Thoughts on white people having to pay slavery reparations?

Since the black person receiving the funds was never a slave and the white person forced to pay the funds was never a slave owner. That has to be one of the stupidest ideas in a generation or two.

First of all, I'm going to steelman this by assuming you meant, "Should the government pay slavery reparations to descendants of slaves." The idea of all white people paying is broadly incoherent, because not all white people's ancestors perpetrated slavery, and also you can't inherit debt from your ancestors. The government, however, did perpetrate slavery, and has continuously existed from the Civil War to the 21st century.

There are two dominating perspectives on this and both of them are brain damaged. The first perspective is that no descendants of slaves should receive any money because they, themselves were never treated unfairly, and that the crime of slavery essentially died with its victims over the years. This perspective is flawed because it ignores the existence of generational wealth.

If a person's parents are wealthier, then those parents are more likely to buy a good education and a stable and healthy environment for their child's development, as well as things like high-end clothing and transportation which are important for getting a good job. In addition, when those parents die, they will pass on their remaining wealth as inheritance. All of this means that parents of rich kids are more likely to be rich themselves. Slaves were dirt poor at the time of their liberation, so generational wealth has worked against those people and their kin, all the way to the current day. It is preposterous to ignore the fact that slavery hurts contemporary black descendants of slaves in this way.

The second dominating perspective is that descendants of slaves should be given either a lump sum payment or an annuity to make up for this generational wealth divide. This idea is brain-damaged because it legitimizes the institution of generational wealth, itself. Black people have definitely gotten the short end of the stick here on average, but obviously, wealth varies more within a race than between races (i.e. difference between the richest white person & poorest white person is greater than the difference between the average black person & the average white person).

Imagine three children -- one is the child of an impoverished former slave, one is the child of an impoverished gambling addict, and one is the child of a wealthy doctor. Obviously among the three parents of the kids, the first is clearly the most mistreated by society. But is the second child any more deserving of his plight than the first child just because his parent was dumb? He didn't do anything to deserve it, himself. Clearly, the most fair situation would for the two impoverished children to both be uplifted... and perhaps, the third child to give up some of his advantage over the other two.

Moreover, the idea of simply giving people money to fix the gap really underestimates the scope of the problem. White people own the vast majority of stocks, wildly disproportionate to their population size, hiring decisions in businesses overwhelmingly favor white people over black people, and majority-black areas suffer chronic underinvestment and inadequate government representation. Black people are also less likely to have a higher education, and are less likely to own a home than white people. If you give black people a lump sum of cash without first fixing the systemically racist social systems we live under, they'll be forced to spend it on consumer goods, in turn transferring the wealth the government just handed them back to white people. Within a few decades, the world goes back to normal, with a "lucky" generation having gotten the social equivalent of a lottery win. Also, any black person who wasn't a former slave will totally get the shaft because their ancestors will have also lost wealth as a consequence of things like redlining and Jim Crow.

If we want to fix the scars that slavery & other policies have left on our country, we need a more transformative, and frankly, less Liberal solution. We need to roll back all these exclusionary housing rules that are driving up rents in the inner cities, route more government money into majority black areas, change our electoral system to give black people more of a voice (D.C. statehood would help with this a lot), set stricter standards for police use of force, open up the process for class action lawsuits on employment discrimination, and so, so much more.

Absolutely not. It's an ignorant idea pushed by black people and liberals.

Slavery and racism ended in the 1800's. They need to get to work and stop acting like a victim

Some hippies and stargazers don't understand that the effects of slavery persist generations later.

Think of two families, one black and one white. Both families came to the USA when it was still colonies. The black family was enslaved and the white one was poor.

The white family today lives in a house in a modest suburb but the black family lives in a poor one with lots of crime. Why is that? What does that have to do with slavery!?

The black family was owned and worked for generations and received zero compensation. They had no opportunities to build wealth until *checks notes* 155 years ago. Even after that point, we have video of black people trying to go to school with white kids and white people losing their fvcking minds. So you know every opportunity they got they had to fight for.

Then there are the psycho social effects of generations of trauma up to and including alterations to the genome.

Meanwhile the white family had a two hundred year head start. I'm not saying it was easy but they had objectively fewer challenges than the black family. There weren't institutional barriers against them the way there were against black people.

So it makes sense to give people of color assistance to cover the gaps. Those gaps will exist until we heal the damage caused by generations of trauma and that will take consistency and time.

But that all requires more subtlety and effort than "well slavery is over so... good job, discrimination ended! Let's never speak of this again!"

Black slaves that were freed had the chance to leave country. Paid for by the US. They would be taken to Liberia a country in Africa that was founded by freed US slaves. Obviously some left. I’m not agreeing with what the oppressors did to them, however the freed slaves faced being oppressed by choice. They could have left the country paid for by the US to a country free of oppression instead some stayed by voluntary means.
You can look up Liberia on wiki to get the story.
It’s really unbelievable! I would have left the Us!

So I would have to decline payment for that reason.

Considering how many Whites immigrated to the USA after the Civil War was over and how many Blacks did as well it doesn’t make any sense at all. How do you sort that out? And how many Blacks have some White ancestry and how many Whites have some Black African ancestry? Not everything is black & white, many shades of gray. And no one alive today was a slave.

its stupid. slaves are long gone (not everywhere of course)
also slaves weren't owned by "white people" they were owned by "rich people" who were "white" in america.
theres "black" people holding slaves
theres "asians" people holding slaves!
every colour/ race has held slaves during the history of man.

in america theres just systemic problems. like how poor areas are often where black people appear is most likely because even when they got freed from slaves they were still poor, but paying reparations is dumb, fix the country itself so everyone can be happy.

i mean theres places in america that are a 100 times worse than the poorest most horrible place in third world countries!
and its even worse because you are supposed to live in the richest country!

you need to fix issues like led poisoning, gun reform, the amount of psychopaths running around, terrible government. peoples mentality. religious zealots.
black people who might have some ancestor who was a slave and giving them some petty cash is not helping.

I think it is in the best interests of all of humanity to raise each other up. Full stop.

History has shown us what happens when we don't raise each other up, but tear, isolate, or push each other down instead.
:(

This happens in every country. It's a global issue.

It's a fool who doesn't see the need to understand history or the causes of unequal treatment, discrimination, oppression, disparities and biases or a need to be sensitive to it, or make changes to create a better society.

Standing up for each other in everyday life and listening to what is going on in different communities is a good start, if you do not have an opinion regarding equality, politics or socioeconomics.

A good reparation is one that raises all of humanity up in my opinion. We should all be invested in one other's prosperity. We should ALL have long-term goals, not just short-term financial, political, social, public health, equality, environmental, and economic goals, etc.
I'm including all that, because most people have differing ideas of what issue is most important to them.

There are alot of Americans (USA) chiming in so I want to say that when it comes to America...I'm not saying we need to suddenly adopt all the social safety nets, hate crime laws, tax systems, and healthcare system, environmental policies, worker rights, reparations, etc, and capitalism structure and society that exists in Canada, Japan, or Europe, or Germany or all kinds of different countries may or may not be doing (Though I admire lots of different things that different countries are doing or have done and think some things would benefit America because the issue has been solved elsewhere) because:

I don't think Republicans at least will accept doing anything like anybody else does. They are too "nationalist" for that. Plus every society has unique problems within their own system, and we would still need to sort out and fix those problems. And like it or not, I and many others have to accept that republicans make up a significant part of society and they aren't going to go away or listen up to others. So maybe a little American inovation needs to figure out how to evaluate American "low road" and brutalistic capitalism and social care as a country and tweak things so as to actually solve the problems we face...rather then endless protests with little change and lots of misinformation. We do need to find our way and face our unique challenges and problems.

What that will end up looking like or being, I have no idea. It's a bit worrisome.

To me, reparations in ANY country probably means investing in neighborhoods and people that need it. It means investing in programs that actually serve communities and fill needs, and help prevent crime. It means making opportunities, housing, education, safety, healthy food, employment and healthcare attainable universally.
Making sure companies abide by environmental policies and don't poison neighborhoods and water sources for example. Thinking long-term about green policies. Figure out a way to give all neighborhoods the power, capital, and accountability to do neccesary things like fix lead pipes, have healthy food, safe neighborhoods, create a new clinic, school, create positive policy changes, create meaningful businesses and jobs that serve the community and society and not just make the rich richer...etc. Because politicians often act more like a greedy and corrupt board of directors who abuse others for their gain.

Figure out a way to make sure there are resources and services available for all communities at the highest possible quality, and a cost that creates prosperity for CEO's, shareholders, workers, and communities. And not just the group who happens to hold the most power. Make sure that diversity is respected instead of rejected and discriminated against and oppressed. This should be common for all races, genders, cultural background, religious, or nonreligious, and for citizens or immigrants.

Idk. Just what I first thought, when I saw this post.

So what happens when the next generation of African Americans want their reparations? And the generation after that?

Why do people think that only black people were used as slaves? Barbary pirates would raid coastal European towns to kidnap white townsfolk for slavery. There's never any talk of seeking reparations for that.

The transatlantic slave trade was made possible by African tribes selling members of other tribes that( they had captured to use as slaves themselves) to the European traders. There's never any talk of reparations from them.

In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Gaul, and pretty much any society, the powerful have made slaves of people, no matter their colour. Again, there is never talk of reparations there.

And it's rather depressing that no one ever talks about how the British royal navy was instrumental in ending the transatlantic slave trade, or how the UK spent £20 million in 1833 (40% of national budget) to do so, after making it illegal for any British person to partake in owning or trading slaves in 1807 (yes, it took 26 years to do it, but no government seems to do anything quickly)... and yet never sought reparations for that.

the transparency of all the racists here claiming it doesn't exist is reprehensible - choosing to ignore it is exactly that - a choice

Reparations are nothing more than a leftwing agenda to literally buy votes.

Virtually every ethnic group on the planet has had slaves and abused other people.

Will whites and blacks pay reparation to Native Americans?. Indentured Irish, Scots, Poles, etc. were abused. Blacks owned Blacks. Whites owned whites. Chinese-Mongols took each other. Native Americans took other Native Americans.

Im against it. First of all nobody elses bad deeds should be held against you. Just because your great great grandparents might have had slaves doesnt mean you should pay for it. Vice versa if ever i wrong someone its up to me to make it up to that person. Not their distant relatives.

Second its been known to backfire when a black decendant of a slave owner has to pay back a white decendant of a slave. This really messes up some sjw's who forget interacial couples exist.

Third and finally its difficult to move forward as a society when were to busy dwelling in the past. Make the future better.

People should be more concerned with current events.
Child trafficking, sexual abuse and human trafficking.
200? children - teen girls - were kidnapped in Nigeria a few years ago by rebels and kept as wives....12, 13, 14 year old girls.

Girls and boys being promised for marriage to other families when they are still children.

Young girls and women are kidnapped by Isis and the Taliban to be wives and temporary girlfriends.

Women and children are trafficked in the U.S. and other nations for prostitution and child labor.

Women that can't leave the house without a male escort.

That should be the focus, not something that happened 158 years ago.

I don't see why only white people should have to pay reparations. Their were many black slave owners and black slave sellers.
Selling people into slavery still goes on today in huge numbers. It's a horrendous practice.

So,slavery in most of the western world has been gone since at least 1865 if not before.So everyone involved is now dead.So why should i be expected to pay anyone,who might have been a slave,but is now equally dead anyway anything?Makes no reasonable sense.
Should the Govt of Norway compensate the UK for the Viking raids in the 8th and 9th centuries?

Practically every US citizen who is 3rd or 4th+ generation American can point to ancestors who were screwed over or cheated out of their land or possessions or even their lives in one way or another. Practically everyone on earth can look back and point to misery inflicted on their ancestors. One of the great beauties of America is that every generation has a better chance to overcome the misery inflicted than the previous generation.

Humankind is an evolving species, and I can't think of a place on earth that has evolved better than the good old USA.

What about Black ancestors that owned slaves? Would they have to pay or would they receive?

NO. Utterly ridiculous notion. Goes along with the current mentality of "Life owes me"... "Victimhood".
If everyone had to pay for the sins of the fathers, we'd all be penniless.

If we have to pay blacks for slavery 200 odd years ago then in the same vein and thinking the germans need to pay all those countries whos people they murdered in their death camps during the second world war .

Do whites get money from the Ottomans estimated 1.5 million European slaves?

There has to be a point where people have to accept the past was shit and wrong, and we all move forward together. Or there is no progress.

Well, here's the problem.
I've got verifiable proof from the Colonial Williamsburg Archives in Williamsburg, Virginia USA, that my earliest ancestor arrived on the day of May 09, 1610 in James Town, Virginia as personal property of an English Lord. My ancestor was from the Ulster Area of Ireland.
So, since I am descended from a Slave, then I should get money too.

Anyone whose family has lived in America for generations is part black so that makes no sense. I am mostly Polish and English so who is going to pay me for what my people went through?

Irish so ready for my reparations

This is like paying for someone else's debt. First off........who gets paid? During the 1800's we used Chinese as slaves to build our railroads. Do we pay every Chinese person too? The Irish basically was slave labor in the iron industry........mining. Do we pay them? And just because one is black does not mean they had slave ancestors. How many of color immigrated here long after slavery was over? The fair way to do this is line up all CURRENT slaves and CURRENT slave owners...and then make the CURRENT slave owners pay their CURRENT slaves damages. Otherwise this is like paying a bill for what someone else bought a100 years ago.

That is a double edged sword.
If that happens and it never will, maybe the descendants of Civil War veterans that suffered and died freeing them can sue the black population for pain and suffering.

But it will never happen. The only reason this idea gets rehashed is because liberal politicians are catering to the low IQ, low class people that would theoretically benefit. And the low IQ people that believe this will happen are the same ones that think other people are the source of their failures in life and not themselves.

Under Communism, everyone but the party leaders are slaves, and are entitled to compensation from the government. The reparation movement is but a part of incremental communism by proxy.

I want $500,000 for being dipped in maple syrup and thrown from the third floor. It didn’t happen to me and you didn’t do it but…

I guess some people don't realize how many other people have owned slaves throughout recorded history. In relatively recent times white people have freed the slaves. Where is our reward for that!

Since the conservatives were against slavery of course they would be exempt

Today, the average white family has roughly 10 times the amount of wealth as the average Black family. White college graduates have over seven times more wealth than Black college graduates.

Native Americans have received land and billions of dollars for various benefits and programs for being forcibly exiled from their native lands. For Japanese Americans, $1.5 billion was paid to those who were interned during World War II. Additionally, the United States, via the Marshall Plan, helped to ensure that Jews received reparations for the Holocaust, including making various investments over time. In 1952, West Germany agreed to pay 3.45 billion Deutsche Marks to Holocaust survivors.

Black Americans are the only group that has not received reparations for state-sanctioned racial discrimination, while slavery afforded some white families the ability to accrue tremendous wealth. And, we must note that American slavery was particularly brutal.

Had the original contract with emancipated slaves been honored, this conversation wouldn’t exist today. But it wasn’t. No land, no mule, and land reverted back to slave owners. No one is saying hand over cash to black people. What is being weighed is the creation and fostering of programs meant to close the gap between the races. Never before has this been seen as a moral struggle or ‘entitlement,’ which should promote us all the more to look at why reparations haven’t been offered up ‘til now.

(stat source: brookings)

I'm in favor of reparations but not in direct cash pay out but in funding black neighborhoods. Systemic change to make up for the lack of generational wealth.

I'm white and as far back as anyone can remember my ancestors were white but apparently there's Sub Saharan DNA on one side of the family (and north African on the other). There's a good probability my GG grandfather on my father's side was a good bit darker complected than I am and I'm reasonably sure that side of the family never owned slaves. So how would this work? Would someone have to prove they are descendants of slaves to collect or is simply being black proof enough? How about whites whose ancestors arrived after the civil war? How about people who identify as white but who have ancestors who were slaves and people who identify as black but who are descendants of slave owners?

I dont think they should . Look at it this way , if slavery had not happened and the white man had not gone to these countries then they would still be in africa or where ever they came from living the life they had before the white man . Killing each other in tribal war fare dieng early because there would be no modern medicine etc . They should think twice before screaming and yelling how hard done by they are . They would all still be uneducated savages living the way they did 200 years or so ago . Their only where they are today alot of the time because their relatives were brought to the white mans land 200 years ago . So slavery has been a positive thing for them and their is no one alive now that was born into or had any connection to slavery . I am so sick of listening to all these losers who have no one to blame but themselves for their life . You dont hear well educated blacks or those who have made something of their life and are comfortably off moaning . No its only those that feel the world owes them a living because their to lazy to sort their own lives out or are down on their luck or not well off and just jelous of those that have made it . Makes me sick , you would think they are the only ones struggling their not . Instead of moaning like spoilt brats they should get off their ass and make something of their lives and stop expecting everyone to do it for them .

I have never had a problem with the idea of reparations for slavery and Native American.

Generational poverty rooted in slavery is definitely an issue that needs correction, but saying "white people need to pay reparations" is overly simplistic and completely impractical.

I dont agree with reparations. what I think should happen is universal healthcare and education.

They can’t promise student dept relief 2x times and expect the plantation to believe them..
hmm.. what other carrot can we dangle for votes… but never deliver

The entire working-class has been dicked over by Capitalism. It doesn't make any sense to single out certain people for help based on race. Reparations should be about class. And it shouldn't be a one time payment, it should be an actual reparation of society.

I'm all for it but only if the Sumerians go first. Seems only fair.

If that happens then white people need reparations for being "held back" due to affirmative action.