As far as reparations go, as mentioned a few posts ago, I wouldn't have a set number. That would take time and research.
Off the top, I would be happy with a GENUINE effort by the government to eliminate poverty in America. Not just for blacks, but for everybody. You can't make everyone independently wealthy, but every person living on this planet has 3 basic needs: food, clothing, and shelter. So, on that note, an honest effort to fix these needs would be an excellent start.
Handing black people, say, a million dollar check isn't the answer, because they'll just blow the money on stupid shit and a year later most will be right back in the same predicament. A good start to 'reparations' would be:
Low cost housing. This is not to be confused with cheaply constructed housing. Give everyone adequate living conditions, clean, running water, heating and air. Lord knows the poor struggle mightily in the winter time. Keeping food on the table, along with rising bills and broken homes (with rigged heating, boarded up windows, etc). it's rough.
Food. I don't know what's the stigma about food stamps. Shit, i wish I could get them. I don't know why people abuse this system. It's basically free money, designed to be spent ONLY on food items. There's always a need for food. I don't know. Too many idiots abuse it.
Clothing. In the ghetto, many kids of the same size have to share clothes. This is a real self-esteem killer and psyche destroyer. Kids with low self esteem grow up to be adults with low self esteem.
Eduction. This should actually be #1, actually, because black people need to change their culture, and it starts with being more aware. Educational programs for all levels, including adults who dropped out, new drop-outs, and those who graduated but need further education for better hiring opportunities. Smarter people know how to handle their finances better and live better in general. This also includes job and skills training.
Affordable medicine. Too many black people go too long without checkups, many times for fixable conditions that escalate into something worse. In all honesty, many can't afford to go, which many times means taking off work from their already low paying jobs. Simple conditions like high blood pressure (from continuously stressful lives) just escalate and lead to greater medical issues and shorter lives. It's a vicious cycle.
Taking care of these needs would be a great start.
Originally Posted by Rambro Creed
I, for one, will never see a million dollars in my lifetime in my bank account. I will be pretty pissed if I hear that Denzel Washington got a check for a million dollars from me and a bunch of other white people who never had anything to do with slavery just because he was black. Or if Obama got half a million dollars for his black African father.
Your problem, besides being a faux black man, is that you have not done the research or number crunching. In a civil action the court besides finding fault has to find the degree of fault. If you have three defendants they may have differing levels of fault. Lets look at our pool of candidates;
Only black Americans qualify for reparations, if;
-they can prove that their ancestors were in fact slaves in the United States. This is an important distinction because any slaves from the Confederate states will have to have their own civil action against the CSA.
They will have to prove that their ancesters were slaves between 1781 and 1865. Prior to 1781 there was no United States and your problem is with England, France, or Spain.
They would have to prove that they have recieved no indemnity up to this point. If they recieved their 40 acres and a mule in 1866 (by order of General Sherman) then they don't qualify. In fact we can use that as a baseline, how much is a mule and 40 acres worth in 2014 dollars.
An indemnity would include prefered treatment of either you or your ancestors for education, jobs, or assistance based on race.
As for what qualifies as an American black person you're going to have to be specific. Do they have to be at least 50%, 25%, 12.5%, or 6.25% black to qualify?
Of course we can means test any reparation to exclude Oprah, Barack, Michelle, Denzel, the Rock, or Octavia Spencer.
I imagine your reparation qualifed population would grow very small, very fast.
Of course your suggestions is nothing but the worst kind of racism. Giving people stuff based solely on race. Think of taking stuff from people based solely on race which is what you are suggesting as well. Would you pass over a poor, white person for free house (well, we know you would) to give it to someone black who may not be working as hard, or is not as poor just because they were black.
It's like the great English highwayman Dennis Moore said, "this income redistribution is more difficult than I thought."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkhx0eqK5w
