Reparations, anyone?

[sui_generis]

Comments

[billyfleetwood]

The core philosophy behind the reparations argument is that the evils of slavery did not magically end when they took the chains off. The legacy of slavery did not die with the last generation of enslaved blacks. The reparations argument is important BECAUSE it's a bad idea. But only if you take it seriously can you realize that it's a bad idea, and not because it's too much, but because it's too little. The African slave trade was a deal with the devil on a global scale. The whole of Humanity dropped the ball, and to this day, humanity as a whole suffers as a result. Using reparations to address the evils of slavery is like trying to cure cancer with happy thoughts. Not very effective, but still an entire order of magnitude better than refusing to admit you have cancer

[sui_generis]

The legacy of slavery did not die with the last generation of enslaved blacks.

Exactly -- which is why I'm for affirmative action.

Using reparations to address the evils of slavery is like trying to cure cancer with happy thoughts.

Agreed. Useless and insulting to the intelligence of those affected.

Nothing will send me into a hot rage as quick as someone claiming that slavery was something that happened in the past, and that we today do not have any responsibility for the failings of our ancestors.

Don't read the guy(s) I'm arguing against in throwingstardna, then.

The entire concept of "race" is a false construct.

YES -- I've been saying this for years. It's a cultural malapropism. There's a great book about this, in fact, called "Race In Mind".

one day when we're all the same shade of beige

I'm already mochachino! I've got a head start!

[billyfleetwood]

I think affirmative action is a crock of shite as well. But you have to understand, I was raised in the Nation of Islam, and have a rampant superiority complex.

[sui_generis]

I have minor issues with affirmative action, but overall I think it's a positive force.

Ideally, I believe it should be based on class and not race. Income instead of skin color, in other words.

That way, people who actually need it get it, and those who don't have nothing to complain about. End of story.

As for superiority complexes, I can't really talk, so...

[fairyflesh]

I agree with you...every word. I thought that before I read this entry so I hope you don't think I'm just saying that because your opinion persuaded me!

I would love for there to be some way to make up to those that where enslaved. As much as I don't agree with reparations I don't have any ideas of what could be a good plan. I want to think donating money to African American charities would be a good start but that doesn't seem like near enough. I don't think their is any way to really make up for that. It was just to horrible.

[billyfleetwood]

Nothing needs to be made up to those who were enslaved. To really explain that concept, i would have to write a whole book, but put simply, it comes down to what I said above. Slavery isn't something that White people did to Black people. Its something that the human race did to itself. So the real question is how do you repair yourself from the wounds of slavery?

Just food for thought.

[lieseldenver]

SG, that was a fascinating essay, really. Before I got a paragraph in, I was thinking about what you ended up saying in your last paragraph -- how do you devise a monetary exchange for slavery, and do we then get to return to lovely words like octaroon

[sui_generis]

I always feel weird offering an opinion in a conversation like this

No, that's exactly why I want to hear everyone's opinion.

Besides, the guy arguing FOR reparations on the other blog who I was going back and forth with is white. And he was trying to lecture me about the historical struggle of the black man. So you can't stoop lower than that, trust me.

[lieseldenver]

It's not like I really feel passionately anti-reparations. I just think the whole conversation is a distraction from things that could actually make a difference in people's lives. Just getting a big check never helped anyone if they were already fucked up; just ask Lindsay Lohan. (always available to inject some triviality into the heaviest of convos, LD)

[charlotte_webb]

While slavery involved the tragic breakup of families, I'm not sure that what we think of today as the destruction of the family dates back that far; it's more a phenomenon of Reconstruction, and even urban employment trends after WWII, when it became far easier for black women to find work than for black men. (Sociological studies at the time naturally blame this "emasculation" on black women, who left their traditional position in the home, usually to work in WHITE homes.) There was a lot of really interesting fiction around the turn of the century written by middle-class black women that attempted to reinforce narratives of bourgeois domesticity and Christianity ... ok, I'll stop now, but I've actually done some work on this and its amazing how many of our standard conceptions of social structures are just plain wrong.

[lieseldenver]

P.S., on another point, interesting choice of photo. It's horrific, but aesthetically pleasing, which calls to mind again the dehumanization -- his back was photographed to look like topography, not horror. Reminds me of Edward Curtis with the Indians.

[charlotte_webb]

In Beloved, Toni Morrison compared the marks to a chokecherry tree. But you probably already know that.

I'm going to be that guy.

[texmorgan]

A few points flowing through my head