REPARATIONS MY FOOT. The fire for the quest for reparations was kindled in the United States of America in 1988, when the Civil Liberties Act was passed by the Congress, requiring federal government to pay the Japanese-Americans that were interned in time of the Second World War. Critics of the Japanese-American reparations movement, argued that reparations was paid to the wrong people, and suggested that African-Americans were the rightful candidate for reparations for the effect of slavery on the descendants of the enslaved. Slavery, which was legal in the United States from 1615 until 1815, is no doubt, the most brutal and dehumanizing act one race could subjugate another to. Africans were transported over the Atlantic Ocean (transatlantic
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Who would pay the reparations? If Jack Robinson, a man with anger problems, goes into a bar and smashes the whole bar down, just because his favorite music was stopped by the operator while playing. We definitely know in this case that Jack Robinson is responsible for the damages made. We also know for a fact that the owner of the bar is the affected party. The court can sum up the amount of stuff damaged and bill it on Jack. This illustration might seem silly, but it is exactly what plays out in the quest for African-American reparations. Some advocates for reparations say that the U.S government sanctioned slavery and never addressed the issue on the constitution, and so therefore must be held responsible for the payment. The U.S federal government is currently in a debt of approximately seventeen trillion U.S dollars (Wikipedia.com), which would be about forty-thousand U.S dollars per person in America, if her citizens were to individually pay off the debt. With this kind of huge debt, the government can never be able to pay reparations to black-Americans, regardless the form in which it is to be paid in. It is also very absurd for many to suggest that all whites pay reparations to black-Americans for slavery, because not everyone owned slaves back …show more content…
This is true even for those who lived in the antebellum south where only one white in five was a slaveholder. Why should their descendants owe a debt?” (qtd. in Harley 11). Many have forgotten the heroic deeds of some white men who tried to stop the act slavery, such as James Brown, a white abolitionist who went down with sixteen other white men in the course of abolition (Wikipedia.com). The Civil War of 1861 was a war for the freedom of slaves, fought by mostly white. About six hundred and twenty five thousand (625,000) Americans died in the civil war, which is approximately 6.25 million Americans of today’s population (Townhall.com). President Abraham Lincoln gave his live fighting for the freedom of slaves. Should the descendants of these people be paid reparations also for what they had lost due to slavery? David Horowitz continues “What about the descendants of the 350,000 Union soldiers who died to free slaves? They gave their lives. What morality would ask their descendants to pay again? If paying reparations on the basis of skin color is not racism, what is? (qtd in Haley 11). If not for the determination of some strong-willed Americans that believed everyone should be equal, and that slavery should stop, African-Americans would not meet up to the standard of living of any other black race in the world, and probably would still be slaves of some sought with no freedom of rights and
Who would pay the reparations? If Jack Robinson, a man with anger problems, goes into a bar and smashes the whole bar down, just because his favorite music was stopped by the operator while playing. We definitely know in this case that Jack Robinson is responsible for the damages made. We also know for a fact that the owner of the bar is the affected party. The court can sum up the amount of stuff damaged and bill it on Jack. This illustration might seem silly, but it is exactly what plays out in the quest for African-American reparations. Some advocates for reparations say that the U.S government sanctioned slavery and never addressed the issue on the constitution, and so therefore must be held responsible for the payment. The U.S federal government is currently in a debt of approximately seventeen trillion U.S dollars (Wikipedia.com), which would be about forty-thousand U.S dollars per person in America, if her citizens were to individually pay off the debt. With this kind of huge debt, the government can never be able to pay reparations to black-Americans, regardless the form in which it is to be paid in. It is also very absurd for many to suggest that all whites pay reparations to black-Americans for slavery, because not everyone owned slaves back …show more content…
This is true even for those who lived in the antebellum south where only one white in five was a slaveholder. Why should their descendants owe a debt?” (qtd. in Harley 11). Many have forgotten the heroic deeds of some white men who tried to stop the act slavery, such as James Brown, a white abolitionist who went down with sixteen other white men in the course of abolition (Wikipedia.com). The Civil War of 1861 was a war for the freedom of slaves, fought by mostly white. About six hundred and twenty five thousand (625,000) Americans died in the civil war, which is approximately 6.25 million Americans of today’s population (Townhall.com). President Abraham Lincoln gave his live fighting for the freedom of slaves. Should the descendants of these people be paid reparations also for what they had lost due to slavery? David Horowitz continues “What about the descendants of the 350,000 Union soldiers who died to free slaves? They gave their lives. What morality would ask their descendants to pay again? If paying reparations on the basis of skin color is not racism, what is? (qtd in Haley 11). If not for the determination of some strong-willed Americans that believed everyone should be equal, and that slavery should stop, African-Americans would not meet up to the standard of living of any other black race in the world, and probably would still be slaves of some sought with no freedom of rights and