Do descendants of slaves deserve reparations?

[ShyGuyInChicago]

As an African American, this topic is personal and relevant to my life. Basically, do descendants of slaves deserve reparations and if so why?

Also consider that slavery was not illegal until 1865 in the U.S. and that it can be difficult to determine levels of victimization and that Native americans and Japanese Americans have received forms of reparations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reparations_for_slavery

[Perseus]

No. The modern U.S. people have nothing to do what happened in the past. And plus, do you really feel like being taken from Africa is the worst thing ever? Not trying to be a dick, but seriously. Africa isn't the most attractive place to live in.

[Sage]

And plus, do you really feel like being taken from Africa is the worst thing ever? Not trying to be a dick, but seriously. Africa isn't the most attractive place to live in.

To be fair, African kings/leaders sold their own people into slavery, the western world just bought them. We never took them. But I suppose that's merely semantics.

[Dorsum Oppel]

No, african americans need to get the fuck over it. That period is over and done with, and I refuse to let our tax money be wasted on sympathy checks.

[Peace God]

We never took them.
yes but who increased the demand? the atlantic slave trade was started completely by europeans

Africa isn't the most attractive place to live in.
Do you think that Africa would be as bad if the slave trade and european imperialism had never happened?


To answer the OPs question. No, we shouldn't get any reparations. Modern white people have never enslaved anybody and modern african americans have never been slaves. Its as simple as that...you cant punish someone for something they didnt do. The rich, southern, several-hundred-slave plantation owning white family from before the civil war...is now living in the trailer park down the street.

[Sage]

The rich, southern, several-hundred-slave plantation owning white family from before the civil war...is now living in the trailer park down the street.

I'd say that there's a strong case to be made for karma. Not that I believe in karma.

[Perseus]

To be fair, African kings/leaders sold their own people into slavery, the western world just bought them. We never took them. But I suppose that's merely semantics.
I know that; I guess I didn't word my post correctly.
yes but who increased the demand? the atlantic slave trade was started completely by europeans


Do you think that Africa would be as bad if the slave trade and european imperialism had never happened?



Yes and no. If Europe wouldn't have colonized Africa then there wouldn't be all of this ethnic conflicts, probably. You can't say for sure. So, there would be some stable governments, but you have to consider there would still be a plague and drought, etc. in some of the desert countries. Africa would be better off, yes, but not that much better.

[Jess]

No. The modern U.S. people have nothing to do what happened in the past. And plus, do you really feel like being taken from Africa is the worst thing ever? Not trying to be a dick, but seriously. Africa isn't the most attractive place to live in.

I agree with this. the past is the past

[The Batman]

No, african americans need to get the fuck over it. That period is over and done with, and I refuse to let our tax money be wasted on sympathy checks.
I don't see anyone seriously asking for reparations besides the overly racist people running the NAACP. No one really cares about reparations we have equality and there's nothing else to ask for.

[Amnesiac]

Descendants of slaves haven't done anything worthy of government reparations. They have equality, part of it is accepting that slavery is just part of history and what happened then doesn't have any affect on the African American community now.

[ShyGuyInChicago]

Descendants of slaves haven't done anything worthy of government reparations. They have equality, part of it is accepting that slavery is just part of history and what happened then doesn't have any affect on the African American community now.

I have read that part of the reasons blacks are most likely to be in poverty is because they were not able to profit from slavery. It can be argued that it is because of slavery that blacks are disproportionately affected by poverty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reparations_for_slavery#Arguments_for_reparations

Accumulated wealth
In 2008 the American Humanist Association published an article which argued that if emancipated slaves had been allowed to possess and retain the profits of their labor, their descendants might now control a much larger share of American social and monetary wealth.[10] Not only did the freedmen and -women not receive a share of these profits, but they were stripped of the small amounts of compensation paid to some of them during Reconstruction. The wealth of the United States, they say, was greatly enhanced by the exploitation of Black slave labor.[20] According to this view, reparations would be valuable primarily as a way of correcting modern economic imbalance. The US Department of Commerce has calculated that in modern US dollars calculated for inflation and interest, slavery generated trillions of dollars for the US economy.[21]
[edit]Precedents
Under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, the U.S. government apologized for Japanese American internment during World War II and provided reparations of $20,000 to each survivor, to compensate for loss of property and liberty during that period. For many years, Native American tribes have received compensation for lands ceded to the United States by them in various treaties. Other countries have also opted to pay reparations for past grievances.[22]

[huginnmuninn]

hell no its punishng people who didnt commit a crime and even their ancestors didnt technically do anything illegal. i dont think people should be made to give money to people if its a personal choice fine. and since a lot of white people have a great great etc. grand parent that was slave would you give them reparations or what? would you exclude them from the reparations because they are mainly white? descendants of slaves dont deserve reparations because they were never slaves and the people who would be made to pay werent slave owners

[Amnesiac]

I have read that part of the reasons blacks are most likely to be in poverty is because they were not able to profit from slavery. It can be argued that it is because of slavery that blacks are disproportionately affected by poverty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reparations_for_slavery#Arguments_for_reparations

Yes, that could be argued, but I doubt the effect of slavery has much of an impact on modern African American wealth. Now that equality has been achieved, blacks have the same opportunity as whites to climb up the wealth ladder. The problem is too many of them don't take advantage of it.

[The Batman]

Yes, that could be argued, but I doubt the effect of slavery has much of an impact on modern African American wealth. Now that equality has been achieved, blacks have the same opportunity as whites to climb up the wealth ladder. The problem is too many of them don't take advantage of it.

Actually no because of slavery and other issues African Americans weren't look at as equal, and because of that they didn't gain equal rights for a long time and putting them far behind white people. If slavery hadn't have happened and africans came to america as equals then things would be a lot different than what they are now.

[huginnmuninn]

Actually no because of slavery and other issues African Americans weren't look at as equal, and because of that they didn't gain equal rights for a long time and putting them far behind white people. If slavery hadn't have happened and africans came to america as equals then things would be a lot different than what they are now.

The fact is we dont have any idea what our world would be like if we had never had slaves it could be a better or worse place and there are millions of different scenarios of what could happen if we didnt ever use slaves in our past

[Suicune]

Not at all. The past is past. What if we gave money to every Jew just because the Holocaust happened? Modern society will only bear the mark of the past, we shouldn't pay for it.

[Amnesiac]

The fact is we dont have any idea what our world would be like if we had never had slaves it could be a better or worse place and there are millions of different scenarios of what could happen if we didnt ever use slaves in our past

Agreed. There's no evidence supporting such a claim anyway. Asians were discriminated against as well, yet they've ended up on top of everybody.

Besides, the government doesn't have the money or time to find the ancestors of every slave and pay them thousands of dollars. People should only get money for actually doing something good, not just because they ended up being the ancestor of an unfortunate slave.

[Giles]

In short, no. They themselves were never 'slaves' so why should they get anything. It's like saying that the descendants from a murder should be locked up.

[soccer8]

No, african americans need to get the fuck over it. That period is over and done with, and I refuse to let our tax money be wasted on sympathy checks.

i 100% agree with this

[Continuum]

They're already equal to a white man, they aren't made slaves to dominant classes and can speak for their own, so why should they? They're already given the greatest reparation aside from money, which is freedom. At least blacks aren't treated as shitty as before, just look at the KKK, they were popular actually before the Civil War and before the abolition of slaves; but now (in most parts of America) their acts are considered criminal. Just like Sage said, it's probably Karma. What's done is done, and shouldn't be tackled, if not forgotten, again.

[Peace God]

I doubt the effect of slavery has much of an impact on modern African American wealth.
really? you do realize that in most cases it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write...
just look at the KKK, they were popular actually before the Civil War and before the abolition of slaves.
actually they became popular after the civil war... during the reconstruction

[Church]

As an African American, this topic is personal and relevant to my life. Basically, do descendants of slaves deserve reparations and if so why?

Also consider that slavery was not illegal until 1865 in the U.S. and that it can be difficult to determine levels of victimization and that Native americans and Japanese Americans have received forms of reparations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reparations_for_slavery

Simply put for me, nope. And if someone comes asking me for one I'ma say f off.

[Continuum]

actually they became popular after the civil war... during the reconstruction

Yes, but until the abolition of Slavery and introduction of human rights for former slaves by numerous activists like Martin Luther King Jr., America found their true ideals as hateful and discriminating.

[The Batman]

Yes, but until the abolition of Slavery and introduction of human rights for former slaves by numerous activists like Martin Luther King Jr., America found their true ideals as hateful and discriminating.

But that didn't happen for almost 200 years putting african americans way behind.

[Amnesiac]

really? you do realize that in most cases it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write...

I said MODERN African American wealth, not historic. What happened generations ago doesn't carry over much of an impact to the 21st century.

[The Redlight Bandit]

i would say no...

[INFERNO]

Absolutely not. They were not the slaves and were not affected directly in any way. If their parents were slaves, then I may say yes but if that is not the case, then there is no reason for them to receive any reparations. What happened in the past doesn't affect them anymore and if they are to be given reparations, then it's only fair to do the same to every single individual who was affected by the Holocaust and other historical events. The past would still be part of their heritage but that is no reason for them to receive reparations. Besides, if they did receive reparations then one has to question how long does it need to be until they are no longer given reparations? It no longer affects them at the hypothetical time they're being given reparations so at some point, people have to say they get no more because the events no longer affect the people, however, looking back, they weren't affected when they were being given reparations in the first place!