Reparations for slavery...... yay or nay?

[TitoFan]

"The popular mocking of reparations as a harebrained scheme authored by wild-eyed lefties and intellectually unserious black nationalists is fear masquerading as laughter. Black nationalists have always perceived something unmentionable about America that integrationists dare not acknowledge—that white supremacy is not merely the work of hotheaded demagogues, or a matter of false consciousness, but a force so fundamental to America that it is difficult to imagine the country without it."

It is brilliantly insightful. Thanks Kirkland. People do not like difficult questions and would rather dismiss them, so I expect it would be beyond many to even contemplate the value of another perspective, let alone try and reexamine long held beliefs thru another lens. It is worth the effort, but it is an effort nonetheless, and so it is easier to just mock, roll the eyes and pretend that confronting difficult questions us in itself a vapid and stupid exercise.

Fuck that kind of entrenched privileged cowardice.

Wow. The kind of quote Denilson would undoubtedly approve of.

So....... anyone who feels reparations are a bad idea is secretly harboring a deep fear that white supremacy will be found out as a real, deeply-ingrained issue rather than "the work of hotheaded demagogues"? Damn..... that's deep.


Well that's totally disappointing. Here I was thinking I was just emphasizing the importance of looking forward, instead of wallowing in the past and stirring up the shit so it will smell up the room all that much more.

Here I was thinking that such an idea would be next to impossible to implement..... and would only leave tattered emotions and serve to separate people even more..... as reparations distributions would surely be uneven and unjust in many cases.

Here I was thinking that paying black people today for the sins of yesterday would never change people's minds on either side of the equation. (In other words..... resentful blacks (see Denilson) will ALWAYS be resentful blacks..... and white supremacist will now be resentful white supremacists).



No. Anyone against this idea is really a closet white supremacist that believes white supremacy is an invention of hysterical leftists.

Precious.

It is a brilliant essay. A very accomplished piece of work. I would recommend reading it. Don't let Walrus and El Kabong's predictable fearful response put you off engaging with a difficult subject, in a nuanced way. Just because they will do anything in their power to reduce everything down to primary school level mudslinging, there is no reason to buy into their one dimensional world view.


Forget about slaves, forget about money, forget about anything from 100+ yrs ago and read it with an open mind and tell me that the essay is laughable?


They employ the same tactic when people talk about fascists as though it is all just a big game that they can stay on their high horse and snigger about.


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...ations/361631/

Haven't read the whole thing yet, as it's quite lengthy and I wanted to respond before I read it. Still.... I got the gist of it.

Yes, it is a good piece of writing. But allow me to express a few thoughts up front.


Please.... do not continue lumping me in with other people. Please understand this is an annoying (and denigrating) habit which basically insults the intelligence of the other person. Give me the credit I give others of making up our own minds without belonging to some sort of "cult."

I'm sure Lyle and Walrus have their own thoughts on the matter. We will agree on some points, and disagree on others. You and I have both been here long enough to know I'm very much an individual.

Number two... I do not need to read that essay to realize the very real nature of racism and its continuing persistence into today's society... particularly in certain areas of the Deep South.

Admittedly, the article does bring out specific facts that are horrifying and sad to read at the same time. Sad that humans could be that callow, unjust, and ignorant.

I'm fully aware that racial injustices, including lynchings, have occurred well into the 20th century. Racial injustices didn't end with the end of slavery. Nobody in their right minds would believe such a crock.

Frankly, upon reading articles such as this, it's small wonder people like Denilson exist. Except I think Denilson carries it to a ridiculous extreme, as also thinks any sane person who reads the rubbish he writes.



Having said all this, I stand by my opinion that the way to "right a wrong" can sometimes be misdirected. I personally much prefer to look forward and see how we can bring the hammer down on institutionalized racism once and for all.

I could write a damn book on all my thoughts on this subject, as I'm sure many of us could as well.

I've always said I would've been a militant black had I been born black in the 50's or 60's in the States. Racism to me is one of the most vile, disgusting, inexcusable traits a human being could have.



What are some of my "cures" for this?

First, understand that the so called "quotas" of the past (and present), where the government assigns numbers to the number of blacks and women you have to hire....... is a gigantic mental ball of crap spawned by some lazy legislators who were late for a lunch date and needed to give the impression that they really gave a shit. It has NEVER worked.

Nothing artificial works or lasts.

But instead of trying to wrestle this "reparations monster" into submission and make everybody happy (it'll never happen), I'd favor using the inglorious, shameful racial past of the U.S. to do everything in our power to ensure that organizations get punished for discrimination, and rewarded for the lack thereof.

Granted, exact measures are a bit above my pay grade..... so before someone comes charging in here demanding to know how exactly I'd fix it....... I'll respond that if I had the answer, I wouldn't be sitting here putting it on Saddo's.

Measure number one: Abolish, criminalize the existence of ALL hate groups. KKK, White Supremacists, Aryan Nation, Skinheads, Neo-Nazis, etc. "OH..... but our 1st Amendment rights!" FUCK THAT..... with a capital "FUCK". The founding fathers did not intend for free speech to include "Hey Billy Bob..... let's go lynch so-and-so because he's black and we're better than him. We hate him." To claim as such, is to hide behind a document written eons ago and not using your gray matter between the ears to discern between what's right and what's wrong. If freedom of speech is the total blanket I say it is..... then I should be able to shout "Bomb!" at airports, and freely talk about how I'm planning on killing Donald Trump. Let's call a spade a spade and quit playing pretend. There's is NO fucking excuse for hate groups.

Hate crimes? I'm all for it. Does it need tweaking? Sure. But as I've said countless times....... Joe kills Jack because he was taking his wallet and Jack resisted..... he might get a 30-year sentence or life. Joe kills Jack just because Jack is black and was minding his own business? Joe gets the death penalty. TWICE. Nobody has to agree with me on this. It's my own thought. And by the way, Beanz....... you may have noticed that Lyle and I have never seen eye to eye on this. Doesn't mean we are disrespectful to each other or that we don't agree on anything.

Civil War statues and memorials? I'd leave them be. Use them to educate kids on the horrors of the nation's past. It's history. You don't erase history. You use it to correct past mistakes.

I also stand by my opinion that paying blacks reparations will NOT do anything toward lessening racial tensions now or in the future.

White Joe pays taxes toward reparations to black Jack. Now Joe says........ "There. I paid you. Now we're even. Now I can continue being the same racist asshole I've always been, and you can't say a damn thing about it because you've been paid." You do not pay for the mistakes of the past by assigning a dollar sign to it and off you go.

More solutions. The government should intervene in any state of the union that does not conform to integration policies and persists in living in the past. The government should come down HARD on institutionalized racism. We don't need rocket scientists to know what is institutionalized racism and what isn't.




I'll weigh in some more after I've read the article.