[MarkS]

Personally, I am against it. My reasons can be found here.

What thoughts on this does everyone have?

Mark

[organicreefer]

black community "leaders" looking for another handout.jmo

[MarkS]

What's so funny? This is a serious issue being pushed by a growing number of people, not to mention outside pressure from Castro, the UN, etc.

While I seriously doubt that any reparations will ever be paid, this should be be brought up for debate. If this does go through, God forbid, you, me and every other white American will pay. This includes millions of white Americans that immigrated to the US AFTER slavery.

I think that is pretty serious.

Mark

[organicreefer]

keep the socialist (communist?) democrats out of power and i doubt we'll have a problem

[Mikeman]

keep the socialist (communist?) democrats out of power and i doubt we'll have a problem

So have you died yet from the poison in your water?

as to the original post, all the reason in the link are correct

[organicreefer]

mikeman,
unlike most,i dont drink "the water".

[MEC]

This happened a lond time ago and I think that the black community should get over it. Its something that happened and was wrong, and our ancestors tried to right the wrong that thay did. There is no way that todays African American can blame their personal situition on slavery. Now racisim is another story, there are still plenty of racists arround.....JMO........Mike

[wgscott]

I think Fidel Castro hit the nail on the head and has clearly taken the moral high road on this one. The reason this guy is hated so much is because he comes up with things like this. It is right up there when he offered to send Cuban physicians into Harlem to help reduce the infant mortality rate to something comparable to what exists in Cuba.

Instead of reparations per se, I think forgiving the debt and providing free AIDS treatment would be more useful, but it is pretty clear if the African's weren't poor and black everyone would be tripping over themselves to help them out. Sub-Saharan Africa is in pretty bad shape now, in large part thanks to the modern globalized economy.

In short, if we lived in a decent, fair-minded society, this would have been done long ago. But instead we are more worried about whether the KKK has the right to erect a cross at Christmas in Cincinatti.

[wgscott]

By the way, anyone who thinks the Democrats are "socialist" rather than pro-capitalist businessmen has much better drugs than I do.

[organicreefer]

wg,
i can practically guarantee my drugs are better than youres.anyone who thinks democrats arent socialists that stifle big buisness is on crack.

[organicreefer]

but hey ,if you want to let someone else decide whats best for you,go right ahead

[Salty Dog]

This issue is so absurd to me that I will admit to not even allowing myself to read an entire article about it so feel free to correct any factual mistakes I make. I don't know or care if they are asking for money for every black US citizen or any with documented ties to slaves from the past but I find it laughable that this unspeakable horror will be forgiven even a little no matter how much money is given out. Are we to all believe that this will somehow ease the suffering that resulted from slavery?

First of all I doubt anyone alive today even knows someone who was a slave..........the past is the past. It was a very different world and people did some nasty stuff. It wasn't too great to be Jewish in the 40's over the pond and women didn't exactly have it made for many years either. Point is if we have to literally pay for all the mistakes of the past then where does the list end?? I bet a lot of people that died fighting in wars they were sent to without a choice have some relatives around today that could use a few extra bucks. Is someone gonna send me a check cause my grandfather got shot in a foxhole in Germany?? I doubt it.

I refuse to feel guilty for being white and give money to someone else because they are black. If you are so upset that your ancestors were ever brought here then you should ask for a one-way ticket back to Africa with your reparations check. While I am on the subject if you were born in America you are an AMERICAN. If you were born if Africa then came here you are African-American..........never understood that one?? Shouldn't we all be prefaced by our original country if this logic is followed?

Slavery was very bad, so was a lack of rights for women, so was being a human bullet shield on D-Day, so was the Holocaust, life wasn't always pretty in the past.......you pay for mistakes with regret and change.........not money.

[wgscott]

Originally posted by organicreefer
wg,
i can practically guarantee my drugs are better than youres.anyone who thinks democrats arent socialists that stifle big buisness is on crack.

Although I am not a Democrat (and have been a registered Republican), I think your analysis is laughable. Where is your data? Take a look at big business corporate profits during the Clinton years. Corporate profits were of record proportion and the rich got a whole lot richer. Is this how the Democrats stifle Big Business? But since the Democrats are socialists, it seems only fair to ask how well they did their job in that regard. The New York Times reported on their front page on Friday that during the Clinton years the middle class stagnated or got slightly poorer on average and the poor got a whole lot poorer. Couple this with the Democrat-supported dismantaling of the welfare system (something Reagan wouldn't touch), and you have yourself some very weird-looking socialists.

Traditionally, the Democrats have been the party of Big Business, and the Republicans have been the party of Small Business, but those distinctions have been clouded in the last 20 years. But one thing remains clear-- the Democrats have moved steadily away from anything that could even be considered a socialist tendency since the days of FDR.

[asmith]

I don't think we should have to pay reparations. If you can find me one person still living who was a slave, then I would supportive of paying them a reasonable sum of money for what they were put through. The fact is that there are few if any former slaves. The fact that all of us tax payers who had nothing to do with slavery have to give money to a bunch of other people who were never slaves is crazy. I am white, and some of my best friends are black. Even they think that it is rediculous.

Slavery was a horrible thing, and I wish that it could be erased. The fact is that it is history, and you can't rewrite history. Giving money to a bunch of people who never directly suffered from slavery will not change anything. I think the fact that our nation learned from their mistakes is payment enough. No person living in the US will ever have to worry about being captured and used as a slave. I don't see any logic in giving a bunch of money to someone just because their great great grandparents were slaves.

I hope this does not make me sound like a racist. I am as far away from a racist as possible. Many of my best friends and coworkers are African American, Asian, Chinese, or from the Middle East.

I have no plans to help line the pockets of poeple who where never directly harmed by the actions of a bunch of people whom were never even my ancestors.

JMO,
Andrew

[Salty Dog]

Originally posted by asmith

I hope this does not make me sound like a racist. I am as far away from a racist as possible. Many of my best friends and coworkers are African American, Asian, Chinese, or from the Middle East.

JMO,
Andrew

It is so sad that we can't voice an opinion today without this disclaimer when the subject has anything to do with race.

Not directed at you Andrew as I am sure that thought will cross everyones mind that posts here.

The whole situation is so beyond rediculous I would laugh at it only that might even be taken the wrong way

[cod]

The reparations are not for suffering and degradation caused by slavery. Rather, some black leaders want to share in the profits gained by the U.S. economic machine that slaves helped build, presumably by clearing fields, picking cotton, cleaning houses, and whatever else they did.

I do not feel skin color is a factor when considering a persons' character. I have lived in the south east for most of my life and have, and have had friends of various races. But, the numbers don't lie. We (tax payers) have been paying reparations for years. It's called well fare, section 8 housing, and affirmative action!

My $0.02

[wgscott]

Considering this hobby is composed almost entirely of relatively well-off white people, one has to ask if there might be just a tad of self-interest at stake here when the idea is universally condemned?

What about reparations for Jewish slave labor in the concentration camps run by I G Farben, Siemens, Volkswagen, etc? Those got paid out without too much hand-wringing recently. Was that wrong too? If so, why? If not, where do you draw the line?

[MarkS]

Originally posted by wgscott
Considering this hobby is composed almost entirely of relatively well-off white people, one has to ask if there might be just a tad of self-interest at stake here when the idea is universally condemned?

Possibly, but I am not rich and not even relatively well-off. Just white. These reparations, IMO, are nothing more than retribution. That's my problem. Why should I be punished for something that happened 150 years before I was born? Also, more than likely, the Government would pay. This means using taxes. This also means that the reparations being paid are coming partly from the people being paid.

Originally posted by wgscott
What about reparations for Jewish slave labor in the concentration camps run by I G Farben, Siemens, Volkswagen, etc? Those got paid out without too much hand-wringing recently. Was that wrong too? If so, why? If not, where do you draw the line?

Two reasons:

1.) No matter how horrible American slavery was, it can never compare to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Our slaves had it good by comparison.

2.) There are still hundreds if not thousands of Jews and other concentration camp inmates still alive today. There is an actuall, verified number of people who were in those camps. Also, in this case, it was the governments directly controlling these camps. That is why those govnerments responsable payed reparations. Also, just because you are Jewish did not mean that you were entitled to these reparations and these reparations were paid to the inmates and families of dead inmates, regardless of race.

In the case of American slavery reparations, the main questions are: Who should pay and who should collect?

If every white American was forced to pay, even a little, it would be extremely unfair because this would include people from northern decent that did not own slaves, immigrants that either immigrated after slavery, were against slavery or could not afford slaves or people like myself that are very embarrased by the past and abhor it. Just because you are white does not mean that you should be held responsable for things that happened almost 200 years ago.

Also, should every black American be entitled to part of the reparations? Why should they? Again, why should someone be paid if they immigrated after slavery or were born free? Not every black person during slavery was a slave.

The problem with these reparations is that they are unpractical.

Mark

[ranaman]

I guess it all depends on far back you want to go. Does Spain owe people of Jewish descent compensation for the inquistion. Do modern italians owe it since the roman empire might be argued started the whole mess in the first place.
Also are there any slave trading companies still extant, to sue for past wrongs? I saw one comment that said does this mean the Ivory Coast pays americans of africian descent for allowing their capture and sale? Does the USA owe people who were slaves say in Barbados, jamacia, or haitii that now reside in USA money? In other words does the USA owe Farakan money since he was from trindad? Remember that slave laborers under the nazis wasn't just jewish but toward the end was any able bodied person they could find in their occupied land. I think you'll find the german companies involved look at it much like the tobacco settlement a one time cost that can be absorbed by the company without much problem, but it will end future claims.
The whole reparation thing though starts to take on a who do I sue thing. Rule number 1, never sue poor people. From what I know of black and white people if this goes through it would be the biggest mistake this country ever made. It sure won't foster love,tolerance and understanding.

[organicreefer]

this is going to sound soo racist but,
dont you think that black americans are"lucky "to be here?
i feel that their forefathers suffered a terrible fate that has afforded their offspring a "better" life.the only reperations im willing to make are one way tickets back my.02