Reparations

[smilesammich 10,727]

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

[Ban Hammer 13,550]

consuming desire to mingle with road crews, sailors, soldiers........?

someone needs therapy...stat!

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

Why, she is entitled to her opinions

[Teddy B 17,252]

Why, she is entitled to her opinions

Only after she's done makin the sammiches.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

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.

1, This country gives out billions of dollars to overseas and other random countries. We have neighborhoods looking like war zones right outside of the nation's capitol. It can be done, but I know there would be too much resistance.

2. I mean white people right now here in this place. It's touchy because the folks here that respond this kind of dialogue aren't trying to have in it an educational way. As val pointed out, hearing reparations for black people automatically renders a negative response. I give props to Unsmiley and Randy for giving some insight, but the rest is white noise(pun intended).

3. It wasn't aimed at you.

4. And even if you were an unemployed WV, you'd still have more privilege than me in a 3 piece suit wearing glasses, working for the federal government, and abstaining from alcohol. Trust me.

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?

Asian Americans do get privilege of the same type, but since this country is over 65% white, there's no reason to label it Asian privilege.

As for mystical, there's been hundreds of studies, experiments, and trials that prove without a doubt that white privilege is real as the nose on your face. Direct correlations showing that the situation will ALWAYS be different based on the color of one's skin.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Asian Americans do get privilege of the same type, but since this country is over 65% white, there's no reason to label it Asian privilege.

As for mystical, there's been hundreds of studies, experiments, and trials that prove without a doubt that white privilege is real as the nose on your face. Direct correlations showing that the situation will ALWAYS be different based on the color of one's skin.

What privileges do Asian Americans have?

Asian Americans are held to much high bar for College Entry Admissions compared to other minorities.

In my company who has 4 or 5 retrenchments since I been there, 99% people laid off were white people which I find it strange (there are many nationalities and people of colors).

I asked around, the general answer I got is the company is afraid of lawsuits from people of colors for bias retrenchment.

The safest bet is to lay off white people who can't complain.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

What privileges do Asian Americans have?

Asian Americans are held to much high bar for College Entry Admissions compared to other minorities.

In my company who has 4 or 5 retrenchments since I been there, 99% people laid off were white people which I find it strange (there are many nationalities and people of colors).

I asked around, the general answer I got is the company is afraid of lawsuits from people of colors for bias retrenchment.

The safest bet is to lay off white people who can't complain.

You do realize that in order to file discrimination you need to have proof? If it were that easy, we'd be running this place.

Man, I wish I could find these companies where I can just say I've been wronged because of my race and get paid.

[Sousuke 1,214]

So my company is hiring right now - we are going to hire a woman by the looks of it. I looked back at who has been hired in the past and was surprised.

When I was hired 70% of the office was woman. After I was hired they have hired one man, and 7 women.

Of the 7 women hired after me, three had immigrated from China.

I don't think the company is intentionally biased but I was surprised looking back.

PS. I am not in a woman dominated field.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Sousuke

[Merrytooth 5,748]

You do realize that in order to file discrimination you need to have proof? If it were that easy, we'd be running this place.

Man, I wish I could find these companies where I can just say I've been wronged because of my race and get paid.

If the company retrenches people based on poor work performance, it is ok.

But I know some non-white people suck at their work yet they survive retrenchment after retrenchment. Truly a Christmas miracle.

Everyone can file a lawsuit in US (if they have the money). Whether they will win or not, is different story.

The media will only need to get a whiff of the discrimination lawsuit and the reputation of the company will probably go down the toilet even if there are no wrongdoings.

My company is big MNC, so they care a lot about company image. ( I heard that they got sued before in the past ).

[TBoneTX 46,123]

I don't think the company is intentionally biased [...] I am not in a woman dominated field.

Might the company be singlehandedly trying to make up for/correct/atone for a real or perceived historical male-over-female imbalance in your field? Might this be to score points with the Board of Directors, the customer base, or the Federal government?

[Sousuke 1,214]

Might the company be singlehandedly trying to make up for/correct/atone for a real or perceived historical male-over-female imbalance in your field? Might this be to score points with the Board of Directors, the customer base, or the Federal government?

We are pretty small so I don't think so. The hiring process is very transparent - we all hear / see the interviews due to an open style office.

The only thing that comes to mind is that male interviewers may be slightly more aggressive and that actually doesn't go over well with the owners.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Sousuke

[TBoneTX 46,123]

Interesting.

And no privacy in the office, even for interviews?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

If the company retrenches people based on poor work performance, it is ok.

But I know some non-white people suck at their work yet they survive retrenchment after retrenchment. Truly a Christmas miracle.

Everyone can file a lawsuit in US (if they have the money). Whether they will win or not, is different story.

The media will only need to get a whiff of the discrimination lawsuit and the reputation of the company will probably go down the toilet even if there are no wrongdoings.

My company is big MNC, so they care a lot about company image. ( I heard that they got sued before in the past ).

Then they need to get fired. That's on management. If you're not getting written up and punished for poor performance, that's their fault. And most POC don't have that type of money, UNLESS they actually have a case they might be able to win.

[smilesammich 10,727]

someone needs therapy...stat!

well, she did put her head in a glass oven.

[Sousuke 1,214]

Interesting.

And no privacy in the office, even for interviews?

No, the conference room is out in the open. Anything private has to be taken outside...