Sins of the fathers...
are gonna be visited on our kids...
Wachovia Bank: “We apologize to all Americans, and especially to African-Americans and people of African descent,” the bank statement said. “While we can in no way atone for the past, we can learn from it, and we can continue to promote a better understanding of the African-American story, including the unique struggles, triumphs and contributions of African-Americans."
Gee… even the Nigerians who moved here in the 1970’s?
"Today, we are leading legal strategies, legislative strategies and a mass movement in support of reparations,” Dr. Conrad Worrill, director of Inner City Studies for the Jacob Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies at Northeastern Illinois University, told BlackAmericaWeb.com last week. “The apologies are a result of pressure by the reparations movement."
Not to mention the legal admission of guilt that must come before the penalty phase… Slick.
...key members of the reparations movement -– which includes Harvard University professors Henry Louis Gates and Charles Ogletree Jr. -– have been working privately to urge political and business leaders to keep the issue of slavery at the forefront of social-justice discussions and to support their campaign for reparations.
*clang*clang*clang*clang*clang* Bullshit Alarm!
"We’re placing reparations in a much broader context. We see reparations as a way to impact the future of our children.”
“Some see reparations as being about the past. But although it’s grounded in the past, it really speaks to contemporary issues that directly plague our communities.”
..."It’s almost impossible for any multi-billion-dollar corporate entity in the United States not to have ties to slavery."
Some questions occur to me:
Where would your family lineage have been if you hadn’t been brought to the New World? Where would you, personally, be right now?
How do we decide how much to give to whom? How black do you have to be? I thought we’d gone beyond “a single drop of blood” or the idea of “high yella” folks. Who stands in line for the pay off? 1/4? 1/16? do some folks get 10¢ on the dollar and others FittyCent? How does one prove it?
Would someone get any ‘reparations’ payment if it were proven s/he were descended from one of the tribes who enslaved others and sold them to the Arabs and / or the white slave traders? How much would they have to pay? [since Oprah has now found out she is a Zulu, and the Zulu tribe had not yet been formed at the time of the slave trade, I guess she’s off the hook… and off the dole.]
Where do I stand in line for *my* reparations? I’m part Irish and you know the old sign: “No Irish Need Apply” but ‘former slaves’ could. And the German side were bourgeois industrialists. Do I just pay myself?
My German ancestors lived in Chicago and my Irish ones didn’t arrive here until the 1870’s some time. That means I’m entirely off the hook—right? But what if banking at a Wachovia subsidiary costs me more because of reparations payments? Remember? “It’s almost impossible for any multi-billion-dollar corporate entity in the United States not to have ties to slavery,” and it’s almost impossible to avoid doing some sort of business with a multi-million-dollar corporate entity in the United States. It’s going to cost me some where, some way. How much reparations do I get for that?
Why stop there: who else has gotten an unfair shake in history? Hey - the Chinese got some raw deals for a while. How much consideration do we give to the fact that they own most of San FranFreakshow now? The Japanese took some hits for their country having attacked us in WWII. How do you figure reparations for their country having attacked us in WWII? Shouldn’t Germany cough up a few marks as well? And about that Marshall Plan....
I had a friend who was hurt when she was mugged by a black man. How much ‘reparation’ does she get?
Where do I stand in line for *my* reparations? I’m part Irish and you know the old sign: “No Irish Need Apply” but ‘former slaves’ could. And the German side were bourgeois Northern industrialists. Do I just pay myself?
Are we gonna change the hyphenated term again? First Negroes, then black, then people of color, then African-American—now Ex-Slave-American? Because anyone who takes that “reparation” money is telling the world that is exactly what he is.
How long, exactly, does it take particular groups of people to get past having slavery in their past? How long did it take before the Jews, having left slavery in Egypt, were back, standing on their own feet? There were Anglos and Normans and Saxons held as slaves by the Romans—what about them? Who else was enslaved and how did they get past it?
.
[And do I really need to say this? Just to be sure… *sigh*
Geddit? Goddit? Good.]
Where would your family lineage have been if you hadn’t been brought to the New World?
A Mandinga’s stew pot.
Posted by on 06/20/05 at 03:11 PMIn the beginning, I was totally against any form of reparations, but I’ve recently decided that it might be time to compromise.
I’ll go along with the reparation thing, but it comes with a price. A one time payout takes place, but then it is over for good. No more affirmitive action, no more special programs and preferences, and no more bitching and moaning that your life is miserable because your great great grandfather was a slave. It’s done, it’s over and we’re all equal citizens in the eyes of the law and the country. It’s time to move on.
By the way, I really enjoy your website.
- Al
http://www.carnali.com
Posted by AlCar on 06/21/05 at 03:51 AMAdd Southerners to the list because of Sherman’s march to the sea.
Posted by on 06/21/05 at 08:37 AMGiven the time and effort put into the reparations theme, it sure seems like it’s a good thing for someone Or are they purely altruistic?
Posted by Mr.Kurtz on 06/21/05 at 08:50 AMWatch Ward Churchill show-up on the repatriations list. This will result in the growth of Gub’mint at large by the creation some kind of an Office of Repatriations and Administration, inhabited by the family and friends of permanent bureaucrats.
Posted by -keith in mtn. view on 06/21/05 at 03:17 PMI especially liked this part…
““While we can in no way atone for the past, we can learn from it, and we can continue to promote a better understanding of the African-American story, including the unique struggles, triumphs and contributions of African-Americans."”
Unique struggles as in what? Burning down Watts? I got to see it all on TV as a child. Chicago? Detroit? Other than the NBA and a few high-profile court battles, which triumphs? Contributions? They TAKE from the collection basket! The minority that makes up the majority of our prison population? What more is there to understand?
Posted by USAPatriot on 06/21/05 at 04:58 PMAdd Southerners to the list because of Sherman’s march to the sea.
Fuckin’ A-right Bubba…Posted by on 06/21/05 at 08:35 PMThank you, AlCar. And I think yiou may have an idea, there… Can we make it a felony?
Posted by Claire on 06/21/05 at 09:01 PMe-claire--
great post, and great title. I think you’d enjoy Walter Williams’ take on it. I love his dry wit.
Anyway, since he’s black he’s granting all us white people amnesty. I posted his whole Proclamation here:
Posted by dymphna on 06/22/05 at 08:24 AMWell Wally, that was really mighty white of you.
Posted by USAPatriot on 06/23/05 at 05:45 PM
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