I was working in Japan when the U.S. government authorized reparations to Americans of Japanese descent who were interned in camps during WWII. The amount of the reparations was $20,000 apiece. I think that this was a token amount, a gesture. The economic damage alone must have totaled in the millions, but at least this was an acknowledgment of a crime against a people that was motivated more by racist ignorance than national security needs.
Every now and then, the subject of reparations for AA who are descended from slaves comes up. How much should this be? Should it be money alone? Who would be eligible: every Black American, or only those who could prove their ancestors were brought here against their will?
Finally, is it even possible to make reparations for such a thing as slavery? Money aside, is there any apology which could be made by the White majority that would be accepted by the majority of the AA in this country?
This seems to be about corporate restitution, not a government action.
If corporations that profited from slavery did indeed make restitution, and it amounted to billions of dollars (it never would: cheaper to pay those billions to lawyers to drag out this issue for the next 100 years), who would administer these billions? The government? Hah! Churches, Black organizations? Who could be trusted to manage these billions, and how would the money make it to those most injured by the practice of "this barbarous tradition"?
I was working in Japan when the U.S. government authorized reparations to Americans of Japanese descent who were interned in camps during WWII. The amount of the reparations was $20,000 apiece. I think that this was a token amount, a gesture. The economic damage alone must have totaled in the millions, but at least this was an acknowledgment of a crime against a people that was motivated more by racist ignorance than national security needs.
Every now and then, the subject of reparations for AA who are descended from slaves comes up. How much should this be? Should it be money alone? Who would be eligible: every Black American, or only those who could prove their ancestors were brought here against their will?
Finally, is it even possible to make reparations for such a thing as slavery? Money aside, is there any apology which could be made by the White majority that would be accepted by the majority of the AA in this country?
... and you can't eat gold or silver.
CraigK said:Just off the top of my head, I would like to see reparations in the form of bonus pay for the best teachers to teach in academically troubled schools, more operating funds for those schools, then full ride academic scholarships to really good colleges, with unlimited free tutoring and a living allowance so that the student doesn't have to divert effort from his studies to work a job. Education is the only way you are going to close the gap between the poorest of Americans and the comfortable middle class, and it is the only thing that, once acquired, cannot be taken from you.
That's my take on it, but I am open to other ideas.