I think reparations for direct descendants of slaves should be paid for by direct descendants of slave-owners. Have fun figuring that out.

For the record, I hope this is going To involve social programs that help put black people on an economic even keel with white people. Because I can remember once looking at an article that estimated the cost of reparations: $100 trillion. Looking up the rationale, I found two things:
1) This number was absurdly low because of the fact that they estimated a total of 222,505,049 man-hours unpaid labour for the entire black population over 246 years. This is less than a million man-hours per year for a demographic of millions of people. And, somehow, I get the impression that if slavery was just for less than an hour a year, it wouldn’t have the profound effects it’s had.
2) It was also absurdly high because, depending on how you calculate Global GDP, it’s either more than we have, or is enough to create Wakanda on earth by making everyone on the planet but African Americans so poor that what the world thinks Wakanda is like before the events of Black Panther would be a utopian fantasy.

The issue with reparations is that income inequality and other economic metrics are so bleak, a massive percentage of white people (primarily rural folks who are struggling) will take offense because they will (correctly) point out that no assistance is coming to them. This will ultimately wedge the racial divide more at the expense of what actually is a really good idea (reparations). The solution to this is to have a more progressive economic policy overall. If white people feel they are doing well, it is less likely they will oppose reparations. Obviously you'll still have racist and undereducated folks opposing it, but it would be lessened.

(March 31, 2022 at 12:31 pm)HappySkeptic Wrote: I think reparations for direct descendants of slaves should be paid for by direct descendants of slave-owners.  Have fun figuring that out.

Especially when they are the same people....

(March 31, 2022 at 12:12 pm)brewer Wrote: Why didn't they include the indigenous native americans? Fuckin racists.

Because they received compensation. The Alaska natives received billions of dollars, 44 million acres of land, free health care and college tuition.

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(March 31, 2022 at 12:31 pm)HappySkeptic Wrote: I think reparations for direct descendants of slaves should be paid for by direct descendants of slave-owners.  Have fun figuring that out.

Stop it, the slave owners were paid reparations for the loss of their slaves, paid for by people that didn't own slaves, keep that same energy.

Fun fact: Bank of America was founded by a guy who made his fortune in the slave trade.

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(March 31, 2022 at 12:55 pm)Aegon Wrote: The issue with reparations is that income inequality and other economic metrics are so bleak, a massive percentage of white people (primarily rural folks who are struggling) will take offense because they will (correctly) point out that no assistance is coming to them. This will ultimately wedge the racial divide more at the expense of what actually is a really good idea (reparations). The solution to this is to have a more progressive economic policy overall. If white people feel they are doing well, it is less likely they will oppose reparations. Obviously you'll still have racist and undereducated folks opposing it, but it would be lessened.

Are these same white people opposing the money that went to Afghan and current Ukrainian refugees?

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(March 31, 2022 at 11:45 am)Ranjr Wrote:

(March 31, 2022 at 12:56 am)Huggy Bear Wrote: @Ranjr

I wouldn't say that reparations are "help", reparations is what the U.S. owes for forcing a group of people to build it for free.

I would say that "help" is part of reparations.  Slaves were treated horribly, but not genocidally.  Descendants who need extra help deserve it.  Those who don't need it overcame the mistreatment of their forbearers.  

That's why I don't take advantage of benefits available to me because of my grandmother.  Her people walked the Trail.  But I did alright.

Please, white people got all kinds of handouts, look up the homestead act, where white people were given the equivalent of a million dollars per family in free land, which did not include black people, then white people have the nerve to tell black people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, when it was those black people that built the wealth of this nation that allowed your grandmother to thrive.

Let me be clear, without those black slaves, America doesn't exist.

(March 31, 2022 at 1:50 pm)Huggy Bear Wrote:

(March 31, 2022 at 12:55 pm)Aegon Wrote: The issue with reparations is that income inequality and other economic metrics are so bleak, a massive percentage of white people (primarily rural folks who are struggling) will take offense because they will (correctly) point out that no assistance is coming to them. This will ultimately wedge the racial divide more at the expense of what actually is a really good idea (reparations). The solution to this is to have a more progressive economic policy overall. If white people feel they are doing well, it is less likely they will oppose reparations. Obviously you'll still have racist and undereducated folks opposing it, but it would be lessened.

Are these same white people opposing the money that went to Afghan and current Ukrainian refugees?

I mean... Americans opposing foreign aid based on the idea that the money could be better spent on helping Americans is not new and is still the case with these issues.

But Ukrainians are white, so it's more acceptable to help them than all the brown refugees we've created over the last 20+ years.

Finally, someone will repair Huggy Bear.

(March 31, 2022 at 1:50 pm)Huggy Bear Wrote: Please, white people got all kinds of handouts, look up the homestead act, where white people were given the equivalent of a million dollars per family in free land, which did not include black people, then white people have the nerve to tell black people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, when it was those black people that built the wealth of this nation that allowed your grandmother to thrive.

Let me be clear, without those black slaves, America doesn't exist.

A significant number of american families made their way here after the civil war.  Precisely one of my grandparents is from a family that was here before the civil war, half my family came here after ww2..lol. That homestead act land would need to go back to the natives, though, I imagine.  No sense robbing peter to pay paul if we're serious about it....which...ofc...we're not.

(March 31, 2022 at 12:51 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: For the record, I hope this is going To involve social programs that help put black people on an economic even keel with white people. 

It won't, and the committee have explicitly stated as much.

Every once legitimate grievance has a expiration date after which addressing it necessarily bring much greater injustice to more people overall than any justice value there can be found in the redress the original plaintiff might receive.

I think that expiration date has come and gone at least a couple of generations ago.

(March 31, 2022 at 1:50 pm)Huggy Bear Wrote: Please, white people got all kinds of handouts, look up the homestead act, where white people were given the equivalent of a million dollars per family in free land, which did not include black people, then white people have the nerve to tell black people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, when it was those black people that built the wealth of this nation that allowed your grandmother to thrive.

Let me be clear, without those black slaves, America doesn't exist.

My grandmother wasn't white.  Nevertheless, many black people have pulled themselves up.  More so than native.

I don't diminish the role slaves played in building America.  You shouldn't overstate that while diminishing the roles of others.