealz Nuze ^ | 03-26-02 | Neal Boortz

[KeithFL]

SLAVERY LAWSUITS

Well .. here we go. Lawsuits being filed today against several large corporations seeking damages for slavery. The lawsuits are being filed against Aetna Insurance, CSX Railroad and Fleet Bank.

This is just another illustration of just why we need a “loser pays” legal system. You want to file a lawsuit? Fine! File away! But … if you lose. If the judge or the jury doesn’t think you had a case … you get to pay all of the legal fees and expenses of the party you drug into court. If this gaggle of lawyers faced the possibility of paying the legal fees for the defendants in this slavery lawsuit it never would have been filed.

This lawsuit is doomed to failure. Doomed to failure unless, that is, some appeals court somewhere decides to completely change America’s legal system.

Here are just a few points to consider:

Statute of Limitations. In most states you have to bring a lawsuit for economic damages within four to six years of the date those damages were incurred. In this case we’re talking about 143 years or so. If this case stands, what is to keep every individual in this country for going back through their family tree to find some ancestor who was somehow wronged by some bank, railroad, insurance company, university or other business … and filing a lawsuit. You could claim that if the bank had not foreclosed on your great-grandfather’s farm 75 years ago you would probably be in line to inherit that farm now --- and you want your monetary damages.

Proving loss. There are about 37 million blacks in the U.S. Contrary to popular wisdom, not all are descendents of people held in slavery in the United States. Some trace their ancestry back to the Caribbean. Some to South America and some to Africa after the end of the slave trade. Just how are the courts going to figure out which Americans are entitled to damages and which are not?

What about Whites? Another shocker. Not all slaves were black. Will the descendants of whites held in slavery in the United States be entitled to their share of the damages?

Changes in the law. What Aetna and the other companies were doing 150 years ago was legal under the laws that existed at that time. Were the laws wrong? Of course! But the solution there is to change the law – not to go back and punish companies for their lawful actions. Perhaps some folks need to go read the Constitutional prohibition on Ex post facto laws. I know this isn’t a criminal case, but the same legal philosophy should apply.

Proving a causative connection. Let’s say you’re black and you’re living in poverty in the United States in 2002. Make your case. How are you going to prove your poor economic status in 2002 is the direct result of slavery in 1860? How are you going to refute the evidence that your economic reality is a result of your own decision making rather than a result of your great-great-great grandmother’s condition of servitude?

Yeah, I guess it’s possible for some politically correct court to step in and completely change our legal system to allow this absurd lawsuit to proceed. In this day and age anything can happen. To me it just looks like an exercise designed to enhance the reputation and finances of some leftist attorneys and an effort to reinforce and validate the victim status of blacks in America.

In 2002 you just don’t count if you can’t claim your victim status.

[borisbob69]

To me it just looks like an exercise designed to enhance the reputation and finances of some leftist attorneys and an effort to reinforce and validate the victim status of blacks in America.

They better be careful...God forbid they win this case, or someone else wins a reparations case. As a taxpayer who is tired of being gouged to support various and sundry do-nothings...if people receive reparations payments, their ride on the gravy train is over!

With a reparations settlement in hand...show me why affirmative action, aid to dependent children, public housing, welfare, etc are any longer required.

[glockmeister40]

Reparations? Go ahead. Anybody out there have ancestors that fought for the north in the civil war? File a lawsuit against all black people for the pain, suffering and death your ancestors endured while fighting to free the blacks.

Any taxpayers out there? We need to file suit for the TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS spent on welfare for blacks. I think we deserve repayment.

[gcraig]

With a reparations settlement in hand...show me why affirmative action, aid to dependent children, public housing, welfare, etc are any longer required.

You know, that's almost a convincing argument to lose the court case. Think about it -- if reparations are paid, then the pain would be experienced now. All of the liberal social programs should immediately be abolished, which then would enable the government to further reduce our tax burden and take the pressure off of our children to support the impending implosions of Social Security and Medicaid.

Hmmmmm. I still can't bring myself to thinking that this reparations issue is anything but a horrible stupid idea though.

[M Kehoe]

Where are these lawyers going to find a 150 year old plaintiff or witness?

5.56mm

[oldironsides]

This is another way to create division and ill will. This is another needle in the heart for race relations. It is meant to shakedown big business, create bad feelings, enrich lawyer pretenders and make the young minority citizens angry. This is a shakedown. Where is Jesse Jackson these days? One may note the young affluent looking minority lawyers filing the lawsuit are probaly all Democrats or followers of Gus Hall.

[Dick Bachert]

I consider Alan Keyes, Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams possessed of three of the finest minds extant today. In case you don’t know them, all are black.

But I believe Keyes, Sowell and Williams would oppose calls for reparations.

The modern descendants of slaves brought here in chains in admittedly miserable, soul-gutting conditions who are now calling for reparations need to remember a few things:

They should not only be glad to be in America, they should be glad to be ANYWHERE !

Had that NOT happened, the blood of their ancestors would have run into the earth over there several centuries ago and these modern day would-be "plaintiffs" would not even exist.

And should the great-great-great grandchildren of the approximately 3,000 SLAVE OWNING BLACK plantation owners in this country also be subject to PAYING these reparations?

If so, how do we find THEM?

Robert Hitt Neill tells of attending a Tennessee Mountain Writer’s Conference years ago with several other authors. Among them was Alex Hailey, celebrated author of “Roots.” Watching a TV news show, a group of them watched a demonstration in a Southern state against the “Rebel” flag incorporated into that state’s flag. The very next report covered a famine in Africa. Graphic images showed dead bodies, starving children with distended tummies and runny noses and dying people covered with flies, too weak to brush them away.

Mr. Hailey intoned in a low, serious voice:
“Every time an American black sees a story like that, they should find a Confederate flag and kiss it.” He then pointed to the TV screen and continued, “Because these would be me and my descendants, except for American slavery. I thank God that my family and I are here instead of there.”

And how about the WHITES and ASIANS who have slavery in their backgrounds?

Next problem!

[gcraig]

This is a shakedown

I have yet to hear anyone, other than a fanatic, argue this point. Civil War II?

[MJM59]

I seriously need to take a look at my family tree. I am sure that somewhere along the line, some ancestor of mine was screwed by "the man." I need to find that ancestor and a good lawyer.

[Piquaboy]

Johnny Cockroach is running low on cash. A one way ticket would be reparations enough.

[Howie66]

In this case, I seriously doubt that the plaintiffs are looking for anything beyond a "settlement" and some publicity.

Here's my suggestion; offer a "settlement" of a dollar amount that would be calculated at the prevailing labor rate at the time that slavery was legal in our country (say 1835). The total figure then could be paid out in a lump sum, in currency that was the legal tender at that point in time. Naturally, their attorney's fees would be counted as part of that settlement and would be included.

[Icthus]

I was previously against ANY form of reparations concerning this issue....but I think I have since changed my mind. It would be good for the economy in two ways, first, most of the money would be spent immediately on Nikes and baggy clothing, thus stimulating the economy. Secondly, every individual recieving the settlement, would not be financially qualified to receive government financial aid, thus saving a "gazillion" dollars in social programs.

[blackdog]

Reparations should go through. It should consist of the repeal of all federal income and payroll taxes for blacks. You see, the case can be made that whites could afford to start businesses, school their kids in private institutions, purchase real property, etc... because the government was not taxing them to death. The exemption should be for 50 years.

They will spend every last penny in our economy and will refuse to ever go back to paying taxes when the 50 years are up.

[spectre]

My old relatives came off the boat at Ellis Island.

They were reduced to humiliation, deloused and given rough physicals. They were handed their walking papers and to survive, most of them found their way to the Steel Mills of Pittsburg, carrying buckets of water to the men working the furnaces. They worked like slaves just to live in this country.

But they made a life for themselves, and some even did very well. I thank them for giving me the chance to be born and live in this great country, or else I might be living in some tiny town in Italy right now, picking grapes.

If some of our African American friends think they would have been better off had their ancestors never left Africa, I invite them to go home again. They'll be back.

sw

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Actually, this may be a good thing.  We can see which judges support this and, through general outrage, impeach them.

[Dakmar]

Any settlements should be payed in Confederate dollars.

[Icthus]

If they do win this suit....Nikes profits should soar!

[StriperSniper]

Perhaps some folks need to go read the Constitutional prohibition on Ex post facto laws. I know this isn’t a criminal case, but the same legal philosophy should apply.

The same philosophy does not apply when it come to the EPA if you look at the GE/Hudson River case.