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Reparations for slavery?

Sunset Rose

Mayor
Supporting Member
The enslavement of Africans was America's original sin. Even after legalized slavery ended, African-Americans were still treated as second class citizens for another 100 years.
I am glad to see the issue of reparations put in the spotlight. I may not see any slavery reparations in my lifetime, but perhaps my children or grandchildren will.
 
The history of Irish and Chinese peoples is much different than the history of African-Americans.
In Rome, Liberalis Implied "Inheriting the Ownership of White Slaves"


The Irish had it worse than our slaves. The slaves were property, which was why they were protected (mostly from themselves). The Irish only lived on property, which is why the British nobility, which owned Ireland, let half their Irish peasants starve to death. At nearly the same time, the British abolished slavery, proving, as in America, today, those who inherit power ignore, insult, and threaten all other White people.
 
2) "Wasn't well enough reimbursed for his labor" is not the correct term. They were not reimbursed at all.
A Lion's Lunch


Their reimbursement was in the form of food, shelter, medical aid, opportunity to live better than White sweatshop-workers when cotton-pickers were chosen to be house slaves, being paid if they learned skills, and being freed by their masters. Most of all, they were protected from Black-on-Black crime.

All of this was better than those left behind in Africa had it, except the chiefs and witch doctors. Those lost tribes also had a high risk of being killed by wild animals. Watch Apocalypto if you want to get an idea of what the jungle that Whites saved you from was like.
 

Emily

NSDAP Kanzler
Would you want to trade places with those slaves in order to receive the shelter, food, clothing and medical care that was provided? Along with the cruelty, degradation and whipping?
I wouldn't. I would rather have my freedom and dignity and be paid for my labor. I'm sure you'd feel the same way @Emily .
The cruelty and whippings happened but they're quite overstated in the received version of history. Slavery is, in itself, a form of degradation. My family and I are fortunate and blessed in that we can afford shelter, food, clothing, and medical care with what we earn from our work. Therefore, no, I wouldn't want to trade places with those slaves. However, I can't speak for the many laborers in our own times who work from sunrise to sundown or longer daily yet can't afford decent shelter and raiment, sufficient nutrition, and medical care; they might feel differently. So, too, those who can't find steady work at all, through no fault of their own.

Regardless, that's peripheral to the point of the post to which you responded and the point you yourself made. You asserted that slaves weren't compensated for their labor. True, they weren't paid in money. They were, as I pointed out, compensated by being given food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, which is more compensation that many laborers receive now. Again, this is not a justification for the slavery, nor does it excuse all that what wrong about the practice of it. It is, though, one of several reasons why reparations aren't justified.

The Irish blended into White mainstream society after a few generations.
Then why didn't the Africans? Skin color? That hasn't held back any of the Orientals or the Asian Indians. So there must be more to it than merely skin and a few physical features that differ from the White majority.
 

Sunset Rose

Mayor
Supporting Member
The cruelty and whippings happened but they're quite overstated in the received version of history. Slavery is, in itself, a form of degradation. My family and I are fortunate and blessed in that we can afford shelter, food, clothing, and medical care with what we earn from our work. Therefore, no, I wouldn't want to trade places with those slaves. However, I can't speak for the many laborers in our own times who work from sunrise to sundown or longer daily yet can't afford decent shelter and raiment, sufficient nutrition, and medical care; they might feel differently. So, too, those who can't find steady work at all, through no fault of their own.

Regardless, that's peripheral to the point of the post to which you responded and the point you yourself made. You asserted that slaves weren't compensated for their labor. True, they weren't paid in money. They were, as I pointed out, compensated by being given food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, which is more compensation that many laborers receive now. Again, this is not a justification for the slavery, nor does it excuse all that what wrong about the practice of it. It is, though, one of several reasons why reparations aren't justified.


Then why didn't the Africans? Skin color? That hasn't held back any of the Orientals or the Asian Indians. So there must be more to it than merely skin and a few physical features that differ from the White majority.
1) The food, clothing, shelter and medical care the slaves received didn't cost their slave masters even a fraction of the enormous profit they made off of the slaves. The masters were making millions off of those slaves, living in beautiful mansions, eating good food, dressing in nice clothes while the slaves lived in dirt floor shacks, ate scraps for food and wore rags for clothes. Yes, I think the slave's descendants deserve reparations.
2) African-Americans have faced a virulent racism unlike any other demographic. They have never been allowed to blend into White mainstream society. Yes, it is skin color. Orientals and Asian Indians have experienced bigotry too. I used to work with several Asian Indian ladies and they told me about the prejudice they've faced.
 
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Sunset Rose

Mayor
Supporting Member
The cruelty and whippings happened but they're quite overstated in the received version of history. Slavery is, in itself, a form of degradation. My family and I are fortunate and blessed in that we can afford shelter, food, clothing, and medical care with what we earn from our work. Therefore, no, I wouldn't want to trade places with those slaves. However, I can't speak for the many laborers in our own times who work from sunrise to sundown or longer daily yet can't afford decent shelter and raiment, sufficient nutrition, and medical care; they might feel differently. So, too, those who can't find steady work at all, through no fault of their own.

Regardless, that's peripheral to the point of the post to which you responded and the point you yourself made. You asserted that slaves weren't compensated for their labor. True, they weren't paid in money. They were, as I pointed out, compensated by being given food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, which is more compensation that many laborers receive now. Again, this is not a justification for the slavery, nor does it excuse all that what wrong about the practice of it. It is, though, one of several reasons why reparations aren't justified.


Then why didn't the Africans? Skin color? That hasn't held back any of the Orientals or the Asian Indians. So there must be more to it than merely skin and a few physical features that differ from the White majority.
I'm just curious---why did you use Orientals and Asian Indians as your examples of racial minorities to compare Blacks with?
 
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SW48

Administrator
Staff member
Supporting Member
Why haven't African-Americans ever received reparations for slavery? Many African-Americans believe they should be compensated for the all the unpaid labor, and suffering that their ancestors went thru during American slavery.
The Jewish people received reparations from the Germans for the holocaust during WW2. The Japanese people received reparations from the US govt for being locked in internment camps during WW2 also. Doesn't the enslavement of one's ancestors entitle a person to reparations?
I believe the country is trying to get away from viewing people differently based upon the color of their skin.
 

Charcat

One of the Patsy's

Emily

NSDAP Kanzler
1) The food, clothing, shelter and medical care the slaves received didn't cost their slave masters even a fraction of the enormous profit they made off of the slaves. The masters were making millions off of those slaves, living in beautiful mansions, eating good food, dressing in nice clothes while the slaves lived in dirt floor shacks, ate scraps for food and wore rags for clothes.
You're correct. The same was true of sweat-shop workers and the owners of the companies that ran them; the owners made enormous profits while the workers lived in poverty despite working very long hours in horrid conditions. The workers cost the owners just a tiny fraction of what the owners made from them. And the same is true of many laborers today; owners make enormous profits while the workers live in relative poverty, costing the owners just a tiny fraction of what they make from the exploited labor. Many workers receive less compensation than the equivalent of what many slaves received.

So...
Yes, I think the slave's descendants deserve reparations.
...I'm a descendant of sweat-shop workers, third generation on my father's side. Do I deserve reparations?

2) African-Americans have faced a virulent racism unlike any other demographic. They have never been allowed to blend into White mainstream society. Yes, it is skin color. Orientals and Asian Indians have experienced bigotry too. I used to work with several Asian Indian ladies and they told me about the prejudice they've faced.
Okay -- African-Americans have faced a virulent racism unlike any other demographic. True. The same could be said of jews; a different kind of racism, perhaps, but a virulent racism unlike any other demographic. The same could be said of Native Americans; a different but virulent racism unlike any other demographic. What do they deserve in compensation beyond what they've already gotten?

Also true that Orientals and Asian Indians have experienced bigotry. Yet, they're successful in our society, in the main. So if it's skin color, only skin color, why have other non-White demographics achieved what blacks haven't despite also facing bigotry? Why have blacks and only blacks "never been allowed to blend into White mainstream society?" If dark skin is of such over-riding importance, why are Asian Indians doing quite well overall relative to blacks who, btw, have been getting a leg-up for fifty yeas now?
Seems to me that there has to be more to it than skin color. Seems to me that behavior and innate, non-physical, qualities must have something to do with it.

I'm just curious---why did you use Orientals and Asian Indians as your examples of racial minorities to compare Blacks with?
Because they're plainly identifiable as physically distinct from the White majority and because they've both been successful on the whole in American society.
 

Sunset Rose

Mayor
Supporting Member
You're correct. The same was true of sweat-shop workers and the owners of the companies that ran them; the owners made enormous profits while the workers lived in poverty despite working very long hours in horrid conditions. The workers cost the owners just a tiny fraction of what the owners made from them. And the same is true of many laborers today; owners make enormous profits while the workers live in relative poverty, costing the owners just a tiny fraction of what they make from the exploited labor. Many workers receive less compensation than the equivalent of what many slaves received.

So...

...I'm a descendant of sweat-shop workers, third generation on my father's side. Do I deserve reparations?


Okay -- African-Americans have faced a virulent racism unlike any other demographic. True. The same could be said of jews; a different kind of racism, perhaps, but a virulent racism unlike any other demographic. The same could be said of Native Americans; a different but virulent racism unlike any other demographic. What do they deserve in compensation beyond what they've already gotten?

Also true that Orientals and Asian Indians have experienced bigotry. Yet, they're successful in our society, in the main. So if it's skin color, only skin color, why have other non-White demographics achieved what blacks haven't despite also facing bigotry? Why have blacks and only blacks "never been allowed to blend into White mainstream society?" If dark skin is of such over-riding importance, why are Asian Indians doing quite well overall relative to blacks who, btw, have been getting a leg-up for fifty yeas now?
Seems to me that there has to be more to it than skin color. Seems to me that behavior and innate, non-physical, qualities must have something to do with it.


Because they're plainly identifiable as physically distinct from the White majority and because they've both been successful on the whole in American society.
1) I already addressed the differences between sweatshop workers and slaves a little bit upthread. There were many. Please scroll up a ways to see it.
2) No, you don't deserve reparations if you don't believe you deserve them.
3) Jews and Native Americans actually have received reparations. Jewish people who suffered losses during the Holocaust were compensated. Native Americans who lost their lands have been and still are being compensated. So, they cannot be compared to African-Americans who have not been compensated for being enslaved.
4) African-Americans have not been able to blend into mainstream society because of the system of White Supremacy woven into the fabric of the USA. Good behavior, intelligence, hard work and kindness on the part of African-Americans helps very little when White Supremacy is in play. The system is meant to keep African-Americans and other people of color down. The system works just like the powers that be wanted it to work.
All the demographics you mention have faced discrimination. The real question should be: "Why have we historically not had a level playing field?"
 
The enslavement of Africans was America's original sin. Even after legalized slavery ended, African-Americans were still treated as second class citizens for another 100 years.
I am glad to see the issue of reparations put in the spotlight. I may not see any slavery reparations in my lifetime, but perhaps my children or grandchildren will.
It would be unfortunate. You should feel shame over your desire to punish people who did nothing wrong, for something that happened to people who are all now long, long dead. That type of hate has no place in our country.
 

EatTheRich

President
It would be unfortunate. You should feel shame over your desire to punish people who did nothing wrong, for something that happened to people who are all now long, long dead. That type of hate has no place in our country.
Reparations are not punishment for something that happened in the past. They are correcting a present-day legacy of unearned advantage and disadvantage.
 

Dawg

President
Supporting Member
$Billions spent on Hud Projects or is it $Trillions...………..reparations have already been spent, how much have the African Chiefs that sold them paid or the BIG Obama slave traders in Kenya paid?

It would be impossible to have slaves if someone wasn't selling them.
 

EatTheRich

President
$Billions spent on Hud Projects or is it $Trillions...………..reparations have already been spent, how much have the African Chiefs that sold them paid or the BIG Obama slave traders in Kenya paid?

It would be impossible to have slaves if someone wasn't selling them.
And it was impossible for African nations to open themselves to the capitalist market without selling slaves.

“If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out that's not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made.”-Malcolm X
 

Sunset Rose

Mayor
Supporting Member
$Billions spent on Hud Projects or is it $Trillions...………..reparations have already been spent, how much have the African Chiefs that sold them paid or the BIG Obama slave traders in Kenya paid?

It would be impossible to have slaves if someone wasn't selling them.
It would be impossible to have slavery if someone wasn't buying them, also.
 

Sunset Rose

Mayor
Supporting Member
$Billions spent on Hud Projects or is it $Trillions...………..reparations have already been spent, how much have the African Chiefs that sold them paid or the BIG Obama slave traders in Kenya paid?

It would be impossible to have slaves if someone wasn't selling them.
Kenyan slaves did not come to America. How many times do I have to tell you that? Enslaved Kenyans were taken to the Middle East and India. Reparations for American slaves has nothing to do with what happened in Kenya.
 
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