Reply to It's (finally) time for reparations. It's time for the US to pay its debt.

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "It's (finally) time for reparations. It's time for the US to pay its debt. "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Reparations in the form of cash payments or programs that are only open to black people are almost certainly unconstitutional, as they would violate the non-discrimination clauses of the constitution.

Reparations were given to Japanese Americans for a discrete act by the US Government. That was considered an exception. You can't make the argument that discrimination against black americans is the result of a discrete act.

[b]Now, I think direct descendants of slaves who could prove their lineage might be able to qualify for such programs, but not black americans as a whole.[/b]

So until you resolve the Constitutional problem--and are ok with the government discriminating based on race in terms of whom it helps--this is all an academic discussion.[/quote]

Yes, the current thinking on criteria is being able to establish that you are a descendent of enslaved people. And identifying as an AA for 10-12 years. [/quote]

But other black Americans would rightly respond by saying that they, too, have suffered from systemic racism. So how do you handle their contentions? [/quote]

As a country we should also work against systemic racism.

Reparations tie back to specific US policies. 
[/quote]

Yes, but from a legal standpoint, you can't point to a discrete act by the US Government that justifies reparations for [b]every single black American[/b]. [/quote]

Reparations aren't intended for "every single black American". 
[/quote]

That's not what my black friends who are deep in the reparations debate are contending. They are asking for payments for every black American for systemic racism, not just slavery itself. [/quote]

What do they think about William Darity? 
[/quote]

I can't say for sure, but I think they'd agree with him because he argues there's a lineage standard (aka are you a descendant of slaves) and an identity standards (aka have you identified as AA for at least 12 years). That would translate to the vast majority of black Americans being eligible for reparations.

Note that he also argues that direct, cash payments be a big part of it.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics