NNQueen said:In an effort to bring this discussion back to the main point of the thread and away from personal attacks, I'd like to ask Sister Indya precisely why she believes that descendants should not benefit from any injustices or genocidal treatment experienced by their ancestors? I believe this is the very point that Brother James continues make. If descendants can inherit assets then why not liabilities. If you inherit an asset, you were not the original creator of that asset and would it be in error to submit here that many of today's wealthiest white people are descendants of former slave owners? I'm trying to understand the sister's logic when it comes to modern African Americans and what makes US so different than any other group of people that have managed to benefit from reparations when they weren't directly involved?
Peace,
Queenie
I really don't know of any other group whos descendents got reparations. Japanesse have been mentioned, but the only people given compensation in their case there the actual people who were in the internment camps.
The Japanesse were given $20,000 for each person who was intered. If the person who was intered had passed away the money didn't go to the decendents since they weren't intered.
Indians have been mentioned as having compensation because they can have gambling. Indians on reservations are a soverinity, which means they make the rules on the reservations. The indians are following treates. No one has given me an example that stands up to investigation.
You ask " if decendents can inherit assets then why not liabilities". Because this is a slippery slope. If my ancestor was a thief should I have to pay off the decendents of the man my ancestor stole from? This wouldn't be fair since I wasn't the one who stole. I would be affraid this would set a president with shifty lawyers and everyone would have something new to sue over.
We've come so far in the last 60 yrs with the civil rights movement and the ACLU. We have laws against discrimination, we can sue NOW the people who do things to us personnally. Why go backwards?
Respectfully, Indya