Why Reparations for Blacks is a Bad Idea.

I received this e-mail from another website. It makes for an interesting read.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/horowitz...hn01-03-01.htm

What do you think?

[Salience]

I will go with the numbers he offered:

One: slavery in Africa was a different institution than in the US. We lost many more loves from US oriented slavery (during transport, etc). And we are HERE, now.

Two: White America directly benefited from our labor, our benefits are trickle-down, and not directly connected to manual labor done FOR FREE, with only clothing and housing as payment.

Three: The country benefited from slave labor, so the country should pay.

Four: same could be said for the Japanese, or Jews who are getting money back from Swiss banks.

Five: Injury based upon race should be the claim made.

Six: our stas on crime, lower educational achievement, and poverty could be aggregated to give hypotheses that we have been, and still are, negatively affected by slavery. We have not recovered.


Seven: No, it allows America to pull its head out of the sand, historically. We embrace our heritage, just like Jews embrace the results of the Holocaust-NOT to say "pity poor us," but rather to say, "let's get started with a debt-free future."

Eight: he's a crackhead. Sorry! But, we, along with white women and children, have improved our lots slightly, but it was never totally for US. I won't even dignify the rest of that racist statement with a reply.

Nine: The War was not about us, but about a thriving agricultural economy fighting against an industrial economy. We don't owe anybody jack! Nobody, least of all Lincoln, wanted to be our saviors- they didn't even want us over here once things got ugly. And we all fought for the right to be free, we didn't let white men fight FOR us, they didn't want us, until they needed mroe bodies- on BOTH sides. Did I mention his addiction to crack? I think maybe it's smack.

Ten: we didn't ask to be brought over in the first place. Like slavery did us a favor. Or Africa asked for white colonials to rape their land. Um, okay, sure, guy! Leave the Meth alone.

Girl, i just realized he's Larry Elders' partner in crime! No wonder! you should have mentioned this, because I would have saved my typing fingers!!

But this was a good exercise. I am actually not for individual reparations at this stage, because we don't know what to ask for, what we need, etc. It should go to inner cities, the Delta, areas like that, who need rejuvenation.

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The most beautiful thing in the world is, precisely, the conjunction of learning and inspiration.
-- Wanda Landowska

[This message has been edited by Salience (edited March 24, 2001).]

[AlphaChiGirl]

It's funny that you all mention this. There is much MAD DRAMA at Brown because of this ad. The independent paper printed it, allegedly to "spark dialogue", but has resulted in paper thefts, death threats, and the like. The Boston Globe and Providence Journals have both covered this in depth.

[Someday]

The author of this article is so far from reality that it is hard to argue the full extent of his stupidity.

Opinions such as his strengthen poet Amira (sp?) Baraki's plan which provides reparations in the form of education instead of money.

We don't need to be thrown a couple of thousand dollars for the labors of our ancestors. Knowing our spending priorities, if we all were handed money what do you think our people would do with it

Money will come and go, but no one can take away from you what you know. If the US would pay for our college education for ten to fifteen years, wouldn't that be worth more than iced-out jewels, Fendi bags, and decorative hoopties

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"Education is your passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." -- El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

Originally posted by Someday:
The author of this article is so far from reality that it is hard to argue the full extent of his stupidity.

Opinions such as his strengthen poet Amira (sp?) Baraki's plan which provides reparations in the form of education instead of money.

We don't need to be thrown a couple of thousand dollars for the labors of our ancestors. Knowing our spending priorities, if we all were handed money what do you think our people would do with it

Money will come and go, but no one can take away from you what you know. If the US would pay for our college education for ten to fifteen years, wouldn't that be worth more than iced-out jewels, Fendi bags, and decorative hoopties

VERY well said!!!