Can we have a conversation about reparations? Why has the …

Why do so many people react so negatively and get so defensive about this topic?

How do we not want to repair/reconstruct that which we have torn down.

When we hold one group down, we keep all of humanity down.

don't know much about this. The USA really paid reparations to every effected group? What is the criteria for being effected? Is there a link to learn more about these payments?

It is inaccurate to say ‘every effected group’ as that is very hard to quantify. Here is an accounting of reparations. Some have been paid to black people, but never in regards to the effects of slavery.

https://guides.library.umass.edu/reparations

Reparations are a joke. Steal from Americans via taxation or inflation and give to another cause they whine the most? Ridiculous.

‘Cause they whine the most’... no this is not at all the reason why.

Because we enslaved 600,000 people from Africa. Because what happens to one generation effects several generations after.

Your comment is non-thinking.

The people living today

Thanks for your comment, Zhell... but...

What about the fact that white people still daily benefit from the effects of slavery, while black people continuously suffer the consequences?

If you look at the statistics in any category, you will see that life in America is still much harder to get through as a Black person, than as a White person.

This is directly because of white supremacy & slavery.

We should have repaired this by now.

Also, what do you mean by "life is harder" ? and how do you know this is the consequence of slavery ? how do you know life is not harder because they have a culture that make them less able to thrive ? (a victimization culture does that for example)

if you think blacks are underpaid, you can start a business that will employ only blacks and you will be more profitable than others

Also, yes life as a black is

Joshua, I suggest we have some real conversations and actually analyze the damage done and put some real effort into reconstruction.

If reconstruction had been allowed to continue after the emancipation, there wouldn’t still be a need for reparations.

Are you willing to take from other tax paying, wage earning Americans and give it to black people because you feel sorry for them? Will you actually take the money physically? Or are you lobbying the government to do it?

I’m reading now; my initial response after the first half: Writing like this comes from a complete unawareness of the everyday effects of white supremacy.

I am not saying every white person is guilty. I am saying every aspect of life is effected by it.

It is not my fault that past generations fucked up our environment and are destroying the planet.

But since they’re all dead... the responsibility (and the power) now lies with me (is) to fix it.

How is this any different?

I don't see any white people doing slavery over black people today, so I don't get your point. Did things happen in the past ? yes, but that's not a good reason to say that people today, who had no idea about it, are guilty of it.

there is no white supremacy based on force or anything else than being more competiti

I encourage you to read this : https://mises.org/wire/problem-reparations

I’m not saying anyone today is guilty of what happened in the past, but for generations, the wealth built on black backs has been kept in white families.

I’m not saying everyone is to blame. Maybe the corporations who had slaves should pay reparations

I don’t think some One has wrongly acquired wealth. The facts show that wealth is wrongly distributed on a national scale.

This is largely the effects of slavery, Jim Crowe and the after-effects which still cloud our subconscious.

I will watch the video. But my mind is not in a prison. I broke out of some terrible brain-cells.

I have calmed the storm in myself.

I feel no guilt. But I do feel remorse. And an urgency to change things for the future.

watch the Thomas Sowell video. I had to break out of my victimization mindset too. We all have to.

If you think slavery has any tangible income on society today, you are non-thinking. The idea that something that happened decades ago impacted people's ability to earn...coming from one of these so-called victims themselves is asinine.

spoken by a black american (one of my heroes) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS5WYp5xmvI

I am ‘white’, not black, so I do not feel like the victim. I see how our society does not take responsibility well. We do not want to see that we who are white automatically have a head start.

Also, Zhell, what do you mean by victimization mindset?

I don’t feel like the victim or the victimizer.

I feel like one who is seeking restoration. I want to help bridge the gap, caused by centuries of violence and oppression.

For centuries white historians, theologians, scientists and philosophers have tried to white-wash history.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Let’s stop hiding our shit and get it out there. So it can heal

Joshua, if you don’t see how Slavery, Jim Crowe and where we are at today, then you just aren’t looking.

I know that I am one of a very small percentile who see things like I do. It took years of practical learning and study to see it clearly.

It's simple in my opinion. There are no victims nor offenders, so it is a non issue. Better focus on actual slavery that's still taking place.

Hey Steven, I definitely agree that we need to face global slavery and starvation head on.

I don’t think we will do that until we all deal with these things personally & internally.

We still have slavery today, because we haven’t dealt with our past.

And also, Steven. History is riddled with victims and offenders. In my opinion, it is nonsense to pretend this is not the case.

In US history, the White institution and slave holders were the offenders, black slaves were the victims. Period.

What u/906 is talking about has basis.

Joshua, Slavery still effects us deeply. We are not many generations removed from slavery.

Even after that, lynchings were still public events. Our consciences have been seared. We sacrificed our Empathy.

If anyone wants to hear a perspective other than the Western/European narrative of world history, I would suggest reading from these authors:

Cheikh Anta Diop
Frances Cress Welsing
Chancellor Williams

Hold onto your hat! They're rather mind blowing!

I reject two of your original premises: 1. "black people" is a valid group to use in sophisticated conversation. Reject. 2. "USA has paid reparations to every effected people group" is a valid statement. Reject.
Henslee is spot on, and Sowell is a genius.

@Seeker of Truth

Seeker of Truth, I agreed on your second point here: https://twetch.app/t/59a01f8b2c997671afcd8dedee015750fd2e74d885edf08ee8b8e5c3c43ef0a4#50bd41832e3c21b4b4e696ec8c496aef72d587461e8bd24bd02d2f7d278e6574

As for your first point, I agree the term ‘black people’ is inaccurate. Almost as inaccurate as white people classifying themselves as ‘white’.

If you look back on history, ‘white’ people have always felt threatened by people who produce the most melanin

Due to a deep seeded fear of genetic annihilation.

The Cress Theory of Color Confrontation discusses this in depth and with clarity.

They worked out a system for White survival, which entails dominating all of the Black, Brown, Red and Yellow people on the planet. So racism is a behavioral system for the survival of White people.”

Frances Cress Welsing

than*
... & they were genetic-recessive compared to the genetic dominance of people who produce color. They realized that they could be genetically annihilated and White people could, as a collective of people, disappear.

"I look at the system of racism having come into being consciously because the White population recognized, after they circumnavigated the globe, that they were a tiny minority, fewer that one-tenth of the people on the planet...

‘Black’ was synonymous with ‘blessed’. Now, ‘white’ signifies purity, holiness and everything good, whereas black signifies curses and everything wicked.

This is psychological warfare. A subconscious training we have been subjected to for centuries.

You really believe that? I think the reason white people have been so successful is because of higher IQ.

Steven, that is just blatantly ignorant. Black civilizations invented language, philosophy, math, etc. We copied & counterfeited.

White People aren’t as great as you seem to think they are.

Don't get me wrong. I love black culture. I make music and my inspiration has always come from black artists. Same with dancing. We should learn from each other.

There are all types of intelligence. The Intelligence Quotient test is only an evaluation of a specific aspect of intelligence.

Also, it was the fact that we were ruthless and brutal people of war, whereas Africans were focused on other technologies.

It had nothing to do with intelligence. It had everything to do with environment. The cold north was harsh, you had to kill to survive as we evolved.

Our technological advances were focused largely in the direction of warfare.

It’s not a matter of intelligence when one side has swords and the other side has guns.

Now that white people are in the position of global power, we are driving the planet to destruction.

That doesn’t sound very intelligent to me.

How intelligent are we when we tell ourselves we are better than someone because of the color of our skin?

I never said that. Like I said, I prefer to learn vs criticizing each other's differences. Looking forward to visit Africa one day.