Slavery Reparations

Spartanburg Herald-Journal ^ | March 31,2002

[doosee]

What percent of blacks were slaves in 1865? Were they all slaves?

In the entire nation, the % was likely under 30% but this is just a guess. There were many free blacks in the south and also the blacks owned slaves. I did see a statistic that in the south ONLY 2% of white families ever owned a slave. The rest were too poor to afford a slave.

[NerdDad]

Hey, now there's an angle I haven't seen before. We should explore this. We too, could own a casino. Sounds like a bit for Rush to have fun with.

It's been too many computer books ago to be able to quote or cite, but I recall reading a couple years ago that a very large percentage (over 30%) of all whites brought to the new world by/as early settlers were indentured servants (slaves). Blacks were not the only--or even the first--slaves in this country. The difference is that most (I said most) of the white slaves used hard work and personal initiative to overcome a bad situation. There was no government tit for them to glom onto in those days.

[NerdDad]

Amen to that. Have a splash of Cherokee (mom's Grandmother) in my blood. Seems to me that the native Americans have the first claim to any of these mythical reparations.

[lowbridge]

Local Man Gets 5 Years In Slavery-Fund Scheme

Batts was accused of bilking thousands of dollars from 12 people, claiming he could get them millions of dollars for being decendents of slaves.

[freekitty]

This is really sad. I truly hope someday that people will stand up and do the right thing.

[FairWitness]

Re: "What percent of blacks were slaves in 1865?" Following is from the U.S. Census for 1860:

State	AGGR. NO. OF FREE COLORED PERSONS	TOTAL POPULATION	TOTAL NO. OF SLAVES
ALABAMA	2,690	964,201	435,080
ARKANSAS	144	435,450	111,115
CALIFORNIA	4,086	379,985	M
CONNECTICUT	8,627	460,138	M
DELAWARE	19,829	112,216	1,798
FLORIDA	932	140,424	61,745
GEORGIA	3,500	1,057,286	462,198
ILLINOIS	7,628	1,711,942	M
INDIANA	11,428	1,350,419	M
IOWA	1,069	674,904	M
KANSAS	625	107,206	2
KENTUCKY	10,684	1,155,684	225,483
LOUISIANA	18,647	708,002	331,726
MAINE	1,327	628,270	M
MARYLAND	83,942	687,049	87,189
MASSACHUSETTS	9,602	1,231,057	M
MICHIGAN	6,799	749,104	M
MINNESOTA	259	172,014	M
MISSISSIPPI	773	791,305	436,631
MISSOURI	3,572	1,182,012	114,931
NEBRASKA	67	28,841	15
NEVADA	45	6,848	M
NEW HAMPSHIRE	494	326,064	M
NEW JERSEY	25,318	672,035	M
NEW YORK	49,005	3,880,726	M
NORTH CAROLINA	30,463	992,622	331,059
OHIO	36,673	2,339,502	M
OREGON	128	52,456	M
PENNSYLVANIA	56,949	2,906,206	M
RHODE ISLAND	3,952	174,611	M
SOUTH CAROLINA	9,914	703,708	402,406
TENNESSEE	7,300	1,109,801	275,719
TEXAS	355	604,215	182,566
VERMONT	709	315,089	M
VIRGINIA	58,042	1,596,318	490,865
WISCONSIN	1,171	775,872	M

[FairWitness]

Link for data in Table (and much more data) is here.

[MarkL]

I salute your family. They carved out a life for themselves here. With the logic of the reparations movement,you could sue Russia for the rough times they caused Poland - but your family is probably better people than that.

Thank You. Sometimes I wonder if I'd have the "intestinal fortitude" to do what they did: I hope so. My grandfather (mother's father) grew up in Poland, and experienced the pogroms, but eventually wound up working, making boots for the Czar's army, just before the Russian Revolution. He lost his wife in one of the pogroms, but his children survived. He arrived in the US in the 1920's, hoping to eventually bring his family across. In the early 1930's he tried to convince his children to come to the US, but they had families of their own, and decided to stay in Poland. Of course, they never made it out.

He lived a hard life, but made a good life for his family, after remarrying in 1933. He married a widdow with 2 sons and 4 daughters, and they had a daughter together, who was my mother.

Like I said, everyone has a history of pain and loss. Most people get on with their lives: Others use it as an excuse.

Mark

[Mortimer Snavely]

Great link! Thanks for posting this!

[HENRYADAMS]

That so called reparations are even a topic of discussion speaks volumes as to just how sick Western Civilization has become.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I don't think reparations have much to do with Western Civ.

[Libloather]

Would there have been slavery if certain African individuals and companies didn't capture people and prep them for sale? The lawsuit maybe going after the wrong folks...

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Like I said, everyone has a history of pain and loss.

I believe one of the cornerstone tenants of Marxism is class warfare. Unless you can divide people into classes you cannot exploit the pain and loss. Blacks feel that are a seperate class. Most kids raised in government schools today feel that this "class conscienceness" is just fine and dandy.

So, if your ancestors suffered and my ancestors suffered then I can say Polish suffering is not equal to Black suffering I win in the class warfare realm. Keep the differences accentuated and you can have grievances for thousands of years.

[lonestar]

Add to that all welfare payments made in the past subtracted from reparations, and they might come out on the short end of the stick!

[mini_teacup]

Not all Africans were slaves back then. A friend of mine had an interesting book written about the wealthy African Americans back then who also owned African slaves. So i wonder if they will be sueing that family, along with the other black families (according to this book there were quite a few) who put them into slavery? Another friend of mine whose mother in law lives in Africa told her she did not understand the point, since most of the slaves brought over were slaves in Africa. So all in all they were moved from Africa where they were slaves, to America where they were still slaves. Maybe they should sue the people in Africa who sold them to the big bad white ppl in America? There were also many African women in New Orleans who willingly had children as a pre arranged type situation so they could have a nice home, dresses, attend balls, and also OWN SLAVES. I am sure the spin put on this now is they were somehow forced to do so, dispite the homes, jewels, clothing, children,balls, and social standing they received. Either way 140 yrs later should I still be complaining as well? After all I am hispanic and my ancestors were forced into missions and forced to build the railways in CA, along with chinese immigrants. Maybe I can sue Amtrack? LOL! I bet I can find a distant great great great second or third cousin 100 times removed who worked on the railways.

[Maceman]

I would agree with reparations, if their provision would end all affirmative action, equal oppornity programs.

I wouldn't. Trading one evil for another is no solution. "Affirmative Action" and "Equal Opportunity" should be abolished on their own lack of merit. Adding another gross injustice to the mix will accomplish nothing.

[Maceman]

I'm fat--can I sue the makers of cholocate, pizza and beer?

Coming soon to a jurisdiction near you.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

You and I might be related. I am related to the seven Hessian Shively brothers captured at Dover, forced to fight for Washington and then settled in Pennsylvania. Small World!

[randog]

These lawsuits are unlikely to succeed in court. But they may intimidate companies into settlement. No corporation wants to see its name constantly linked to slavery. Such settlements would be nothing more than blackmail payoffs.

I would actually like to see the courts give this lawsuit some serious consideration. Corporations have been spineless in the face of civil rights extortion, bowing to the baseless demands of Jesse Jackass, NAACP, and others by paying for the privlege of not being labeled racist by these criminals. Perhaps with the threat of serious financial hardship, the loss of business, and potential bankruptcy will corporations finally find the intestinal fortitude to stand up to these thugs.