I have always wondered why I am expected to feel guilty about what some 112th cousin of mine did thousands of miles away and centuries ago, while African-Americans apparently take no responsibility for what their children might be doing two blocks away and right now. I’ll agree to reparations for slavery when whites get reparations for black crime. And it still won’t be fair.

Puerto Rican crime, too.

Oh- and what about white indentured “servants?” Shouldn’t I get at least a couple thou from the Bush family?

My ancestors owned Negro slaves. In Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas, probably someone at every step of the way owned a slave or two. Many more of my ancestors, in the same colonies and states, never owned slaves. That is interesting history, and perhaps it is a shame.

More to the point, I have never held anyone to involuntary servitude and (obviously) no one has ever been held by me in involuntary servitude. There isn’t a black man alive in America today who has been held as a slave in the United States, and there isn’t a white man alive in America today who has ever held a black man as a slave in the United States. As far as reparations are concerned, there is nothing to discuss. All the wronged are dead, and all those who may have wronged them are too.

There are problems enough to go around in our own time. If black Americans want to wail about slavery, they might consider taking up the cause of African Christians and animists who are being captured and sold today into slavery by assorted Moslems. As another recent thread has discussed, nothing much has changed in Africa. HRS

One argument that is often made in the reparations issue is that the whites in this country received great economic benefit from slave labor, thus they owe something in return.

Aside from all the arguments already made against the reparations nonsense, it should be pointed out that the availability of cheap labor is always a short-term benefit and a long-term impediment to economic growth. Economic advancement in the modern era depends on making economic activities less labor-intensive, through use of capital for automation, mechanization, and (more recently) even “roboticization”.

In layman’s terms, the South was led down the path of labor-intensive agriculture, while the North, with less slavery, was encouraged to pursue industrialization. The Civil War was decided by the economic superiority of the North, and the economic gap continued well into the 20th century. That is the “great benefit” from slave labor, I guess.

Likewise, the availability of cheap illegal labor is holding back American agriculture today, as I posted in another thread. Short-term benefit, long-term economic stagnation.

Another point rarely made is that the wealth created through the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil was, in fact, sunk by the Civil War and the destruction of the Southern civilization. The South was reduced to ruin. Any wealth built up in the United States after the Civil War has nothing to do with slavery.

The reparations demand is the epitome of what blacks and their white liberal supporters are doing all the time: seeking to hustle goodies out of guilty white suckers, because the blacks are unable or unwilling to produce anything of value themselves.

Mr. Auster writes:
“because the black are unable or unwilling to produce anything of value themselves.”

A broad swip of this statement is something. Do you really believe that? To pick a low hanging fruit: Do athlets, entertainers, soldiers produce no value?

I travel quite a bit in Europe. Often Europians are surprised to hear about affirmative action, black economics problems, etc. They see America thru TV and see black Americans as a successful and well integrated group. It might be superficial view, but outsiders think that black contribute a lot to America. So do I. A lot of problems blacks have is caused by immigration. It is a tragedy of blacks in this country that they were sold down the river by their leaders liberal “friends”.

Fair question by mik. My comment could have been better phrased. Of course I do not mean that all black people do not produce anything of value. I do mean, however, that all black people who demand racial pay-offs, who receive racial pay-offs, who get furious and threatening when anyone challenges the system of racial pay-offs, are parasites who add nothing of value to society.

Amen to Mr. Sutherland and Mr. Auster. By the way, how is it that we hear nothing about reparations for serfdom? The vast majority of the ancestors of most white Europeans and Americans were also held in bondage, admittedly less severe than that of black slaves, but they vastly outnumbered the latter. Their unpaid labor must have totalled far more than that ever extracted from slaves in America. Their descendants deserve their share of the boodle!
But who’s to pay it?

“…we remember that the Hebrews despoiled the Egyptians of their wealth as they were fleeing Egypt”…

Yes, and don’t think the Egyptians are taking this quietly, either; a law professor in that country is trying to launch a class action against all the world’s Jews for damages equivalent to the value of said despoiled wealth, plus interest. (I don’t have the story in front of me, it was in Law Times about a month ago). Hasn’t this guy ever heard of the statute of limitations? And what’s a Moslem doing claiming interest, anyway?

I’m a black man who wouldn’t pay anything to jews because i simply don’t buy into the “egypt was a 100% black country” anyways .
I believe that it was a multiracial society darker towards the south and lighter towards the north.
If the hebrews were held captives in the north, their tormentors were probably similar to nowaday’s lybians, berbers or whatnot .

so no reparations from me !

Hey, I’ll take a check from the Libyans, I’m not proud!

I was a held to involutary servitude - my parents made me mow the weekly ever summer, until I was emancipated. I want reparations.

I work and pay taxes so others can be on welfare. I want reparations.

My point is, Ogunsiron, that everyone can find sometime to make a claim on. I’m white, do I have to pay reparations? I’m also Albanian, and my family didn’t come here until the 1970s. we never had slaves. Or is it a skin color = privilege issue?

And Mr. Auster - shame on you. “Because the black are unable or unwilling to produce anything of value themselves.” How can you stand by that statement? Ever had a blood transfusion?

Cut that out!
You Americans do not have real problems, because if you had, you would not be thinking of such stupid nonsense.

I am also black ( but from Africa and living in Germany ) and I have to acknowledge that these reparations are stupid, but why do you fuss about it that much? Why don’t you take it easy and ignore it?

Jews slaves in Egypt?

Actually recent archeological evidence shows that there were no slaves used to build the pyramid. They were paid workers. They were extreamly well fed and taken care of and had decent burial chmabers. They were infact mostly better fed than the average Egyptian at the time.

“Jews slaves in Egypt? Actually recent archeological evidence shows that there were no slaves used to build the pyramid.”

The Bible says that Jews were slaves during one period of Egyptian history (lasting a couple of centuries), but it says nothing about them building pyramids. That was a loose choice of words in the blog entry, but the point was that Jews were slaves in Egypt, and can therefore ask for reparations, according to reparations logic. The particular work they were forced to do in Egypt is beside the point of the thread.