Yes it is. That is exactly what reparations are.
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Sadly I think there is a quorum on setting the tangle on fire and dying on the pyre rather than examining its rotten roots and their responsibility for it. I’ve wondered whether Snowflake Reservations would help limit the damage.
The central lie of Ameica is the lie of omission. We talk about the homesteaders as heroic because of the work they did and the obstacles they overcame. We talk about “the greatest generation” for the same reasons. My grandfather and his siblings were textbook members of the greatest generation. In the 1920s he picked cotton as a teenager in the Mississippi delta and went on to practice law for 60 years and become a judge and state senator.
What we don’t talk about is that those homesteaders were given the land from the federal government for free, or that most of the money used to buy that land arose directly from slave grown crops.
We don’t talk about how every school my grandfather attended were whites only. How the oppurtunities he had were never available to most people in the delta. How he was able to pass the oppurtunities to my mom, and she to me.
If we are really going to be a country that celebrates hard work and overcoming obstacles to build this country, lets start with gratitude. There is no group in American history that worked nearly as hard, overcame nearly as much, or did more to build this country than the people that were enslaved.
As a society we are still in deep denial about who we are, and the hard truths about this country need to be faced so that we might become the country we claim we’ve been. Some form of reparations is required to do that
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And that automatic mental resistance to even the very concept as demonstrated in this thread is why many folks descended from African slaves don’t ever really expect actual reparations to ever happen, in any form in this country.
It gravely threatens the complacency and manufactured status of people who have grown used to decades upon decades of ingrained, unearned privilege.
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Yes, it’s more important to do the right thing than the popular one. Easier on a personal level. Harder in a democracy. It’s needs some popularity.
We are a nation of apathy. It’s easy to kick the can down the road. Especially when the decisions are uncomfortable. Problem? What problem? It’s hard to even get them to acknowledge it if it makes them uncomfortable.
So rather than make people feel like shit that there’s a problem, make them feel good for acknowledging and fixing the problem.
You’re right, there’s going to be some people that will become radicalized. They were asshole before anyways. And your were a decent person willing to do the right thing anyways. It’s the apathetic majority that can and needs to be persuaded. “Fuck them” arguments and making them feel like shit is the wrong sort of persuasion. Making people feel good for doing the right thing is better.
BTW, this apathetic majority isn’t just white. Hispanics and Asians are in the “Hey, I wasn’t personally involved in slavery/segregation/etc. Why should I support this?” Feeling good for doing the right thing is just as valid regardless of race. “Because it will make white people feel bad.” might also be persuasive, but seems less noble.
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I’ll own up to the automatic mental resistance. It comes from the “I didn’t do X.” And “Why should they get something for free?” Gut emotional responses. I try to move beyond that to the truth that “Things are effed up. How can they be put right?”
I don’t entirely know. But by acknowledging my resistance, it makes me aware that is going to be a barrier in others. Much of what I write comes from examining my gut response and how to overcome the same reaction in others that might not question themselves.
Frankly, I’m pessimistic as well about actual reparations. And emotionally, it makes me nervous even if I know it’s the right thing to do. Not for the reasons you gave, but 90% personal pocketbook and 10% for the ugly consequences it could breed due to resentment (i.e. post WWI type reparations consequences). Probably unfounded. Just being honest about what comes to mind.
But I’m still game for trying.
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And for all the talk of “we can’t do this/it isn’t practical because it will hurt the feelings of white people”, it’s never made clear whether this means all white people as a monolithic block or certain white people (and if so, which white people?). Who exactly are proponents of reparations supposed to be concerned about offending here?
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Everyone and anyone who isn’t White, straight, cisgendered, able-bodied and male while claiming to be Xtian; the deeply ingrained mentality is that we Black folks matter the least out of everyone who exists.
As for the childsh ‘gut-responses’ to the very concept of reparations:
“I personally didn’t do it!”
No… but every person of European descent born in in this country has benefited from slavery and systemic racism at some point, whether they actively wanted to, or not.
“Why should they get something for free?”
Nothing is “free”; this country and most of its’ economy was built on the backs of African and Native American slaves, who were never properly compensated or recognized.
As a people, we have more than earned any consideration that we might ever be given.
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The thing is that few can agree on what reparations even means. Which is the crux behind HR 40. Here’s the abstract of the bill (which is only like 3 pages):
This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.
That’s all it is – asking for funding to study and debate potential proposals and remedies over the next year.
But, chickenshit Republicans like McTurtle don’t even want to talk about things like this, because apparently us white people made up for the sins of the past because Obama got elected president. (This is not a joke, by the way – McConnell literally tried to use this as a counter-argument.)
At least when Rep Johnson of Louisiana tried to argue against reparations yesterday his arguments were actually really good. (Make no mistake about it – I don’t agree with any of his arguments, but I give him credit for putting some actual well thought out and principled legal reasoning behind them.)
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Yes, reparations are for addressing the inequalities created by slavery, but my point was that economic inequality is not only an issue for descendants of slaves. Please don’t quote me out of context and think you’ve “won.”
Childish is right. Like the “gut-responses” of Libertarians to taxation in general as a “punishment”, it’s all a variation on “I’m a big boy, so Mommy can’t tell me what to do!”. It goes right along with the bitter HS debate-club nerd’s attitude that every discussion is a debate that needs to be won.
For people who drone on about “taking responsibility” they certainly shirk it the moment they’re asked to pony up, whether in money or an apology or just admitting that someone they’re at odds with has a valid point.
Heavens to Betsy, so insulting to white people!
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Dude, I said they were gut reactions. Didn’t say they were correct. No need to explain why they are wrong. Most gut reactions are childish. I’m admitting them and trying to use the self examination to both better myself and as a tool for insight into others. I don’t need your help to feel like a dick. Got it covered on a daily basis.
Word.
I see this needs reposting yet again;
It’s not the responsibility of Black people to alleviate anyone else’s negative emotions or to ‘do the heavy lifting.’
No one can change the sins of the past, but we can all consciously, consistently acknowledge them and actively strive to do better now, and in the future.
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Um… We had one 1/2 black president, and everyone lost their shit and reactively elected a misogynist racist shit with a bad comb over who seems by all estimations to be intent on destroying functional govt, the EPA, public schooling, etc… you name it. (all for the benefits of a small group of elites). So, I think I know which way the wind blows here in the grand ole’ USofA.
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Good question, Larry Elder! To be fair, let’s say a third as much as the descendants of the Confederate soldiers who gave their lives to preserve slavery (the descendants of the Union dead also benefited from slavery and the institutional racism that followed). Then, to simplify things, we can average it out. Next question…
[Libertarian “gotchas” are so lame]
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You don’t need to be racist to benefit from racism – whether consciously or unconsciously. It’s as simple as that.
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One drop rule, yo; bigots and people who actually care about such superficial differences still saw him as “the n-word.”
Also, there’s no such thing as “half a person.”
(Yes, I realize that you are biracial; so am I.)
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The problem is that there’s no practical way for this to even approach reality? What’s the sum total value of lives? What amount of $ would it take for you to enter slavery (and doom your descendants to it) for generations?
It’s the same logic as “well we should also address what was done to Native Americans”. What can you pay to counter having the armed forces of a nation literally commit genocide? How about giving current value for the real estate that was taken? Even the USA honoring treaties that it signed (even if signed under duress by NA groups) would be astronomical sums.
So, how do you address such astronomically huge problems?
By taking a small step first. Then another. The same way you solve most enormous problems.
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Yeah, the point was even though there was more of a reason to see him (like us) as part of what America and other parts of the world are becoming (the nice mixed up melting pot), people weren’t willing to accept that “one drop” and lost their shit.
I can’t recall where I saw the stats, but I do remember being horrified by the numbers of “alt-right” groups and how their numbers swelled after Obama was elected.
Sadly, I’m getting to the point where I’m convinced that it’s only birth and death that solve these problems. Death of the old that carry entrenched racist mindsets, and the birth of their lovely melanin rich mixed race grand-kids.
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