I had an 18 year old black man try and explain to me the need for reparations. So I asked him if he felt he had suffered racism and needed reparations. He said no. Both his parents have advanced degrees, both were professionals, their income put them into the upper middle class bracket, and there were plenty of lawyers, doctors and judges in his immediate family. I pointed out that being in the top 20% of US income puts you in the top 5% worldwide for income and standard of living.
This is the typical problem with beginner debaters, they make a case but have no plan.
For example, does reparations for blacks in California include Kamala Harris? That would be a joke on so many levels, she grew up in Canada, her ancestors were slave holders, her parents have advanced degrees and were very successful, and of course she is one of the most powerful people in the world. But no one thinks about that.
Would you give reparations to felons? killers? Drug lords?
I heard one black man talking about how life for blacks was far better in the 1950s. He said his neighborhood was safe, no shootings, no killings, no gangs, no drug lords. His point was that the problems we face today are self inflicted. Blaming racism for being a single mother with four kids you can't afford is not going to solve anything. Blaming racism because you can't get a job when you dropped out of high school to sell drugs and you have a rap sheet is not going to solve anything.
So then the argument winds up getting all twisted. They can't figure out who the descendants of slaves are that deserve the reparations so then it becomes "systemic racism". Yet we are now seeing blacks who graduated from Harvard and other "elite" schools that come across as some of the stupidest people you ever saw during these senate confirmation hearings. They weren't victims, they were beneficiaries of racism, these quotas that the universities have to fill.
What do you do about immigrants who came to the US after the Civil war, they never had anything to do with slavery but they must pay for it?
I believe you have to make atonement for your sins, but that is often very difficult to do right. To do this right you need to carefully trace all the slave owners that had plantations. Find out what happened to these families and their money. If you can trace wealth all the way back to these slave holders, then seize those assets and put it to good use. I doubt you can do it, but maybe you can. Perhaps you can seize all assets owned by the KKK. This is what the Jews have done with the Nazis who were responsible for the Holocaust. That is a good work.
This is the typical problem with beginner debaters, they make a case but have no plan.
For example, does reparations for blacks in California include Kamala Harris? That would be a joke on so many levels, she grew up in Canada, her ancestors were slave holders, her parents have advanced degrees and were very successful, and of course she is one of the most powerful people in the world. But no one thinks about that.
Would you give reparations to felons? killers? Drug lords?
I heard one black man talking about how life for blacks was far better in the 1950s. He said his neighborhood was safe, no shootings, no killings, no gangs, no drug lords. His point was that the problems we face today are self inflicted. Blaming racism for being a single mother with four kids you can't afford is not going to solve anything. Blaming racism because you can't get a job when you dropped out of high school to sell drugs and you have a rap sheet is not going to solve anything.
So then the argument winds up getting all twisted. They can't figure out who the descendants of slaves are that deserve the reparations so then it becomes "systemic racism". Yet we are now seeing blacks who graduated from Harvard and other "elite" schools that come across as some of the stupidest people you ever saw during these senate confirmation hearings. They weren't victims, they were beneficiaries of racism, these quotas that the universities have to fill.
What do you do about immigrants who came to the US after the Civil war, they never had anything to do with slavery but they must pay for it?
I believe you have to make atonement for your sins, but that is often very difficult to do right. To do this right you need to carefully trace all the slave owners that had plantations. Find out what happened to these families and their money. If you can trace wealth all the way back to these slave holders, then seize those assets and put it to good use. I doubt you can do it, but maybe you can. Perhaps you can seize all assets owned by the KKK. This is what the Jews have done with the Nazis who were responsible for the Holocaust. That is a good work.
-
1
- Show all
