Posted on 09/08/2001 1:45:25 PM PDT by MosesKnows
Two things that were called to my attention this week connected to provide a clear position on the issue of black reparations.
The first came about as a result of a conversation with my brother-in-law, which included his daughter and her boyfriend. My niece’s boyfriend is a political major and had impressed my brother-in-law and me with his answer to a constitutional question.
The discussion turned to black reparations with the observation that black spokesmen had altered their position regarding the meaning of the confederate flag. The reason proffered by the black leaders to bring down the South Carolina flag was that the flag stood for the confederacy and the confederacy stood for slavery.
However, when the subject of reparations arise and it is suggested that the civil war was adequate reparations for freeing an enslaved people the black leaders take a different position. Now the civil war was no longer about slavery but rather now, it was about state’s rights. I am amused when I ponder that if the civil war was won for state’s rights why doesn’t the state of South Carolina have the state’s right to decide what flag to fly and where to fly it.
I mentioned the more than 400 years of slavery and my brother-in-law quickly corrected me. He claimed 89 years of slavery at most, maybe less. I was quick to point out that the first slaves arrived in 1619 via a Dutch ship right up the road from us in Jamestown, Virginia.
His explained his assertion. The United States of America did not become a legal entity until the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and perhaps as late as the ratification of the Constitution in 1789. The 89 years from 1776 until the end of the civil war in 1865 are the 89 years he had referred to. I agreed with his assertion except I felt it should be the time from the ratification of the Constitution to the end of the Civil War.
In any case, that was the first thing. The second thing was a result of examining the nation’s transition from slave states before the civil war to all free states after the civil war.
Winning a civil war does not alter the Constitution. The Constitution the people established required an amendment to reflect that slavery, which was once legal and allowed, were no longer legal, or allowed.
The transition from slave to free states is found in the 14th amendment to the Constitution. Lo and behold, the issue of reparations is also made clear by the 14th amendment.
A quick review of the 14th amendment.
The Ratification of Article XIV of the Constitution was completed on July 9, 1868.
Article XIV of the Constitution consist of five sections. Section I provides that all persons born here are citizens, section II defines who counts, section III prohibits enemies or spies from elected office, unless congress approves, and section V gives congress the power to enforce.
The fourth section is what interested me in regard to the transition from slave to free states and how that connects to the issue of reparations. Read section IV of Article XIV before reading further.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
I believe the 14th amendment speaks for itself and will not comment further. However, I am interested in your comments.
The nation was free of slavery when we arrived and has remained so ever since. My family does not own whatever the descendants of slaves feel they are owned.
I was moved by the words of Martin Luther King when he spoke of his dream “that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
Did Martin Luther King’s dream include the descendants of slaves seeking payment from the descendants of legal slave owners?
I feel the same, but could not come close to putting it on paper like you did.
Good job.
These people really believe that we a a democracy, not a Republic. As long as an elected government passes a law, or an activist judiciary creates a new one, that is all the "constitution" they care about.
If there votes to be had, or money to be made for trial lawyers, they'll pass this, no matter what!
Yes, that is the problem. I have had it patiently explained to me (in the manner of an adult speaking to a very small child) that we have a 3-part government, and if the executive, legislative and judicial branches all agree on something, then of course it is "constitutional" !!!
If the left were sincerely concerned about injustices to blacks, they would do something about inner city schools. But they won't. They want blacks to be dumb, depressed and Democrat. That is why they are floating reparations. They are giving their most loyal voters false hope (reparations will never happen ) and someone to blame when their hopes are crushed.
The South and the North as it was no longer "lives" except in memory of history, for any of us. It is simply not going to happen. Rev. Jackson has proved himself to be a fraudulent opportunist, so giving credence to his "speaking", is about enriching his pockets only.
Who cares what he thinks? My opinion.
Are you admitting that "misreading" the Constitution is a concept you are not familar with, until now?
Twisting words to suit a particular agenda has been acceptable for some time now. It is often referred to as spin.
My agenda is to not pay reparations. What is your agenda?
It has worked, to engage people in dialogue regarding a topic; and the first thing we know, it has forged ahead as a legitimate and bonified subject.
Do not discuss it, seriously. It is a joke. Laugh. ... My view.
1. Europe, the Mid-east, Africa and ALL of the Americas played a part in slavery. In fact South America and the Carribean received about 80% of the slaves that came over.
2.Many different people have been held in slavery at different times in the human experience. White serfs in Europe were near slaves. Whites came here as indentured servants (i.e. non-paid laborers = slaves) The Romans enslaved Germans, Jews, Celts, Britons, etc. etc.
3. Blacks have already received repriations by being accepted into our society, receiving social benefits, free education, etc. etc. and by being allowed to be citizens rather than being shipped back to Africa.
-bc
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