Would you pay for this? Why we need reparations for Black Americans.

fmdog44 said:
Worst idea ever. It must never happen. Why not give money to all people that come here illegally only to be sent back depriving them of the chance to prosper here in America? Minorities work as hard as anyone. They don't seek free money rather opportunity to make money. Why not go back and find the family names of the sellers of Africans?
Click to expand...
Reparations is a bad idea. Being the descendant of both slaves and slave owners, how do we deal with people like Michelle Obama, who is typical of perhaps hundreds of thousands of people ? No reparations !
 

My grandparents came to the US, through Ellis Island, back in the early 1900's. My wife came to the US in 1965. No one in either of our families have ever had anything to do with any kind of "slave labor", nor has anyone in our families ever received any "government aid". What we have, we have earned through our own hard work. I would "mutiny" if the government ever tried to penalize us for actions others took centuries ago.
 
Don M. said:
My grandparents came to the US, through Ellis Island, back in the early 1900's. My wife came to the US in 1965. No one in either of our families have ever had anything to do with any kind of "slave labor", nor has anyone in our families ever received any "government aid". What we have, we have earned through our own hard work. I would "mutiny" if the government ever tried to penalize us for actions others took centuries ago.
Click to expand...
Accept no financial aid, Stand tall and on your own two feet. Being independent. Standing up to fight for your beliefs and your convictions.
This is the mark of a true man!
 

I doubt that every one of my ancestors only wore the royal purple. Supposedly one of my ancestors was hung for horse theft. Somehow I have the distinct impression my folk weren't invited to the ball. So most probably, they were owned, rather than owning. But that was centuries ago, the pain has dulled over time. Blacks didn't have such a mellowing of time. I can remember when "N"s couldn't get breakfast at Denny's. I'm white, so I don't know what outright racial discrimination feels like. In our society, when someone wrongs another, we settle it in court. with money- the reparations. I really don't think money is appropriate. Rather than make blacks more estranged with a few dollars in "reparations", maybe really try to eliminate racial discrimination.
 
To be fair. Rep. Conyer, a black Democratic member of Congress did each term introduce a bill for "reparations", until he recently passed away. Other than a pure gesture, the bill was never seriously considered. Congressman usually submit this type of bill for political reasons, knowing that nothing will come from it. There's no check in the mail.
 
To get reparations you would need to get them from the people who wronged your ancestral relatives originally; not the US government or it’s current population. That would mean the African chiefs who sold their tribe members into slavery, the British and others who raided the African coasts, which might have included early Americans.

While this might be possible in some cases probably not in others. Also what about the indentured servants? Mostly while people, mostly young children, do their families get reparations as well? What about people who worked for room and board, do they get reparations?

What about WOMEN, who all our lives have gotten less pay then men? Can we get reparations? I have splash of American Indian blood from a tribe that has died out. Can I get reparations? Life is unfair.

Maybe people of color need to learn this lesson about life, life itself, is color blind.
 
StarSong said:
Not in this country it isn't.
Click to expand...
LIFE is, you know, life itself breathing, eating, stuff like that. I’ve never seen a piece of food run from a person of color or a person of non color. I am not talking about the circumstances surrounding living. You have misread what I wrote.
 
I didn't misread a thing.

Life is indeed unfair. People are born into all kinds of difficult situations, including mental and physical disabilities, economic hardships, violent families, racial or religious prejudice, unequal education and employment opportunities, and substandard housing.

Perhaps we should collectively turn a blind eye to all people in the above situations. There's no food running away from them and they're breathing. The rest of it is, LIFE, you know.

So your mantra is: I got mine baby - it's up to you to figure out how to go get yours!
 
StarSong said:
I didn't misread a thing.

Life is indeed unfair. People are born into all kinds of difficult situations, including mental and physical disabilities, economic hardships, violent families, racial or religious prejudice, unequal education and employment opportunities, and substandard housing.

Perhaps we should collectively turn a blind eye to all people in the above situations. There's no food running away from them and they're breathing. The rest of it is, LIFE, you know.

So your mantra is: I got mine baby - it's up to you to figure out how to go get yours!
Click to expand...
Well, I have not got mine yet. But yes, that is the mantra of most Americans. I would agree with that. IMO, you don’t understand what I am saying in that post, but let’s agree to disagree.

As for difficult situations, hmm, I might be familiar with those. 🤣. Violent family-check, mental and physical difficulties-check, economic hardship-check, religious prejudice-check, unequal education, hmm no check, less employment opportunities-check, and I don’t want to forget substandard housing-check. WOW, and to think, I have white skin. 😱😢
 
gamboolman said:
We would not willingly support or pay for Reparations. For all the reasons folks have stated in the above thread, and many more based on our own opinions and beliefs.

ms gamboolgal and I have just repatriated back to Texas after working and living in Africa for 17 years for megaoilcorp.

Our experiences and perspectives we gained oversea's in Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria have reinforced that to us Reparations is nothing more than a political ploy to buy votes.

We have and will continue to lobby our elected officials to not pursue Reparations.

But that's just us...... Lifes A Dance And You Learn As You Go.....

gamboolman....
Click to expand...
The idea of reparations is badly flawed. Does Michelle Obama get some money thru this program ? She's both the descendant of slaves and of slave owners.
 
Isn't the trillions given to the poor for decades past enough? At what point to blacks stop asking for money and start asking why they are poor still after witnessing the millions of immigrants that are not poor and they are still first and second generations?
 
sehr alt said:
The idea of reparations is badly flawed. Does Michelle Obama get some money thru this program ? She's both the descendant of slaves and of slave owners.
Click to expand...

Serh alt, you seem to be hung up on Michelle Obama, as you've growlingly referred to her twice in this thread. What is there about her that bothers you so much? The fact that she is a Black woman who has achieved success beyond most of our wildest dreams?

So what if she was a part of the population that received reparations? She'd probably be one of about 38 million people to receive some cash. And she'd be part of the .00001% who didn't desperately need it, as most do, largely due to past and present racial discrimination.

She would probably donate the money to a worthy cause.

Many people recently received a check from the federal government to help them get through the coronavirus. Did anyone raise an issue about whether each and every one of those people "deserved" to get that check? There are always some beneficiaries who don't actually need the help. So what? How about the millions who do?

Throwing Michelle Obama into this discussion is, IMO a stupid argument.
 
There are two ways to look at reparations.

One is in the form of sums paid to individual African-Americans. I don't think this is a good idea; it is unjust and unworkable, and it wouldn't receive broad support.

The other would be a Marshall Plan - type program aimed at addressing the terrible disparities in wealth, education, health and other measures of well-being, many of which trace back to slavery and Jim Crow. This would involve spending hundreds of billions of dollars on better schools, job creation and training, housing, preventive health initiatives, and lots of other areas (including making sure that first time criminal offenders get a real second chance at turning themselves around). Call it reparations if you wish. We did it for postwar Europe and I don't understand why we can't do it for our own people.

I think that over time such a program would more than pay for itself. I think it could also receive bipartisan support. But for some reason no one from Washington ever calls me to discuss these ideas.
 
I don't support reparations, but do support programs to help people pull themselves out of poverty and other funding such as supporting well performing traditional black colleges. Like Tougaloo College in our area that ranks 9th out of 99 historically black colleges. Or funding similar to Michael Bloomberg's $100 million to medical schools at black colleges.

I believe in the above more than typing on a message board. My gynecologist before she moved went to Toogaloo for undergrad, then on to Johns Hopkins for med school. My gastroenterologist went to Howard University medical school, then did her residency at Columbia. Both brilliant women who know their stuff and are very caring practitioners who just happen to be black. I found them both by asking through the healthcare grapevine who was the best in their specialties in the area. Gave them a try and found they were the best.
 
Reparations doesn't necessarily mean money, it can be in other forms. Try as I can I can't think of what other form/forms would be appropriate. I'm not suggesting money should be given I just don't know what form/forms are not already in place.

I guess one could argue money reparations would be appropriate for women in the work place since there is no doubt pay/salaries were not equal.
 
AnnieA said:
I don't support reparations, but do support programs to help people pull themselves out of poverty and other funding such as supporting well performing traditional black colleges. Like Tougaloo College in our area that ranks 9th out of 99 historically black colleges. Or funding similar to Michael Bloomberg's $100 million to medical schools at black colleges.

I believe in the above more than typing on a message board. My gynecologist before she moved went to Toogaloo for undergrad, then on to Johns Hopkins for med school. My gastroenterologist went to Howard University medical school, then did her residency at Columbia. Both brilliant women who know their stuff and are very caring practitioners who just happen to be black. I found them both by asking through the healthcare grapevine who was the best in their specialties in the area. Gave them a try and found they were the best.
Click to expand...



"I don't support reparations, but do support programs to help people pull themselves out of poverty "

We already have such programs in place......It's called get a job,and work at it.

Start with a little job, then try to promote up, or advance to the next level/pay scale, perhaps acquire additional education/targeted training and work toward the next higher level again, etc,etc.

Why is it that some groups just cannot seem to grasp that ?

Why is it that these same groups always want something free ? Some sort of handout ?
 
JaniceM said:
Still, whenever this subject comes up I wonder why a similar approach isn't taken for Native Americans...
Click to expand...
Through out world history there will be some group that can claim some short of injustice for something or another. And this includes all racial, ethnic and religious groups.
 
Remember in the movie "Barbershop" Cedric the Entertainer was arguing against reparations and he said, "The only thing reparations would do is make Cadillac the number one dealership in America?" He made that comment just to be funny, I'm sure, but it was funny and so I laughed.

This was a really good movie. It not only had comedy, but there was somethings in it to be learned for all of us.

 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top