Posted on 05/06/2012 1:18:51 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For more than 45 million black Americans, there are many issues that unite or divide us. Undoubtedly, the issue of reparations for African people in general and in particular for black Americans is an issue began as a divisive topic but now receives support from a board cross-section of blacks in America.
Of course, there are some who wanted to table a national discussion of reparations in the aftermath of the election of President Barack H. Obama. Yet, there were many others who have argued that now is the most propitious time to accelerate the national dialogue about reparations because there is a "brother" in the White House.
This is a pivotal year because of the November elections. Any issue that is related to race will be used by those who oppose to President Obama. The goal of conservatives is to polarize American voters to vote their racial prejudice instead of voting their conscience about the future of the nation as an inclusive participatory democracy.
Given the recent polarization around the calls for equal justice and fairness in the Trayvon Martin killing, it would be naïve to think that race will not play a factor in the upcoming elections. The truth is race is just not a problem that crept onto the national scene accidentally. Race has been a social, economic, and political problem in America for more than 200 years. This is nothing new. What is new, however, is how the victims of racism see themselves, and how the perpetrators of racism view themselves.
Fortunately, renowned legal scholars such as Harvard's Charles Ogletree and others have articulated a rational defense for reparations, which would be therapeutic not only for black Americans, but also for all Americans.
I have consistently supported the call and the demand for reparations that go beyond whatever monetary compensation. Reparations are also about "repairing the damage" that was done to millions of African people, not just in America, but in the Caribbean, Central and South America, in Africa and throughout the rest of the world.
The United Nations is slowly working on establishing a permanent memorial to the victims of the infamous trans-Atlantic slave trade. In Washington, D.C., the construction of the African American Museum has begun. The United States Senate has issued an "apology" for slavery. And in my home state of North Carolina, Gov. Bev Perdue has just called for the state to spend $10.3 million in "reparations" to the victims of a vicious eugenics state program that sterilized thousands of people against their will. Most of those who were unjustly and savagely sterilized were black. Again, no amount of money could ever justify or rectify that awful and callous past. Still, Gov. Perdue's actions are the right steps at the right time. Healing is a long-term process. It takes time. The perpetrators of racism need a "repairing" of their minds and hearts.
It is interesting to note that even amidst a recovering of the American economy from the threshold of severe economic ruin, billions of dollars are being spent by candidates and campaigns for political office throughout the U.S. like they have unlimited money-trees to spend without reservation or limitation. The point here is so much of the "old money" and ingrained wealth of the nation came directly from the systematic economic exploitation of African people during 500 years of slavery and post-slavery institution-building. That is why it will take a tremendous calculation to determine a full accounting of the financial and human toll of the slave trade and its aftermath. Harper's magazine did a study that concluded that the U.S. owes black Americans more than $100 trillion in reparations. It is probably more than that.
This may not be the perfect time to raise this issue. Judging by the past, there is never a perfect time. Today is as good as any time. Let's work harder on the issue of reparations. We can begin by supporting the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (NCOBRA), which will hold its national convention in Philadelphia, June 22-24. Reparations for black Americans should be supported by all Americans.
******
Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is president of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) and Education Online Services Corporation and serves as the national director of Occupy the Dream. He can be reached at drbenjamin.chavis@gmail.com
Interesting pic of the freckled and blue eyed “Doctor” (sic) Chavis.
What is he, maybe 1/4 African? At most?
Does that mean he gets a 1/4 reparation?
Or should his 1/4 African self get paid reparations from his 3/4 white self?
You can buy colored contacts at a kiosk in a 3rd rate mall. Many light-skinned blacks sport freckles and some even have reddish or blonde hair.
No one alive has owned a slave. No one alive has been a slave. Also, what does the wrriter think the last 50 years of welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, Section 8 and affirmative action have been?
The remainder of what I REALLY want to say would get me banned. It is enough to say certain sections of the population are lazy, worthless parasites looking to take as much as they can from those that work, so they do not have to lift a finger to support themselves.
Yes, but as they say that’s “unsustainable” and can’t go on much longer.
Reparations have already been paid many times over. If not for slave ancestors, the current U. S. black population could be residing in mud huts or on the run in Darfur to avoid ethnic cleansing or starving in Somalia.
Affirmative Action, Welfare, Food Stamps, Hate Crime laws, Minority "Rights", EBT's, etc., etc.
We've raped taxpayers of their earnings to buy the Black Vote for Democrats, to keep them on The Plantation, and there is NO PROGRESS whatsoever in making Blacks responsible for their own outcomes, as we have a 4th Generation of parasites in EVERY Major City, where 75%+ of the children have no fathers in the home, no fathers identified to pay for their actions, and drug use and gang cultures abound. Until we realize that cutting off the handouts, drug-testing of recipients, and MANDATORY DNA-matching to identify the responsible fathers while removing rewards of more $$$ to repeat mothers who have no income other than from OTHERS to live on, we will NOT see a change.
There's a reason why Africans still are a 3rd World Country, because they have the same tribal mentality and lack of responsible thought processes.
Black African Slavers like Barrock Hussein Obama and Spike Lee?
Those welfare-sucking slugs better figure out fast how to support themselves. I have no problem assisting those that CANNOT help themelves, such as the elderly, the physically infirm or the truly mentally ill.(The ones if asked what color is the sky in their world would truthfully answer purple.)
I do have an issue with my hard-earned tax dollars being stolen from me and given to those that WILL NOT work. Those that make all the wrong decisions(never graduating high school, eight different kids by eight different sperm donors) and expect their personal irresponsibility to be my permanent financial liability.
The GOAL of Democrats is to make sure 95% of Blacks vote for their token Black, as they did in 2008, so what's the difference in the "racist" issue on both sides.
The DIFFERENCE is that Conservatives would vote for a Black ELIGIBLE, VETTED, and RESPONSIBLE Black Candidate (an Allen West, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, etc.-type), whereas they will not vote for "a white dude" in the Black Community, UNLESS he is a Progressive/Vote-Buying-with-TAXPAYER EARNINGS'CONFISCATION-type, and has a (D) next to his name.
BEcause you’ve benefitted from the racist system that rewards whitey and keeps the Black Man down.
Reparations? How’s this formula.
Take the average income of a subsaharan African, subtract from this an A-A’s income (including government dole). If the number is positive they get a check, if the number is negative they have to fork over the difference and shut their pie hole for the rest of their lives.
“I will move to another country the day it’s enacted.”
Not me. I won’t abandon my country in its death throes. But I will most certainly join “the resistance.”
Also, since my ancestors were in the Union Army, who LIBERATED the slaves, I demand compensation from their descendants for all the hardships and suffering they went through.
Benny for Secretary of Commerce....the trouble with this once great country ....{and i think i speak here without contradiction..} IS:
We got too many ole white guys gummin up the mix...From day one we know that know nothings like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine and their ilk have stood in the way of real progress in America. What we need is a good dose of hip hop from and by the Hippy Hoppy Nation. Like ‘THE ONE’ himself a hip hopper is sure to put us on the right track once more and may show us the way the truth and, not inconsequentially, the light....Bring on the Hip Hopper IN Chief and all his friends ‘n give ‘em a reparation r two while yer at it.
MAH BRAS, CAN I HEAR AN AMEN?!?
Benign Neglect Forever...that’s the ticket..
‘BAM! I’m Irish and I want MY MONEY NOW’
Dast ye leave out the German Dutch, laddie buck?
Ach du leiber, mein Herr...sagen, es ist nicht so!
“Kunta Kinte”
Cool. We demand reparations for the damage to all civilian private property, all pain and suffering during the Civil War to my family and all related branches from anyone who benefited or profited from said violence.
40 acres and a Lexus, dang it!
Note also the pure projection of claming that conservatives are the ones using race to divide Americans.
My Dutch side has entirely different case!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.