Should the US pay African Americans reparations for slavery

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

Show Results

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?

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

kayoshin · 36-40, M

Ok but then who pays all the white people that come from slavery in Europe? What about reparations for all the genocides of the past? What about that one guy that looked at my great grandpa in a funny way?

Giving people money they haven't earned or don't need as justifiable human aid is a mistake.
It won't erase white guilt it will just raise racism even higher because it's based on fallacies:
1. that you can put a price on human freedom, it actually belittles black people again YOU'RE BUYING THEIR ANCESTORS AGAIN!
2. that you can make white people feel respect and feel more united with black people by forcing them to give them money.

Qwerty14

@kayoshin First off, we are focusing on the US, not other nations. What other nations decide to do is purely up to them.

Second, reparations are paid for genocides. Look it up.

Third, if your great grandpa didn't want funny looks he shouldn't have insisted on wearing his wives frock to the pub lol

Fourth, people get money they haven't earned and don't need all the time. Similarly those who do earn it or need it can sometimes get gypped. This is what happened to African Americans for most of the US's history.

Fifth, I don't see how giving people money could raise racism. Do you really get that upset when others are given something and you aren't? Are you that selfish?

Sixth, a price on human freedom? No, this is an estimate of how much the slaves would have earned if they were paid for their work. Their freedom cost much more.

Lastly, and most importantly, everyone in the US would pay taxes and taxes would be used to pay reparations. Meaning it won't just be "white" people who pay. It will be all citizens of America.

kayoshin · 36-40, M

@Qwerty14 So you want to keep this in the USA .. how arrogant. Let me remind you some things about USA :the white slave owners were not native Americans they were European immigrants, the black slaves were not native Americans they were Africans so please remind me how this is a "USA only" issue. Oh you mean it's convenient to make it "USA only " now because you feel like it, sure have fun with it.

At least my grandpa looked better in a frock than your momma :)

Are you as naive as to think giving a certain group money won't start the voice of racism yelling "we have less because blacks get free money" every time there will be elections and every day in between them? Oh sure the USA is so magnanimous after all it's a country of immigrants that decided it HATES IMMIGRANTS but hey anything as petty as racism over money issues sounds unrealistic :)) you're honestly hilarious.
Hey why not try a little experiment: get 2 of your friends or employees or whatever you can compare, and give one of them 100 dollars or more for some bullshit reason (bonus if it's to someone who needs it less than the others. Then see how the rest react).
Also you missed the point when I was talking about European slavery and such: slavery was around the whole globe, even the whites that had slaves in USA had slaves somewhere in their family tree if you dig deep enough. Paying someone that lives in modern times with modern opportunities for something they did not suffer makes no sense, that money would help them more if it was invested in increasing the opportunities for education and employment of those people and all people in the country regardless of skin colour.
This "we gotta pay blacks to make them feel better" just shows you are still segregated and think in terms of us Vs them.

Qwerty14

@kayoshin You are being overly offensive and racist. If you genuinely want to talk you need to calm down and collect your thoughts in a more rational way so I can respond properly

kayoshin · 36-40, M

How exactly am I racist when you actually want to pay people based on the colour of their skin? The irony.