Should the US pay African Americans reparations for slavery

Qwerty14 · 2019-03-22T01:40:42-04:00

Politics - Should the US pay African Americans reparations for slavery I just ran some simple numbers.... (507 replies).

Poll - Total Votes: 56

Yes. That number is worth it

I wanna pay but that's too much money

I don't wanna pay but I do think they deserve something else

No. They don't deserve anything

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You can only vote on one answer.

I just ran some simple numbers.

By the time of slavery's abolition the US had condoned slavery for 88 years (1864-1776).

Around that time the average wage of someone of their occupation was $10/year making the total sum owed in 1864 to be $880.

With inflation that would be worth $22,500 today.

Assuming we literally paid every single African American (which we wouldn't) that means the US would have to give them $945B (based on a population of 42M African Americans).

Given this data, would you accept that $945B is an acceptable sum to pay to finally repay the ancestors of slaves and finally remove the idea of white guilt from US culture?

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BlueVeins · 22-25

No. If we could go back in time to make the ex-slaveowners pay their ex-slaves, I would totally support doing that. But like it or not, everyone in the U.S. who've owned a slave is dead, as is everyone who's ever been owned by someone else. The black people of 2019 have largely been victims of injustice, systemic and otherwise, but slavery was not one of them.

BTW, if we were going to repay all of the slaves, we would also have to factor in pain and suffering, which would probably be the vast majority of the payment, all things considered. Courtrooms that have been taxed with the task of putting a dollar sign on pain have often seen these payments exceeding a million buckaroos for a single tragic injury. I can't even imagine how a juror would value for example, a mother being separated from her children, which was extremely common for slaves.

Qwerty14

@BlueVeins You can't turn back time but you recognise people are owed. Create an actual resolution then instead of saying "well I guess we'll do nothing"

BlueVeins · 22-25

@Qwerty14

but you recognise people are owed

Present tense? Interesting. I'd support ramping up efforts to fight contemporary human trafficking, if that's what you're on about. But in relation to the problem at hand, there's simply nothing to be done for ex-slaves. We could literally spend 20 trillion dollars upgrading their graves or building memorials or whatever tf, but it wouldn't do a damn thing to help anyone who fell victim to slavery.

Qwerty14

@BlueVeins Hence why my question asks if there is any cost to repair the past. You are saying no?

BlueVeins · 22-25

@Qwerty14 You can't repair the past, dude, not on this scale. There's no amount of money that can bring the dead back to life. If that technology is ever invented, then this conversation will be worth revisiting.

Qwerty14

@BlueVeins Better than nothing or would you prefer nothing?

BlueVeins · 22-25

@Qwerty14 Nah, I think we should treat every citizen equally under law and educate our children about our violent past and human rights. That way, we can prevent any attrocity like this from happening on American soil, ever again. That's the best way to move forward from here.