Jesuits Are Coughing Up $100M for Slavery Reparations.

[Robert59]

Trust will benefit descendants of enslaved people, including those sold by Jesuits in 1838

The Catholic order of Jesuit priests has pledged to raise $100 million for descendants of the enslaved people it owned in what the New York Times reports is "one of the largest efforts by an institution to atone for slavery."

https://www.newser.com/story/303736/catholic-order-promises-100m-in-slavery-reparations.html

 

[MarciKS]

oh goodie...another locked thread in the making

 

[Rosemarie]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

 

[Becky1951]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

Doesn't matter if former slaves returned or stayed.

The compensation is for being held captive and forced into servitude against their will.
For being bought and sold, for having their children ripped from them and sold like livestock.

And for those who will say, but their own people in Africa sold them as slaves, right here in America and right now, we have human trafficking, same thing, money hungry greed..

 

[Don M.]

My ancestors came to the US, via Ellis Island, in the early 1900's. No one in our family/ancestry has ever had anything to do with slaves. If there are ever any "reoperations" given, they should come from the wealth of those whose ancestors were slave owners. I would personally rebel at having to pay added taxes for yet another "welfare" fund. I am more than willing to help support those who are disabled, etc., and can't support themselves, but those who are mentally and physically fit, can find "sympathy" in the dictionary.

 

[Pink Biz]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

You need not be knowledgeable one whit about American history in order to comprehend how slavery is a gross violation of morality and the precepts of natural law.

Further, this country has granted refuge and immunity to the perpetrators, and for allowing the terrible facts to be sunk deep in our collective memory hole.

 

[Pepper]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

For goodness sake Rosemarie. The slaves arrived in the sixteen hundreds. They were freed in the mid 1800's. They had no more connection with Africa then you do. I'm sorry to say I find your question to be obtuse.

 

[Rosemarie]

You need not be knowledgeable one whit about American history in order to comprehend how slavery is a gross violation of morality and the precepts of natural law.

Further, this country has granted refuge and immunity to the perpetrators, and for allowing the terrible facts to be sunk deep in our collective memory hole.

I'm not defending slavery at all. There has always been slavery, right through history....and I agree that it's an abominable practice. I just find it hard to justify giving compensation to the descendants of slaves.
It's time to put the past behind us, accept the present and move forward. Black Americans still see themselves as victims. Giving them compensation for what happened to their ancestors reinforces that attitude.

 

[SetWave]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

Heck, most Americans are not very knowledgeable about American history.

 

[Sunny]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

And how were their descendants, mostly living in poverty, supposed to do this, Rosemarie, even if they wanted to? Book passage on the next cruise ship? Get airline tickets?

They were Americans, and English was their language. They had no memory or connection with the Africa of 2 centuries earlier, from which their ancestors had been snatched. And they were desperately poor.

About compensation, if we are all entitled to compensation because of coronavirus, why not also because their whole family, going back to the original slave ancestor, has been living under a system of gross discrimination, either legal (the south) or a little more subtle (everywhere else)?
There's an old play with the title "Been Down So Long It Seems Like Up to Me." That's the kind of life most Black people have had in their country, at least until very recently. Isn't it just ordinary decency to try to make up for the racism they've had to live through (not that any amount of money really could, but it would help.)

 

[Pepper]

The Age of Enlightenment occurred at the same time as the beginning of the USA. The 'founding fathers' were the smartest of their generation. They knew there was no morality in the enslavement of other humans. They knew the motive was economic, writing slavery into the Constitution. That's the crime. They knew.

 

[ohioboy]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

Under the Doctrine of Restitution "it is all together fitting and proper" (an Abe quote). Is it legally required Restitution, no, it's similar to "Affirmative Action", you try to right/rectify a perceived wrong.

 

[Jules]

Jesuit priests has pledged to raise $100 million for descendants

Go Fund Me?

 

[squatting dog]

Reparations is always going to be a touchy subject. How does one determine who is responsible, eligible and who pays?
It’s unfair to judge people of that era by modern values.
One of the most vexing questions in African-American history is whether free African Americans themselves also own slaves. The short answer to this question, as you might suspect, is yes, of course; some free black people in this country bought and sold other black people, and did so at least since 1654, continuing to do so right through the Civil War.

Take the case of Anthony Johnson and claims that he was the first slave owner in America.
In addition to being a landowner, Anthony Johnson was also a slaveholder. Court records reveal that Johnson won a 1655 case against white planter, Robert Parker, to retain ownership of Johnson’s slave, John Casor.
Whether or not Anthony Johnson was the first American slaveholder, he was certainly not the last black person to own slaves. It is a very sad aspect of African-American history that slavery sometimes could be a colorblind affair.

 

[JimBob1952]

Very complex subject, but I applaud the Jesuits for their effort to right the wrongs of the past.

 

[Happy Joe]

IMO If someone can prove, in court, that they have been enslaved existing civil and criminal action could & should apply... In no way should any one be be held responsible or liable for other people's actions currently or historically.

Since the last (legally enslaved) person in the US is long dead along with their enslavers attempting to get reparations is an injustice.

Enjoy!

 

[Aneeda72]

I'm not very knowledgeable about American history, but after the slaves were set free, were they not able to return to Africa if they wished? So those that are living in America now are there because they choose to, so why are they deserving of compensation?

No, they were not returned

 

[Aneeda72]

My ancestors came to the US, via Ellis Island, in the early 1900's. No one in our family/ancestry has ever had anything to do with slaves. If there are ever any "reoperations" given, they should come from the wealth of those whose ancestors were slave owners. I would personally rebel at having to pay added taxes for yet another "welfare" fund. I am more than willing to help support those who are disabled, etc., and can't support themselves, but those who are mentally and physically fit, can find "sympathy" in the dictionary.

Oh, yes, my southern ancestors owned slaves, and I spoken on the forum about how wealthy I am-not, but I disagree I owe anyone for what my ancestors did. If this were true think of how much money the victims of serial killers would be owed by the families of the serial killers.

The whole ideal is ridiculous.

 

[Aneeda72]

And how were their descendants, mostly living in poverty, supposed to do this, Rosemarie, even if they wanted to? Book passage on the next cruise ship? Get airline tickets?

They were Americans, and English was their language. They had no memory or connection with the Africa of 2 centuries earlier, from which their ancestors had been snatched. And they were desperately poor.

About compensation, if we are all entitled to compensation because of coronavirus, why not also because their whole family, going back to the original slave ancestor, has been living under a system of gross discrimination, either legal (the south) or a little more subtle (everywhere else)?
There's an old play with the title "Been Down So Long It Seems Like Up to Me." That's the kind of life most Black people have had in their country, at least until very recently. Isn't it just ordinary decency to try to make up for the racism they've had to live through (not that any amount of money really could, but it would help.)

What?

The freed slaves were freed but not made citizens of the USA until later. I forget the year. Therefore, , their descendants were the original dreamers until laws were passed making them citizens. They were, at the time of their freeing but before they were made citizens, illegal aliens.

Since they were illegal aliens with no standing in court, they were not owed any money and neither are their descendants.

 

[Sunny]

Aneeda, what is your definition of an illegal alien?

 

[Aneeda72]

Aneeda, what is your definition of an illegal alien?

I do not have one, just messing around with the subject

 

[Chet]

How much is the billionaire Oprah Winfrey entitled to? Why are the Native Americans / Indians not included in the talk of reparations? Eastern Europeans fared badly at the hands of the Soviet Union, and on and on. Nothing can undo the past. Get over it and move on.

 

[Aneeda72]

How much is the billionaire Oprah Winfrey entitled to? Why are the Native Americans / Indians not included in the talk of reparations? Eastern Europeans fared badly at the hands of the Soviet Union, and on and on. Nothing can undo the past. Get over it and move on.

Well, as a person who has Native American blood, I am for reparations for Native Americans

 

[squatting dog]

Things that used to be true before political correctness set in:

More whites were brought as slaves to North Africa than blacks brought as slaves to the United States

http://www.hannenabintuherland.com/...s-slaves-to-the-united-states-herland-report/

Before sending ignorant hate mail, consider these Wikipedia entries:
“The Barbary slave trade refers to the slave markets that were lucrative and vast on the Barbary Coast of North Africa, which included the Ottoman provinces of Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania and the independent sultanate of Morocco, between the 16th and middle of the 18th century. The Ottoman provinces in North Africa were nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, but in reality they were mostly autonomous. The North African slave markets were part of the Berber slave trade.

“Ohio State University history Professor Robert Davis describes the White Slave Trade as minimized by most modern historians in his book Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800. Davis estimates that 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans were enslaved in North Africa, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th, by slave traders from Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli alone (these numbers do not include the European people who were enslaved by Morocco and by other raiders and traders of the Mediterranean Sea coast),[3] and roughly 700 Americans were held captive in this region as slaves between 1785 and 1815

 

[fmdog44]

I'm sure this will put an end to all thoughts and opinions on race in America. Meanwhile I'm going to pack my musket and drive to the Alamo. Then on to farther west to fight those pesky Indians. "The British are coming!"