Reply to Governor Moore vetoes bill to study reparations

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Slavery was an unquestionable evil.  Unfortunately, far too much time and life events have transpired to ever be able to serve justice to either those victims who deserved restitution or to the perpetrators who weren’t held accountable for their crimes.  Between waves of immigration bringing multitudes into our country generations after slavery was a memory, intermarriage blurring the distinction between races, and the loss of memory over time as to what roles our ancestors who were here may have had at the time, there is no way to untangle the messiness of life and accurately portion debt or recompense owed.

At this time, reparations can only serve to create resentment to fuel racism further.  Let’s help people, regardless of race, based on need.  There are lots of ways that individuals, by accident of birth rather than any actions of their own, have been disadvantaged.  No one gets to choose their families.

Meanwhile, this seems a particularly absurd and hypocritical time to be talking about reparations.  Our government, representing us, is currently “deporting” immigrants without any semblance of due process, let alone a trial and conviction, to a lifetime sentence in foreign prisons known for their brutality.  The fact that the harsh conditions and brutality are taking place outside our borders does not absolve us of responsibility.  OUR NATION IS CURRENTLY ENGAGED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING.  INSTEAD OF ARGUING ABOUT THE REPARATIONS WE OWE EACH OTHER BASED ON DEBTS FROM/TO OUR ANCESTORS, WE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON HALTING THE CURRENT INJUSTICE AND THE REPARATIONS WE MAY ALL EVENTUALLY OWE TO THOSE WE CURRENTLY ALLOW TO BE WRONGED.

I think the greatest debt owed to the past is to not repeat the evil that once took place, but to act responsibly in the present and to teach future generations by both word and example, so that it can never be allowed to recur.  [/quote]

Look, you might have just arrived in the United States and feel slavery has nothing to do with you, but ignoring it does not make it disappear. The story of Black America, a history that includes centuries of forced labor, the fight for freedom, and constant resilience, is baked into our laws, culture, and national wealth. It shaped the country long before recent waves of immigration and still shapes it today. You do not get to set the meter on what matters in U.S. history. The impact of the Black experience is a fact, not an opinion, and you cannot understand America without it.
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Aren't Native Americans in line first?[/quote]

The government broke treaties with Native Americans and ran an economy on stolen African American labor at the same time, so it can face both truths at once. Justice is not a take a number line and it is definitely not set by whoever happens to shout loudest right now. That includes any one poster here or newer immigrant communities (who may be one and the same), even if their numbers and political clout are growing.

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