So far, I think the argument needs to be made that the contract seller should have been much, much more strictly regulated. I'm not denying racism here. ALSO, an argument for increased education and literacy also needs to be made. I just don't see why, "you got screwed over" then leads to "reparations". I mean, he would have to argue that anybody who has taken out a pay-day loan needs to reparations as well (not necessarily going to disagree with that). We could make the same argument for poor white folks like on my mom's side of the family who also got screwed out of land and were basically indentured to bigger land owners. I do agree that black people were treated more maliciously with outright theft and forcing them to sell assets. However, why are we restricting reparations to just black people. Shouldn't all people that got screwed over by predatory practices which the government knew about and let happen be given reparations? This is sort of a "uniqueness question". I'm sure the argument is coming after establishing the very clear harms, but you are going to run into an is/ought problem. Just because things happened this way, does not then go onto imply a moral reason for some proposition. He should have quoted Hume instead of Locke lol.
One thread of thinking in the African American community holds that these depressing numbers partially stem from cultural pathologies that can be altered through individual grit and exceptionally good behavior. (In 2011, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, responding to violence among young black males, put the blame on the family: “Too many men making too many babies they don’t want to take care of, and then we end up dealing with your children.” Nutter turned to those presumably fatherless babies: “Pull your pants up and buy a belt, because no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt.”) The thread is as old as black politics itself. It is also wrong. The kind of trenchant racism to which black people have persistently been subjected can never be defeated by making its victims more respectable. The essence of American racism is disrespect. And in the wake of the grim numbers, we see the grim inheritance.
I agree with him from a policy perspective. We should do more to help poor people escape from their poverty. However, I disagree with him on the personal level. One should always try to better themselves. If it is true that there is a cultural norm of being single parents. If education is not valued. And if people resign themselves to their lot in poverty, then no amount of government assistance will get you out of that. Ignoring the individual for the collective is a really, really bad approach. It also absolves people of responsibility for their actions. Again, I take the point that to a great extent there is a lack of opportunity. BUT, that should not prevent a healthy individualism and should certainly not excuse bad character.
Broach the topic of reparations today and a barrage of questions inevitably follows: Who will be paid? How much will they be paid? Who will pay?
I mean, this is the material policy question, no? Obviously the fed would just print fucking money, so the who will pay is meaningless. But, the who will BE paid and the How much are a sticking point. I don't like the idea of cutting a check, and then next year cutting a check again, and then again, and again. What is the point of satisfaction here? What would satisfy the debt? I guess the question is at what point would people stop complaining at being screwed over. Right? That's the issue. YOu are making right passed atrocity, but that number can neither be infinite nor can it be undefinable. Other wise you are essentially just arguing for welfare. Which, again, I'm totally for. I want more welfare (shit, I barely make above the poverty line myself) and I think things like a UBI would be a good idea. But these are categorically different from reparations.
One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slaveholder has been dead for a very long time
100% agree.
One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slaveholder has been dead for a very long time
People often forget that there were some very, very discriminatory housing practices that were part of this as well.
To keep up with his payments and keep his heat on, Clyde Ross took a second job at the post office and then a third job delivering pizza. His wife took a job working at Marshall Field. He had to take some of his children out of private school. He was not able to be at home to supervise his children or help them with their homework. Money
I know plenty of poor white folks (white trash) in the exact same situation. Again, why uniquely black injustice and not simply reparations for injustice qua injustice. I need a moral argument for this and not just a list of facts.
On the drug problem. Set-up government rehab programs for users. Release all non-violent drug users and parole violators. Harsh punishment and rehab for drug pushers. Again, I think some personal responsibility might go a long here. Don't take hard drugs. I know, but just don't do them. Saying, "they had no choice" really removes the agency of black people. I don't view black people as being ONLY victims and ONLY determined by their circumstances. Believing the opposite seems pretty racist to me, for you view them as less than the normal, white, human.
Is affirmative action meant to increase “diversity”? If so, it only tangentially relates to the specific problems of black people.
Agree 100%
Liberals today mostly view racism not as an active, distinct evil but as a relative of white poverty and inequality.
Yes and no, right. If racism is meant to be anything specific it can't simply be inequality.
he lie ignores the fact that closing the “achievement gap” will do nothing to close the “injury gap,” in which black college graduates still suffer higher unemployment rates than white college graduates, and black job applicants without criminal records enjoy roughly the same chance of getting hired as white applicants with criminal records.
Good. 100% agree.
Perhaps no statistic better illustrates the enduring legacy of our country’s shameful history of treating black people as sub-citizens, sub-Americans, and sub-humans than the wealth gap. Reparations would seek to close this chasm.
Yeah, but why not try to close the wealth gap for all, and only focus on black people. I still have trouble understanding the uniqueness here. Again, I am all for welfare. I am all for all of that shit. But why make it exclusive for the black community, and not for all the poor emigrants, all the disenfranchised white people, etc. Example, I worked with some Somalian emigrant highschool children. They were not "black" in the American sense and viewed themselves as a unique cultural group. They were the "somali kids" and others viewed them in that light. They needed some help, damnit. Same for Latin people. Same for other emigrants.
The Germany example is a bit silly in my honest opinion. It forgets that the state of Israel was created. It also forgets what happened the last time we destroyed a nation after a massive war economically.
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Good article, and a good writer!!!!!!
after a wank.