PLAYER57832 wrote:Moral and ethical for those who are responsible. The problem today is that far too many people who's ancestors are not responsible would be asked to pay.
the us government would pay.
At the time slavery happened, it was the societal norm, not just in the US, but in most of Africa. None of that justifies it, but who, exactly is to pay? The africans who first conquered and sold other peoples? The Europeans who got wealthy off the trade while claiming ignorance of the result? The Americans who bought and sold people? What of those who are descended from the guilty?
see above
Also, as was mentioned in another thread, are the people here, today, better off or worse off those those in Africa? In many cases, they are actually better off... in many cases, Particularly for women, better off by far. That in no way, shape or form justifies slavery, but it does beg the question whether, at this point, reparations are really due.
oh my god. if you mug a black dude you don't get off because the black guy is "better off" living here than in america. a wrong has been committed, and it is incumbent upon us to right it.
this is not to mention that the slave trade and other european activities in africa over the course of the past five centuries are the
sole reason why africans living in america are "better off" than the africans in africa. WE fucked africa up. and now you want to use the tragedy of billions to justify the tragedy of millions, when the blood from both is pretty squarely on our collective hands. that is fucking disgusting.
Also, though slavery is often attributed strictly to blacks, in fact people of all races were enslaved. Whites were bondservants. They had definite advantage over others in that they were more often able to gain freedom and once free, they became like any other settler or colonists. Blacks could gain freedom, but were never "just like anyone else". However, Chinese, Mexicans, etc and certainly Native Americans were all enslaved.
we owe reparations to the descendants of all people who were enslaved, although i would say not for indentured servitude, which while a horrible institution, did not have the same sort of long-lasting effects that slavery did. the descendants of white slaves have also had their reparations in the form of the aforementioned systemic bias that exists in favor of all white people.
If anyone is owed reparations, I would say it is not the blacks, it is native americans.
we pay native americans tons of money already. we owe them a lot of land which rightfully belongs to them, too, but that's an issue for another day.
