(June 24, 2020 at 11:23 am)onlinebiker Wrote: I will not entertain any debate of whether or not reparations for slavery should be paid - but simply want to figure out the logistics.
Who gets how much - and who pays it?
Would this have been done 140 years ago - it would be very simple (and just) - if you were a slave you get paid X dollars for however many years you were a slave.
No problem.
However - now - there isn't anyone who was a slave during that period. (of course there's slaves now -but nobody seems to give much of a shit about that)
So who gets paid now - and how much?
You can't simply say - "my ancestor was a slave". That isn't a data point. "My great great great grandfather (provide name) was a slave (provide years) - and we have one data point. Unfortunately - the slave owners took advantage of the female slaves and a fair number of them sired offspring. So if your great great great grandfather was a slave -- and another great great great grandfather was a slave owner - doesn't the one cancel the other out??? After all - we shouldn't be paying the owners of slaves a damned cent.
And - what if you have 1 great great great grandfather who was a slave - and a great great great grandfather who was a freeman --- they did exist. Do you get a half share?
Then there's the problem of who foots the bill.
Again -- 140 years ago - it would be easy. The slave owners are the guilty bunch. They should have paid. It doesn't seem right to make abolitionists who risked everything to help free the enslaved.
It just seems it will be a hugely complicated task to figure out who is owed what - and distribute it equitably. What will be considered legal evidence of heredity and who decides what is a fair share?
The only simple way - is to show up -have somebody take a look at you and say "Yup. You look like a black guy - here's your money."
And who pays?
White people only? Are native Americans exempt? How about Asians? Latinos?
What about white people who's ancestors immigrated after slavery was made illegal? They didn't have anything to do with it. Why should they pay?
Because they're white????
Isn't that kinda racist?
Not as racist as that post.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson