The Maryland Reparations Commission has been enacted into law

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nice try. Why should first and second generation immigrants pay for something we had nothing to do with (including Jim Crow era)?

No one is asking you personally to pay FFS. The government did an injustice and the government will pay.

How do you think the govt will pay?

Whiff all dat free money they get. They hoarding that shit! You know that got tons they hiding from us!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im of Irish decent. The Irish never owned slaves, never benefitted, from slaves and never enacted all the racist laws WASPS put in place.

Why should I pay anything?

This makes me want Trump to hammer the state of MD for this. Pull all fed jobs and fed funding from MD, please.

You have absolutely benefitted from slavery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im of Irish decent. The Irish never owned slaves, never benefitted, from slaves and never enacted all the racist laws WASPS put in place.

Why should I pay anything?

This makes me want Trump to hammer the state of MD for this. Pull all fed jobs and fed funding from MD, please.

Incorrect.

The extent of Irish in America involvement varied, and many Irish were also laborers who did not own slaves themselves.

However, some Irish immigrants in America, particularly in the antebellum South, became plantation owners and overseers, and they participated in the system of slavery.

So if that's your only criteria, you should pay, thanks for asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im of Irish decent. The Irish never owned slaves, never benefitted, from slaves and never enacted all the racist laws WASPS put in place.

Why should I pay anything?

This makes me want Trump to hammer the state of MD for this. Pull all fed jobs and fed funding from MD, please.

Incorrect.

The extent of Irish in America involvement varied, and many Irish were also laborers who did not own slaves themselves.

However, some Irish immigrants in America, particularly in the antebellum South, became plantation owners and overseers, and they participated in the system of slavery.

So if that's your only criteria, you should pay, thanks for asking.

Native Americans owned slaves, they paying too?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-native-american-slaveholders-complicate-trail-tears-narrative-180968339/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Maryland Reparations Commission has been enacted into law. Let’s clarify what the Civil Rights movement and the the 1968 Civil Rights Act aimed for:

- it was a promise to future generations that our government would never again prioritize one race over another.

This bill (now a Maryland law) undermines the unifying purpose of the Civil Rights movement.

It's hard to be "unified" when a major group in the US is still feeling the lingering effects of systemic racism.

If you don't want to prioritize one race over another, then everyone should dump ALL of their wealth together and then split it evenly across everyone in the US. We can start over so that white people aren't continued to be prioritized over everyone else - we all start off equal.

You do realize the wealthiest racial group in the US isn't white, don't you?

Uhm what? Where did you come up with that tid bit?

Asian median wealth is significantly higher than white median wealth in the US. Did you not know this? Would you like me to share some references?

I'd love that. And who would be getting the reparations again? Is the Asians?

…and how many Asian people are there?

You suck at math.

The Urban Institute. LOL. That's hilarious. You may as well cite Jesse Jackson and claim it's impartial.

You're suggesting a left-leaning organization is downplaying the median wealth of white families? Speaking of hilarious.

Here's some data from the Federal Reserve:

[Anonymous]

And here's the source: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/greater-wealth-greater-uncertainty-changes-in-racial-inequality-in-the-survey-of-consumer-finances-20231018.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Maryland Reparations Commission has been enacted into law. Let’s clarify what the Civil Rights movement and the the 1968 Civil Rights Act aimed for:

- it was a promise to future generations that our government would never again prioritize one race over another.

This bill (now a Maryland law) undermines the unifying purpose of the Civil Rights movement.

It's hard to be "unified" when a major group in the US is still feeling the lingering effects of systemic racism.

If you don't want to prioritize one race over another, then everyone should dump ALL of their wealth together and then split it evenly across everyone in the US. We can start over so that white people aren't continued to be prioritized over everyone else - we all start off equal.

You do realize the wealthiest racial group in the US isn't white, don't you?

Uhm what? Where did you come up with that tid bit?

Asian median wealth is significantly higher than white median wealth in the US. Did you not know this? Would you like me to share some references?

I'd love that. And who would be getting the reparations again? Is the Asians?

…and how many Asian people are there?

You suck at math.

How is that relevant? Are you suggesting cumulative wealth by racial group is somehow meaningful?

The median income of a group that is only 7% of the US population is irrelevant.

White people possess ~80% of the wealth (and power) in the US. If we redistributed wealth, it'd primarily be coming from white people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For supporters of reparations and this as a general strategy, what outcome do you believe it will achieve other than providing cash to certain individuals? Would you expect it to reduce or eliminate claims of systemic racism? Do you believe it will reduce or eliminate racial discrimination complaints? Do you believe it will measurably change the income, status, or well being of those who are paid?

If I'm being honest, I don't think it will do any of those things. I think it will be a one-time boon to those who are paid and a moment for legislators to pat themselves on the backs. If I thought long-term good would come of it, I would be more open to it.

Just cash is enough

That's great, then we've already done this. Black people disproportionately get free cash daily -- SNAP, housing vouchers, unemployment, low-income tax credits, and medicaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is why I roll my eyes so far back in my head that I see grey matter when I hear non-black Americans wax poetic about Martin Luther King. Even though most Americans can only quote a fragment of one sentence from one speech, they endlessly do so as a weapon to shame black folk.

Anyhoo, here's some more from that speech in 1963 y'all love so darn much:

We have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. … It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Wait, there's more the man said in 1968:

At the very same time that America refused to give the Negro any land, through an act of Congress our government was giving away millions of acres of land in the West and the Midwest, which meant that it was willing to undergird its white peasants from Europe with an economic floor. But not only did they give the land, they built land grant colleges with government money to teach them how to farm. Not only that, they provided county agents to further their expertise in farming. Not only that, they provided low interest rates in order that they could mechanize their farms. Not only that today, many of these people are receiving millions of dollars in federal subsidies not to farm, and they are the very people telling the Black man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps. Now, when we come to Washington in this campaign, we are coming to get our check.

Oppose reparations? Great, that's your right. Just keep Martin Luther King's name out of your mouth.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-march-on-washington-was-a-case-for-reparations/
https://reparationscomm.org/reparations-news/martin-luther-kings-case-for-reparations-still-rings-true/

[Anonymous]

I don’t see how this could begin to work logistically. Would people have to prove their ancestors were enslaved in Maryland? Or enslaved anywhere in the world? If you have one Black parent, would you get 50% of a reparation? If your white great great great great grandfather enslaved people but your black great great great great grandmother was enslaved, and your other great greats were neither, would you get 8%? What if your Black ancestors were enslaved but freed in 1790 - would you get less than those who were enslaved through the Civil War?

Maryland has a huge Black population, so wouldn’t this be essentially taking from their tax dollars … to in theory pay them?

How much will this Commission cost taxpayers before a cent is spent on reparations? What is its FY26-27 budget?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Maryland Reparations Commission has been enacted into law. Let’s clarify what the Civil Rights movement and the the 1968 Civil Rights Act aimed for:

- it was a promise to future generations that our government would never again prioritize one race over another.

This bill (now a Maryland law) undermines the unifying purpose of the Civil Rights movement.

It's hard to be "unified" when a major group in the US is still feeling the lingering effects of systemic racism.

If you don't want to prioritize one race over another, then everyone should dump ALL of their wealth together and then split it evenly across everyone in the US. We can start over so that white people aren't continued to be prioritized over everyone else - we all start off equal.

Yes whatever would we do without lingering effects of systemic racism. We’d have no victims then.

And yet, here you are, victimized by the creation of a commission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see how this could begin to work logistically. Would people have to prove their ancestors were enslaved in Maryland? Or enslaved anywhere in the world? If you have one Black parent, would you get 50% of a reparation? If your white great great great great grandfather enslaved people but your black great great great great grandmother was enslaved, and your other great greats were neither, would you get 8%? What if your Black ancestors were enslaved but freed in 1790 - would you get less than those who were enslaved through the Civil War?

Maryland has a huge Black population, so wouldn’t this be essentially taking from their tax dollars … to in theory pay them?

How much will this Commission cost taxpayers before a cent is spent on reparations? What is its FY26-27 budget?

That's why Moore vetoed it in the first place. It's a no win and will make the government look bad (and racist) for wasting time with no results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see how this could begin to work logistically. Would people have to prove their ancestors were enslaved in Maryland? Or enslaved anywhere in the world? If you have one Black parent, would you get 50% of a reparation? If your white great great great great grandfather enslaved people but your black great great great great grandmother was enslaved, and your other great greats were neither, would you get 8%? What if your Black ancestors were enslaved but freed in 1790 - would you get less than those who were enslaved through the Civil War?

Maryland has a huge Black population, so wouldn’t this be essentially taking from their tax dollars … to in theory pay them?

How much will this Commission cost taxpayers before a cent is spent on reparations? What is its FY26-27 budget?

That's why Moore vetoed it in the first place. It's a no win and will make the government look bad (and racist) for wasting time with no results.

It's worse. Let's say the commission determines that reparations isn't necessary. People will claim that the Maryland government and commission are racist. If the commission determines that reparations are necessary, the Maryland government definitely can't afford to pay them. The only result to avoid either outcome is "we need to study the problem further." In a few years, Maryland will have a standing, permanent commission to study reparations until one party is willing to accept a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is why I roll my eyes so far back in my head that I see grey matter when I hear non-black Americans wax poetic about Martin Luther King. Even though most Americans can only quote a fragment of one sentence from one speech, they endlessly do so as a weapon to shame black folk.

Anyhoo, here's some more from that speech in 1963 y'all love so darn much:

We have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. … It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Wait, there's more the man said in 1968:

At the very same time that America refused to give the Negro any land, through an act of Congress our government was giving away millions of acres of land in the West and the Midwest, which meant that it was willing to undergird its white peasants from Europe with an economic floor. But not only did they give the land, they built land grant colleges with government money to teach them how to farm. Not only that, they provided county agents to further their expertise in farming. Not only that, they provided low interest rates in order that they could mechanize their farms. Not only that today, many of these people are receiving millions of dollars in federal subsidies not to farm, and they are the very people telling the Black man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps. Now, when we come to Washington in this campaign, we are coming to get our check.

Oppose reparations? Great, that's your right. Just keep Martin Luther King's name out of your mouth.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-march-on-washington-was-a-case-for-reparations/
https://reparationscomm.org/reparations-news/martin-luther-kings-case-for-reparations-still-rings-true/

+1000

[Anonymous]

That some people, of whatever race or nationality, were badly treated in the past, is not in dispute.

It's beyond absurd to suggest that there is any rational and reasonable way to compensate any of them. They are all long dead.

What can and should be done is to eliminate those conditions. That has been done. Nobody is presently or even was recently enslaved in this country. Nothing holds anyone back, no matter their race or country of origin, which they cannot themselves control - education, work ethic, ambition, values - all are freely available. Some people, fail to take advantage of those things. Others have been very successful. Those outcomes, good or bad, are due to their efforts, not on the history of centuries past.