Reparations

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I love it reparations would not be paid out of your pocket, the government would handle it.

That ladies and gentlemen is what is wrong with America and how Democrats keep getting elected

And yet, I haven't heard a better solution from the GOP. Or are you saying that black people shouldn't get anything from them and should just ask you? At least Souske's idea would be the most marketable.

i have no definition of white privileges, I have never been given anything, I am the product of unsuccessful social programs geared at leveling out past injustices,

Bussing

Racial quotas in college admission

Public service job terminations to balance the cultural biases of the past in city jobs

Have I received some benefit based on race, perhaps who are you to decide the balance on my behalf

And that's the problem. It's not about being given something, it's about what you DON'T experience.

Have you been a victim of police brutality?

Do you get blamed for things that white men do negatively?

Are you assumed to be a criminal based on your skin color?

Are you a gun owner? Do you get asked if you're in a gang?

You get where I'm going with this.

[OriZ 3,157]

I love it reparations would not be paid out of your pocket, the government would handle it.

That ladies and gentlemen is what is wrong with America and how Democrats keep getting elected

Well don't you know? the government gives you stuff for free. It doesn't cost you a dime.

[JayJayH 546]

Couple of points:

1. If any reparations were to come about, I'm positive you wouldn't be paying out of your pocket. I don't understand why people think when this topic comes about, we're saying you have to pay us personally. The government would handle it, just like they did with the Japanese and the Native Americans. They were given something, don't know why this is always a sore subject.

2. Why does every white person feel the need to say their ancestors didn't own slaves? I say that because EVERY white person in America says this. According to the video posted here in VJ, no white people owned slaves, but every black person did. I really need to bone up on my history.

3. It's always interesting to see those who hate talking about race are, you know what never mind.

4. If you really don't know what white privilege is, it's been talked about extensively here, but I'm always here to provide a refresher course. But if you're just here like some of the other posters to talk about what black people don't deserve let me know.

1.

The government's money is my out-of-pocket money. I pay federal, state and local taxes. The Japanese American victims of internment were largely still alive at the time. They were largely reimbursed. Native Americans have not received cash settlements, but land ownership. I agree that black Americans should have been paid reparations in the mid to late 1800s. The sad truth however is that now, over 150 years later, it's a political impossibility.

2.

Here's why this is a touchy subject to "white people":

Slavery ended in the south in 1865.

When you say "white people" - Who are you talking about? Are you talking about descendants of Irish immigrants who fled the Irish potato famine to non-slave states in 1852? Do you mean descendants of Portuguese sailors who arrived in Hawaii in 1860? Are you talking about descendants of Italian immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island in 1880? Do you mean the great great grandchildren of Greek immigrants who arrived in 1890? The Brazilian American distant relatives of Portuguese migrants to Brazil in 1900? The descendants of Ukranian immigrants arriving in 1910? The great grandchildren of Polish immigrants who arrived in Chicago in 1920? Do you mean grandchildren of Spanish-Mexican immigrants who arrived in 1930? The grandchildren of Ashkenazi Jews who fled the Nazis in 1940? Do you mean descendants of Scandinavians arriving in Brooklyn in 1950? Or children of Hungarian migrants in 1960? Maybe the still-living Armenian immigrants who fled the Soviet Union in 1970? Do you mean Persians arriving in 1980, or the Russians who arrived after 1990? The millions of white Americans today who have 1/6 cherokee and 1/8 black ancestry? I'm just asking because people who throw the term "white people" around like it was sour-tasting Halloween candy seem to have very little understanding of the complex and diverse history of European immigration to the Americas.

Who should receive reparations? Somali refugees in Minnesota? Ethiopian immigrants in Los Angeles? Nigerian Americans in Houston? Half black, half white Americans whose paternal ancestors were slaves, and whose maternal ancestors were slave owners? Jamaicans Americans in New York? Only direct descendants of slaves who can prove "pure blood?"

Yes, "white people" owned slaves in America prior to 1865. However, unless you want to round up all the ones who can trace their ancestry back to the pre-1865 southern states, what it would come down to is that everyone, including white Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and black Americans paying reparations to a somewhat accurate lineage of the the great, great, great grandchildren of slaves.

3.

I don't consider any of my posts "hate talking" so I'll leave that one for others.

4.

I have about as much "white privilege" as an unemployed West Virginian ex-coal miner with a disability paycheck and an alcohol problem. I did have a socioeconomic privilege growing up however. I do think black American descendants of slaves are owed something in this country. I don't believe government checks are the answer.

Edited August 5, 2016 by JayJayH

[JayJayH 546]

And yet, I haven't heard a better solution from the GOP. Or are you saying that black people shouldn't get anything from them and should just ask you? At least Souske's idea would be the most marketable.

And that's the problem. It's not about being given something, it's about what you DON'T experience.

Have you been a victim of police brutality?

Do you get blamed for things that white men do negatively?

Are you assumed to be a criminal based on your skin color?

Are you a gun owner? Do you get asked if you're in a gang?

You get where I'm going with this.

I have never in my life heard of a Korean American who experiences police brutality or gets blamed for the actions of Kim Jong-un or the Virginia Tech shooter. Nor have I ever met an Indian American wrongly accused of gang membership.

Plenty of times however, I have been accused of being a bad dancer, a Republican, a truck owner, a country music lover, someone who doesn't understand culture and apparently, white men can't jump?

Point being - Asian Americans have the lowest incarceration rates in the nation, the highest average incomes, the highest life expectancy, the highest college attendance and the lowest drop-out rates. My Asian American ex wife's job application success rate was 5x greater than mine. Is there a particular reason Asian privilege isn't "a thing?" Or do we only focus on blanket statements about a mystical white male when it comes to the societal boogey man?

Edited August 5, 2016 by JayJayH

[smilesammich 10,727]

Couple of points:

1. If any reparations were to come about, I'm positive you wouldn't be paying out of your pocket. I don't understand why people think when this topic comes about, we're saying you have to pay us personally. The government would handle it, just like they did with the Japanese and the Native Americans. They were given something, don't know why this is always a sore subject.

2. Why does every white person feel the need to say their ancestors didn't own slaves? I say that because EVERY white person in America says this. According to the video posted here in VJ, no white people owned slaves, but every black person did. I really need to bone up on my history.

3. It's always interesting to see those who hate talking about race are, you know what never mind.

4. If you really don't know what white privilege is, it's been talked about extensively here, but I'm always here to provide a refresher course. But if you're just here like some of the other posters to talk about what black people don't deserve let me know.

1. it won't happen. just look at all the belly ache up in here. can't even be discussed reasonably with regards to the op. goes straight to "handouts" "entitlements" and "victims". i would say it would happen when pigs fly or a buffoon like trump is potus but that would be short sighted and probably a lie.

2. american has lost its sense of collective stewardship and what makes a good citizen.

3. anymore, i hear it as whining. the op is clearly for those who wish to participate in the project. serious talk of reparations has to be had a localized level, where specifics can be addressed. talk of a national program won't seriously happen because of all the bellyache in #1 and the apathy drowning #2.

4. willful ignorance

[smilesammich 10,727]

Or do we only focus on blanket statements about a mystical white male when it comes to the societal boogey man?

um, throughout world history the white male has sort of been a bummer. ain't nothing mystical about it.

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

um, throughout world history the white male has sort of been a bummer. ain't nothing mystical about it.

By bummer do you mean it is the white male as the causative agent in all that is wrong in the world?

[OriZ 3,157]

Plenty of times however, I have been accused of being a bad dancer, a Republican, a truck owner, a country music lover, someone who doesn't understand culture and apparently, white men can't jump?

Country music rocks, man. This, coming from someone who grew up on rock, alternative rock, hard rock and punk rock, wasn't exposed all that much to country until I met my country girl. Anyways, I still think having a mixture of rock and country songs makes for the best playlist.

[smilesammich 10,727]

By bummer do you mean it is the white male as the causative agent in all that is wrong in the world?

all that is wrong with the world? no, if i were to diagnose the causative agent in all that is wrong in the world i wouldn't have specified 'white'

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

Fair enough, we are all entitled to our opinions, I do not think we will come to a mutually acceptable and viable agreement on this topic, I do not mean you and I, I mean collectively

[Ban Hammer 13,550]

4. If you really don't know what white privilege is, it's been talked about extensively here, but I'm always here to provide a refresher course. But if you're just here like some of the other posters to talk about what black people don't deserve let me know.

stop exercising your black privilege!

[Boiler 46,111]

stop exercising your black privilege!

The one thing I have learned is that some privileges are OK, some are not.

[smilesammich 10,727]

Fair enough, we are all entitled to our opinions, I do not think we will come to a mutually acceptable and viable agreement on this topic, I do not mean you and I, I mean collectively

i hope you took my blaming the male species for all the problems in the world with a grain of salt. it would be dismissive of me not to hold the female species liable for complacency in the face of oppressive patriarchy.

concerning the op, i think we can agree that there's a difference between the project being discussed and a national movement toward making reparations for the atrocities we've only recently acknowledged with an 'apology'.

[Ban Hammer 13,550]

i hope you took my blaming the male species for all the problems in the world with a grain of salt. it would be dismissive of me not to hold the female species liable for complacency in the face of oppressive patriarchy.

i thought that was just the caba manta, it's always the fault of men....

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

i hope you took my blaming the male species for all the problems in the world with a grain of salt. it would be dismissive of me not to hold the female species liable for complacency in the face of oppressive patriarchy.

concerning the op, i think we can agree that there's a difference between the project being discussed and a national movement toward making reparations for the atrocities we've only recently acknowledged with an 'apology'.

I understand you, it's not a subject with much common ground. I have no animosity, it was an interesting discussion that causes emotional responses. Dialogue when tempered is always a good thing.