"Reparations"

doug linked me to the following Yahoo! News article about the revitalization of the "reparations" debate:

'Slavery reparations gaining momentum

Advocates who say black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath are quietly chalking up victories and gaining momentum.

Fueled by the work of scholars and lawyers, their campaign has morphed in recent years from a fringe-group rallying cry into sophisticated, mainstream movement. Most recently, a pair of churches apologized for their part in the slave trade, and one is studying ways to repay black church members.

The overall issue is hardly settled, even among black Americans: Some say that focusing on slavery shouldn't be a top priority or that it doesn't make sense to compensate people generations after a historical wrong.

. . .

Even so, support is reaching beyond African-Americans and the South.

Katrina Browne, the white Episcopalian filmmaker, is finishing a documentary about her ancestors, the DeWolfs of Bristol, R.I., the biggest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She screened it for Episcopal Church officials at the June convention.

"Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North," details how the economies of the Northeast and the nation as a whole depended on slaves.

"A lot of white people think they know everything there is to know about slavery — we all agree it was wrong and that's enough," Browne said. "But this was the foundation of our country, not some Southern anomaly. We all inherit responsibility."

She says neither whites nor blacks will heal from slavery until formal hearings expose the full history of slavery and its effects — an effort similar to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission after apartheid collapsed. '

I've waded into this debate several times, in the past, with mixed results. So, I was somewhat reluctant to dive in, all over again.

Something about this article reignited that spark of interest and motivation just enough to keep me reading, and now, to get me typing.


As I told doug, earlier, my position on the issue of 'reparations' has usually been that it's certainly owed (an important factor to consider and acknowledge), but that it's practicality was debatable. In recent years, I've reconsidered even this stance, as America has demonstrated, more than ever, that we can find the motivation and the means to support any effort - when we really want to.

I mentioned that I've been drawn into these discussions and debates, in the past. One of the bigger stumbling-blocks of such discussions are the facts that no person, alive today, participated in or was the direct victim of slavery in the United States.

Supposedly, when the injured and the injurers die, so does the issue and all claims and rights of restitution.

First of all, I believe this is a false notion because America, as an entity and institution, perpetrated these crimes and because, as the first line of the article suggests, "black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath ."

When companies' wrong-doings result in deaths, the company, an entity and institution, is held responsible. In some instances, individuals within the company are also held responsible, but it is the company that, most often, is taken to court by the families of the deceased and/or ordered to pay restitution. It doesn't matter if the highest executives quit or were fired before the suit was filed, as long as the instituion remains vital.

I believe America is analogous to such an entity or institution, even if there are different people residing within and running the country.

People in this country and in this world inherit wealth, debt, reputation, and obligation, all the time as institutions and as individuals. It seems rather convenient that we'd make an exception in the case of "reparations."

Reparations could take many forms and it has, but not enough has been done and not enough responsibility has been accepted by this country. I think the article sums it up well:

"...neither whites nor blacks will heal from slavery until formal hearings expose the full history of slavery and its effects — an effort similar to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission after apartheid collapsed."

Responsibility.


Here are doug's thoughts on the subject.
Feel free to share yours.

I've already responded to doug's thoughts in his comment section.