All your money are mine.
Posted on 07/07/2005 6:54:48 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
I don't know what it will take for the folks in control of this country to understand that reparations for slavery is going to happen. I can't say when it is going to happen, but it will. Despite legal setbacks, black conservatives and David Horowitz, reparations is the best way to build a bridge across our great divide. Otherwise, African Americans and Caucasians will just keep sniping away at each other.
Even kids get tired of bickering.
Yet, a sincere apology is a hard thing for most of us. When we've wronged someone, I mean really shamefully wronged them in a way that you wouldn't want anyone to know about, saying "I'm sorry" can get stuck in your throat.
That's why reparations has been a hairball in America's throat for a century.
It seemed that U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle had the same problem when he issued his opinion dismissing a lawsuit filed by slave descendants seeking reparations from corporations that benefitted from slave labor.
Norgle acknowledged slavery caused "tremendous suffering and ineliminable scars." But he ruled attempts to bring claims "over a century old are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations."
Obviously, he knows his reasoning places an unrealistically high barrier for slave descendants -- just as everyone knows slavery was a "malignant impact, in body and spirit," as Norgle pointed out.
We know what would have happened had the sons and daughters of ex-slaves tried to get their day in a Mississippi or Alabama or Virginia court. They would have been beaten by angry mobs. And if they had persisted in protesting, they would have been lynched. And their sons and their daughters would have likely suffered the same fate.
But Norgle ignores this violent history against African Americans when he says that plaintiffs in this suit pleaded "vague factual generalities [and] chronicling the social and economic injustices that have befallen African-Americans due to slavery."
All suffering not the same
In his conclusion, he devotes a few lines to condemning slavery and takes paragraphs to praise efforts made to end slavery, without ever mentioning that the Civil War itself was fought to prevent the spread of slavery -- not to end it.
In fact, Norgle goes on and on about the war, pointing out that approximately 620,000 people died (he forgot some of them were black people), and that 360,000 were Union troops.
"Union soldiers, sailors and marines gave their lives on bloody battlefields and the sea to maintain one sovereign nation in which slavery would be eradicated," Norgle wrote. "The impact of this struggle on the families of the wounded and the dead is immeasurable and lasting."
The impact of the war on the Union was "significant," Norgle said, reminding the plaintiffs that the "enslavers" also sustained great personal and economic loss.
It must have taken a lot of self-control to keep the slave descendants from reacting. I have only a vague knowledge of my slave roots. But to know your slave ancestor's name, and to know details about his or her life makes them more than dry bones.
In the end, Norgle sounds like reparations aren't needed.
The "sensitive ear has heard the collective 'thank you' from those who were freed," he wrote, as well as hearing the "historic apologies in words and deeds from persons of good will for the evils of slavery."
No wonder Conrad Worrill, chairman of the National Black United Front, denounced Norgle as "just a liar."
Sets stage for serious dialogue
Too many slaves were lost before they ever reached America. Too many were maimed. Too many were killed before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. And if they survived the horrors of slavery, too many ex-slaves didn't have a thing to pass on to their children -- not even their own names.
The collective "thank-you" for black freedom can be found in a Negro spiritual, "Free at las', free at las', I thank God I'm free at las.' "
Long after these ex-slaves were dead, their descendants were still enduring the brunt of the ugliest of human behavior: racial hatred. After slavery ended, too many whites grabbed sheets and took sport in lynching black people just because they could. And too many whites used intimidation and violence to steal black land for the statutes of limitations to be an issue.
Although Norgle threw out the complaint, this lawsuit has given the reparations movement a huge boost. Along with local ordinances -- like the one in Chicago that requires corporations doing business with the city to research their ties to slavery -- the reparations lawsuit has forced the courts to take this issue seriously.
More important, Norgle points out reparations is a matter that should be left with the president and Congress.
That's the only point where Norgle and I agree.
Given the country is enmeshed in another war, President Bush should have at least coughed up the nation's apology for slavery by now.
My message is simple to this author.
GFY!! And if you don't like America, LEAVE !!!!
What a baboonery.
Given the current state of world affairs I think anyone who is descended from someone brought here against their will should be grateful...I can't imagine that living in Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe or about a hundred other countries could be preferable to the opportunity bought by their forebears for them.
It's all about money. This generation of African-Americans is looking for a big bunch of free money. Love that green.
HOW many TIMES do we have to APOLOGIZE?????? I've never gotten an apology for the injustices done to my likely Roman ancestors.....sheesh.....get over it, and get a life.
Eventually folks are going to wonder what it was that divided them.
BTW, all of my 8 Great Great Grandfathers paid a personal apology for slavery directly to the slaves they liberated, and mostly by shooting Confederates dead, or burning down their towns. Only someone who places no value on liberty would even think of "raparations" in this case.
We'll see Christ walking on water before these clowns see a dime out of any of this...
I don't know, these people are nothing if not persistent.
Reparations to taxpayers! They're the real slaves of the latter-day African-Americans.
Slavery reparations were paid with the blood of 360,000 Union soldiers who died to set them free.
All your money are mine.
No one alive today wronged anyone in terms of slavery. I suppose many people on the side of reparations think they deserve some of the "governments money". Well, guess what. There is no such thing. Every dime the gubmint has comes from taxpayers WHO HAVE NEVER OWNED A SLAVE.
So here is my proposal. Anyone who believes they are entitled to reparations should consider themselves already paid. The fact that you live in the US, and not Africa, should be good enough.
heehee
OK, OK, dammit, here goes. I do hereby formally and sincerely apologize to each and every slave I have owned. Please forgive me.
Now I demand all the blacks who owned slaves to issue their apology!!! (If you doubt the foregoing happened, check out the 1850 census for Orleans Parish, Louisiana.)
Whow will be required to pay? Who will receive reparatations? If you are black had a black ancestor who was a slave owner do you have to pay? If I am white and can prove that I have a black ancestor 7 generations back that was a black slave do I get paid, too? I can show that I had relatives who fought and died for the Uninon in the Civil War, Am I exempt?
Here is an idea. Give every black person in America who can prove their ancestry in the US goes back pre-Civil
War $40,000 (that is a LOT of money in Africa) as the board a plane the the African country of their choice and papers forever renouncing their citizenship. If they don't want that deal, they can shut the hell up.
****** reparations is the best way to build a bridge across our great divide. *******
If you think stealing my hard earned money to pay some person who had a great grandfather who was a slave is going to bridge any gap between the races you are full of crap. Stealing my money to pay these people is going to piss me off.Bad. Reparations is a bad idea put forth by stupid politicians trying to buy a black vote at the taxpayers expense.
I will vote for slave reparations right after the following:
1. All African nations and Arabs involved in rounding up and selling black slaves apologize and pay a huge chunk of money to these descendants.
2. All the nations of the world who bought slaves agree to pay up.
3. All formerly enslaved people everywhere are loosed and reparations made--i.e. Sudan, Indian Nations who enslaved weaker tribes.
4. The descendants of US slaves all write or sign a statement of gratitude for having ended up as US citizens, and agree to sign their reparations over for payment to the national debt
5. Julian Bond apologizes to Republicans for his outrageous comments.
Ain't holdin' my breath.
vaudine
Now that is something to think about. Glad you said it.
My view on the reparation crap has always been: 1) sue the tribe leaders that sold you into slavery. 2) I, or my 'tree', had nothing to do with this. 3) you take my tax dollars for this sham, you will be 're-paid' - in triple.
LVM
Wow, what a wonderful idea. Build a bridge by pointing a gun at one group, robbing them, and handing the money to another group... none of which were alive when the offenses were committed.
I wonder which group I'll be in?
Um, what about welfare? Food stamps? Can we deduct those amounts from our reparations payments?
Tell ya what. I'll agree to pay reparations. Here's the deal.
I'll give every native-born black person in America $1 million. In addition, I'll give the same people an additional $1 million for every year that they themselves were slave.
So, if you qualify for being a) black and b) a slave for 12 years, for example, you would receive $13 million.
So far, so good.
I will then deduct the costs of the following:
*The Civil War
*Prisons
*Schools
*Affirmative Action
*Public Housing
*Busing
*Hospitals
*Public Transportation
*Gerrymandered Congressional Districts
*Title IX
*The Welfare State
*Food Stamps
*School Breakfasts and Lunches
*Head Start
*The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department
*The EEOC
*Every Civil Rights lawsuit since Dred Scott
*Pain and Suffering for Jesse, Rev Al, OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson and Maxine Waters
*Midnight Basketball
*Crack
*Gang-related Crime
*Gangsta rap-related crime
*Riot-related damages to Detroit, Newark, Los Angeles, New York and any other city with more than 50,000 people where such activities took place.
*Special,one-time "Future Grievance Fee" (+)
(+) this one-time fee is to be pooled to pay for the inevitable lawsuits, protests, etc, that will be lodged when the vast majority of recipients will do something totally against their self-interest with their new found wealth --- like squander it --- and spawn 17 ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/MSNBC specials on the plight of the unfortunate.
In return, the subject or reparations is to be dropped and the case considered closed, vis-a-vis the historical wrongs of slavery. We agree that the 14th Amendment is in full force (both ways) and that no other lawsuits, grievances, protests, demonstrations, etc. will be had on this subject.
Do I have any takers?
(Posted this yesterday on the other reparations thread)
Let me see...social security is going broke, medcare is probably already broke, the US Govt is running huge deficits as it is, we have a WOT, corporations are defaulting on their pensions (and the taxpayers must pick up the tab), we have illegals streaming across the border & straining social services, Bono wants us to contribute 0.7% of GDP for foreign aid (and what Bono wants, Bono gets) and on top of all this (and more), America is supposed to pay trillions in reparations to the Black community?
The day that happens is the day I convert my nest egg to gold, buy a truckload of ammo, move to my mountain cabin and stop paying taxes. You want $$, come and get it!
Assessing "collective guilt", or "collective justice", less the customary 40% attorneys fee, has nothing to do with "building a bridge".
To say nothing of the fact that without the facilitating by various arab nations of the time (and now as well!) there would have been NO slave trade to begin with.
WHere are the articles requesting reparations and apologies from those folks? I suggest the author of this latest hit piece (it all comes down to President Bush's failures and shortcomings, you know) research the subject more thoroughly and write an article about the background and the facilitators of the slave trade in those times.
In fact, most people who paid any attention at all, know that African tribes sold their own people to the Arabs who in turn sold them in various countries, including the southern United States. Shouldn't reparations be paid by those tribes who committed atrocities against their own people?
The entire subject makes me sick. It's a joke and I find it hard to believe that people are still writing about it as tho there is any sense to it.
Karl Rove is at the root of it all. We all know how diabolical he can be.
Yes, you should go down to the border near Nogales and fleece the illegals as they come across.
Similar to Lincoln's colonization plan.
They shoulda taken him up on the offer.
By the way Slavery still exists in East Africa. When is someone going to do anything about that???????????
Whose gonna pay for the lost assets of the slave holders?
This article, and all the others like it, are merely setting the stage for what is to come from the hands of several interested parties: trial lawyers, now that they've gorged themselves of the tobacco settlements of a gang of state AGs, black race-hustlers and their legions of duped followers, large corporations, and leftists in and out of government. It's now at the stage where gay marriage was a decade ago.
As I understand it from some lawyers I've talked to about this (who are oppposed to it), the scam is going to happen like this:
1. Set the stage with plenty of articles, broadcast news stories, city-council resolutions, letters to the editor, rent-a-mobs in local meetings, etc. The idea is to soften up any opposition so that in time, anyone who openly opposes the idea will be seen as an extremist - and ultimately get smeared as a racist.
2. Bring a series of lawsuits against large corporations whose corporate ancestors might have been involved in some way with either the slave trade itself, or some other aspect of slavery (like insuring slaveowners against escapes, etc.). The corporate response, which we've already seen (Wachovia, just last week) will be to grovel to the hustlers and promise even more racial preferences, which they already are firm believers in. The first suit has already been filed. Those filing it know that they've next to no change of winning. That's not the point. It's to wear down the opposition over time. Corporations don't like spending lots of money in court - it's expensive. The leftists who run law schools, and control vast amounts of foundation wealth have money to burn endlessly in dragging the issue through court.
3. Once the corporations cave - it's cheaper to settle up than to die the death of a thousand cuts, after all - they will run to the politicians on their payroll for a bailout courtesy of the taxpayer, which will be paid primarily to the law firms and the race-hustlers. The drones who follow the race-hustlers will get some sort of small payment, but mostly promises of permanently enshrined racial preferences in hiring, promotion, educational opportunities, etc.
Unless there is major sea-change in this country among the majority population, this will take place in some form in about ten to fifteen years. You can count on it. There's just too much money to be leached by the swarms of parasites.
There's your reparations.
hmmm...sounds like they should be going after the natives in Africa who sold their ancestors into slavery.
i would bet almost anything that reparations will be paid.
there is too much money to be made by big corporations from this for it not to happen.
Which big corporations? GM(Cadillac), KFC, Sony, Nike, Reebok?? Change in my portfolio is just a mouse click away.
Interesting analysis and, sadly, very plausible. Corporatings caving is one thing. As you point out, in many ways "caving" will strongly resemble what they are already doing + payments to law firms.
However, I can't see the US Government paying "reparations" to black citizens given all the other competing priorities, not to mention indignation among non-black taxpayers. If they succeed, where does it stop? There is no end to the list of people who have been wronged (however slightly) in one way, shape, or form by the Government.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I have always been mystified by racial grievance mongers who pontificate on the glorious Nirvana that their lives would be had they only been left in Mother Africa, notwithstanding the general quality of life there. Since most American blacks have some measure of Caucasian genealogical ancestry, and since slavery was the transmission belt that enabled the mixing of their black and white ancestor's gene pools,(whether by rape,semi voluntary or voluntary associations) than what they are really saying is that they and their decendents would rather not exist.
I acknowledge the kidnapping and suffering of my African ancestors, and the resultant decades of slavery, oppresion, and discrimination that amounted to a monstrous crime for them. But the result was me and my family living in a nation that provides the most liberty and opportunity for any African descended people on earth. I am profoundly grateful to be here. I welcome the opportunity for any clarifcation of the historical record, and should that clarification reveal more evidence of the often bestial nature of the American institution of slavery, than we should unflinchingly face and acknowledge it. The historical record should be properly contextualized, and honestly examined without any attempt to inflate the crime beyond the actual truth of the injustice. The endless racial navel gazing, racial identity posturing, and puffed up grievance mongering should be rejected for the PC irrelevance that it is.
The main reason that I am not entitled to slavery reperations is because I was NOT ENSLAVED. I grew up in an era in which I remember all of the visible (literally) signs of Jim Crow when I visited relatives in the south in the early 60's. I experienced numerous physical racial attacks as my newly acquired Souh side Chicagoneighborhood underwent racial intergration. I experienced some minor racial discrimination at other times and places. The United States today is NO LONGER THE NATION THAT ONCE OFFICIALLY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IT'S CITIZENS, unless you wish to consider "Racial Preferences" for preferred minorities, admittedly still discrimination. None of that changes the fact that I am blessed to be a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of mankind, with a higher standard of living, opportunity and liberty than any other. I am proud to have enlisted and fought for this country as a soldier during the Vietnam era, despite all those who told me that no black man should do so on behalf of such a racist and oppressive nation.
Sometimes it seems as though the race industry merchants and class action lawyers would divide us into warring ethnic enclaves with mortar pits in the streets sniping at each other ala the Balkans, all of them seeking racial spoils with government help. This is nothing more than a cultural Marxist wealth redistribution scheme.
Since that is mentioned in the article, it obviously means nothing to you because that was then and this is now? Well, slavery was then too.
Another nonsense "cause" that would not exist if we weren't infested with lawyers.
First, let me thank you for your service. Without men like you our country would not be what it is. You are a real life hero.
Second, my great great grandma was black. She was married to a white man, so I do not know if she was a freed slave, the daughter of freed slaves, or if she was an immigrant. Given the time frame, I do not imagine she was an immigrant. I ought to do some checking.
Slavery, of any human being on any continent, is always a terrible thing. The years of slavery that we, as a country, endured were certainly not the first time slavery was in practice, and it also was not the last. It is still widespread in other countries, and there was a case last year in my hometown that involved Chinese immigrants.
I wonder why my country is still so torn regarding something that happened during a time in which none of us lived, and we certainly cannot understand.
It is over, and has been for generations. The only people who continue to cry foul are those who want something for nothing.
Massive Non-Compliance with Chicago Slavery Disclosure Law Revealed, and a Trail of Lies Exposed
--snip
Summary of Vendor Compliance with Chicago Slavery Era Disclosure Ordinance
(PRWEB) February 14, 2005 --In a statement released this morning, Dr. Conrad Worrill, Chairperson of the National Black United Front, denounced what he called "a pattern of massive non-compliance with the Chicago Slavery Era Disclosure Law, and a trail of lies that have been left in the public record by at least 41 companies and non-profits entities who do business with the City of Chicago."
"Bob Brown, our researcher," Dr. Worrill announced, "has proven that the Slavery Era Disclosure Ordinance has been willfully, repeatedly, and maliciously violated, by at least 41 Vendors who lied, withheld information, committed perjury, and/or failed to fully and truthfully fill out or submit their Certifications Regarding Slavery Era Business."
Mr. Brown is co-director of Pan-African Roots, and the author of a recently published book titled Slavery and the Slavery Trade Were and Are Crimes Against Humanity! "Research by Bob Brown, Deadria Farmer-Paellman, Alice Hammon, and numerous other academic and movement researchers, proves, without any legal doubt," Dr. Worrill stated, "that the predecessor entities of these and other Chicago Vendors invested in and/or profited from slavery, the slave industry, and/or slaveholder insurance policies from the slavery era; owned, held, mortgaged or leased slaves; and/or profited from damage to slaves or their injury or death."
The Vendors identified in Bob's report include: Catholic Church, Ilinois International Port District Landing, Air France, Iberia Airlines, British Air, Olin-Winchester, Tate & Lyle PLC, Bacardi Limited, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, Conwood Sales Company LP, Dimon Inc., Ligget & Meyers Tobacco Company,Lorillard Tobacco Company Inc., Philip Morris Companies Inc., RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., Standard Commercial Corporation, United States Tobacco Inc., Universal Corporation, Cargill, Incorporated, John Deere Company, Illinois Central Railroad, CSX Transportation, Inc., Kansas City Southern Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Co., Union Pacific Railroad, American Express, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Citi Bank, Citybank and Citigroup, Federal Express Corporation, Western Union, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One,Lehman Brothers, Lloyds TSB Bank, State Street Bank, Stern Brothers, Dun & Bradstreet Inc., UBS Financial Services Inc., Wells Fargo Bank, Georgetown University, Harvard University and the Chicago Tribune.
--end snips
On tonite's (7/13) O'Reilly Factor, the Unresolved Promblem segment will be about slavery "reparations."
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