The People's Republic of Kalifornia...gotta love them. This is another exhibit A of why we are better off jettisoning DEI and CRT.
Too bad more red states arn’t like cali and not so dependent on federal funds. 2023’s Most & Least Federally Dependent States
I would support reparations under the following condition: Funds are paid directly out of a special reparations tax earmarked with each tax payers liability printed conspicuously on every tax return: State or Federal. I would prefer a refurendum to decide whether reparations will be paid, but a vote of the legisature is fine with me provided the policy is transparent.
This is indeed "nonbinding." It is absolutely not "symbolic." That is BS. The point is for governments to keep commissioning these studies to keep the issue relevant and realistic to Americans. While these particular recommendations are nonsensical, the point is to eventually produce estimates that will stick, and that will be regularly cited by advocacy groups, politicians, and journalists as "the figure" that the government's own study has determined that it owes. And once Americans get used to paying, that number can always he adjusted upward later on. The astronomical figures that are getting publicity now will make the actual figures proposed by politicians seem reasonable by comparison. This not symbolism it's a long term strategy that its proponents believe will eventually work.
Then you haven't spoken to many people on the left who are passionate about racial issues. These absurd remedies aren't taken seriously by anyone, but direct payments to African Americans as restitution for slavery have always been on the table and the idea is more realistic now than it was 20 years ago.
Yes, the evils of tolerance are very dangerous for society. How can we live in a society that preaches about inclusion and seeks to understand why racially neutral laws often are enforced in a way that has a racially discriminatory effect?
This site has some pretty hard leaning leftists. Even here there’s not a cry for slavery reparations.
I could find something to link, but the fact that the largest state in the US and a number of cities have already funded studies, and that several other states and many other cities are considering funding studies, not to mention multiple bills introduced in Congress, obviates the question of whether reparations for slavery is a real issue with significant political support. You may not know those people, but obviously they exist in relevant numbers.
I'm fully in favor of figuring out a system of reparations, whether that be a lump-sum payment or some other remedial program intended to help Black people narrow the opportunity gap.
The argument is that reparations for slavery are owed for the action, or inaction, of the US government during the multi hundred year period that slavery and state sanctioned discrimination existed. Some take it further and argue that reparations are also owed for current and future racism. I think the former argument has merit but the latter does not. I also think reparations are attrocious policy for a number of reasons other than whether a tangible harm was suffered.
Those could never be actual "reparations" though. Those would only be government programs that many people think government should do for underprivileged groups regardless and, in all probability, wouldn't be limited to only black americans. They might be a subsitute for reparations if people were satisfied with government programs in lieu of a financial settlement, but wouldn't actually be an attempt to compensate black americans for the specific harm caused by slavery. Actual "reparations" would have to include a negotiated (and likely renegotiated), financial settlement, paid either to institutions or to individuals directly, whereby the beneficiaries decide how the funds are used. In this event, I think direct payments are actually the lesser of two evils. But I think it's a highly irresponsible idea regardless.
I’d argue that roughly 70 years of affirmative action initiatives are exactly intended to serve that very purpose.
I love that reparations will be paid - to a group of people who were never slaves, by a group of people who were never slave owners, in a state that never had slavery.
These programs are half measures at best and haven't come close to serving that purpose (likely in part because the Supreme Court has spent the last 40 years using the Equal Protection Clause to undermine their effectiveness). Also, 70 years of affirmative action initiatives? Jim Crow was still in effect 70 years ago.
Reparations aren't just about slavery. And people very much underestimate the amount of racism and discrimination that occurred outside of the South. Tommie Smith, one of the two Olympians who held up their fists in the 1968 games, spoke of the way he would be jeered with racist taunts as a boy while walking to the store and of his inability to eat at certain restaurants, work certain jobs, and even enter certain establishments as a young man. This wasn't happening in Alabama. Smith lived in California from the age of seven onwards. I guess it's easy to pretend that all this terribleness is in the distant past and nobody has any responsibility to do anything about it.
I think the concept of reparations, and change, are two separate dynamics. In my opinion, there’s only one proven way to truly change cultural suppression. There’s no fast or magical fix. It starts with each community, and requires generational commitment to community investment in everything, from education to hiring, repeat and repeat. I believe what people like Lebron James and Magic Johnson are doing with their selfless and extraordinary reinvestment in their communities is exemplary. Our country was built on the backs of immigrants who came to this country and sacrificed EVERYTHING to built something for their families’ future. Jews, Italians, Irish, Chinese, Germans all came here penniless, worked hard, and invested in their own communities so that their future had more opportunities. This is the only real path to change, in my opinion. Paying millions of dollars (from in a State that never legalized slavery) to select people today, does nothing but give those select people instant lottery winnings. It’s absurdity from inception.
Racism is real and prevalent and disgusting. There should be no place for hate to propagate in the world. But reparations won’t stop the hate; it will incite more from the jealous. And, if hate is preface to reparations, there’s going to be a long line in the handout line.
That never happened in my lifetime... does NOT matter. When are the Jews getting compensated by the Romans?
