This question is part of a much larger debate: what does society owe the descendants of enslaved and colonised people?
Nothing. So, that’s settled and job done.
What does society owe to those currently oppressed? Why, to alleviate their oppression of course. Varied of the northern/Arab/Muslim Sahel peoples still enslave varied of the southern/darkie/Christian/animist Sahel peoples. It’s difficult to look at North Korea, or Cuba, and say that’s not enslavement to an idiot socialism. So, to be anti-slavery is to be against those things and to be suggesting methods of dealing with them.
The stuff that ended centuries ago, well, it ended centuries ago, dinnit?
“The idea of reparations is controversial,”
No, it’s an idiot idea. Now bugger off.
“No, it’s an idiot idea. Now bugger off”.
OK Tim, now apply that mindset to global warming…..
$100m
Amount pledged by Harvard University to carry out recommendations from its 2022 report into its links to slavery
Harvards total endowment stood at $53.2bn in 2021. This pledge amounts to nearly 0.19% of the total so they’re obviously taking it very seriously. Plus it sets a useful benchmark for other virtue-signalling institutions as who among the great and good would question the wisdom and integrity of Harvard?
“If we keep banging on about this issue, it will become easier to threaten organisations into giving us money.”
I’ve just been reading a potted history of Crimea, we were amateurs when it comes to slave trading.
No luv. It’s a grift pushed by grifters and race baiters. The only answer for whom is short shrift or failing that a bloody nose.
So we have two sub-Saharan Africans telling white people that we should give them free money. F**k right off with that…
We already spent 3.5% of our GDP* for over a century, and thousands of lives, stamping out the Atlantic slave trade, engaging in what is legally international piracy and regime change. I think we’ve spent enough.
*That’s FIVE TIMES what we spend on internation aid today, on ONE SINGLE PROJECT.
Simply giving somebody money for a wrong (which is ALL “reparations” comes down to) is often considered as insulting, and rightly so.
What? fifty thousand for my dead child? How dare you! I want justice, I want whoever did it behind bars!
Given that no slaver still lives (white ones anyway – and yes pedants, I am omitting various current white traffickers in this which is perfectly fair as the money greedy grifters ignore the as well), there can be no justice visited on those actually responsible (including the black kings etc who did the actual enslaving), all that remains is money, which, to anybody with an ounce of self respect WOULD be an insult.
Money though, is at least neutral for want of a better word. While a few hundred grand would, in the vast majority of cases where it to actually, just be pissed away, a given individual could use it to generally and genuinely improve themselves if they so chose.
But the other forms of “reparations”: “Diversity” hiring, quotas, “decolonising” (i.e. debasing the standards of) whatever field of knowledge/institution etc etc are, perhaps, even worse and even more demeaning as well as being damaging to everybody.
Any claim, request demand or anything else for “reparations”, even the politest request to “instigate a conversation” should be met with two words, one of which should be fuck.
Barak Obama’s family went to the USA, not in a slave ship, but of their own choice, thus allowing him to be born in America (allegedly). I would suggest, therefore, if his ancestry was traced back, it is extremely likely that his family was involved in the slave trade. Unfortunately, with only four multi million dollar properties, it would no doubt be difficult for him to find the readies for reparations, if he was asked to contribute.
So it’s not just about giving the grifters all your money, you need to abase yourself and seek forgiveness for something you didn’t do. And said forgiveness will not be forthcoming.
Penseivat
Barry’s dad was Kenyan I believe. I assume that they had slavery pre British rule, but it was generally from warfare, I would guess.
Obama wouldn’t qualify, but Meghan Markle would: the California reparations proposal is for descendants of slaves only. No doubt there are people with 1/16th or 1/32nd slave ancestry – possibly even whiter than Meghan – who would also qualify.
Markle, being black, will almost certainly be eligible for gibs.
To save time and bank charges perhaps hubby could simply pay the necessary millions into their joint account
Meanwhile it’s unclear after Thursdays court decision whether her half-sister, who now officially isn’t so to speak, would qualify for anything as apparently she never existed (or even if she did she still wasn’t who she was).
Mr Justice Cocklecarrot would feel completely at home with that level of legal reasoning (and maybe the Prince of Privacy is descended from one of the famous red-bearded dwarves, as opposed to anything embarrassing).
“No, it’s an idiot idea. Now bugger off”.
OK Tim, now apply that mindset to global warming…
And carbon tax.