What does the government owe to the descendants of slaves?

First, we (the citizens of the US)owe them nothing. If anyone owes anything, it is the descendants of the slave owners (i.e. Thomas Jefferson’s great-great-great grandson). But even that is a hard case to make. Slavery was not unusual back then. WHat makes a 20th century person liable for 19th century culture?

No reparations are due.

And “we” in general have no obligation to “heal the wounds” of slavery. We are now siz or more generations past the time of “healing wounds”, Any slave who was alive in 1850 has been dead for 110 years. Their descendants – generation 6 or 7 – are owed nothing.

Reparations and playing the ‘slavery’ card are just more of deciding, even volunteering – to be a victim. It’s a copout, and dishonest. At worst, it’s an excuse for failure.

Who was this singer whose parents were slaves? O_o

GQ!

If we’re paying out descendants of slaves, we should probably also pay out the descendants of the Native Americans, after all the “white man” wiped out 100 million of them by some estimations. I’m not sure if direct payments are the answer though, for the price would never be high enough if you really think about what was being compensated for (pain, suffering, generations of wages, sexual abuse, rape, murder, torture, with compounded interest all adjusted for inflation), plus it really should come from the slave owning states, and not the ones that supported emancipation.

I think it makes much more sense to focus on creating opportunities for black children to succeed and realize their potential. I think we should be pouring money into inner-city schools, hiring the best teachers, giving them access to the best technology. You should see the divide between the white schools and the black schools near me. Of course they’re not de jure segregated, but if you survey the demographics you’d have a hard time telling the difference. That would be a much better use of our money than payouts, and I think it’s probably what the ghosts of the former slaves would choose if they could have a voice.

The descendants of slaves are owned nothing – from the government or from society. Why would they be? Were they slaves? No.

An equal opportunity.

We should probably focus on these slaves….

Which government are we talking about? Every country in Africa had slaves, every Mediterranean country, every Middle Eastern country, India, China, Japan, Russia and it’s many states. Great Britain, Spain, Germany and France did too. At some point in their existence. So who’s supposed to make reparations? To whom?

Native Am Indians do get some benefits so why not chinese (railroads) and blacks (in the US.)

I hear if you have a card you get % of tribe profit and school scholarships along with other options. (Am In)

↑ there is a tax benefit for being a certain % Native American, I want to say its 1/8 but I might be wrong, I just know my grandma uses it.

I wouldn’t object to giving them a one way ticket to return to the homeland of their ancestor.

We could probably afford paying restitution if we didnt spend so much money taking care of illegal immigrants.

All I’m saying is that like the Am Indians, it is possible that a simple restitution structure could be set up.

Although our forefathers seemed to believe they should be sent to their country of origin like @YARNLADY says but that was because they couldn’t imagine blacks and whites living in the same society based on the master-slave mentality.

Did we ever find out who the singer was? I have a feeling the IRS won’t think that’s a great defense.

No. No more than England owes descendants of the revolutionary war reparation.

As bad as slavery was, their descendants wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for that institution.

Hold the phone- she is actually comparing black slavery to current economic slavery (Taxes for the rest of us) to get out of paying taxes on $1.8 million. Shame on ya, being raped and tortured and sold to strangers for more of the same, minus your spouse and/ or kids, is nothing like having to pay taxes on the millions you earned as a singer. Wow, I really liked Lauryn Hill, too.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill stood in federal court Monday and compared her experience in the music business to the slavery her ancestors endured before a judge sentenced her to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1 million in taxes over the past decade.

“I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them,” Hill said before U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo. “I had an economic system imposed on me.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/07/grammy-winning-singer-headed-to-prison-for-3-months-for-failing-to-pay-1-million-owed-in-taxes/

“I had an economic system imposed on me.” Wow.

@KNOWITALL ,@Dutchess – don’t we all? I was born into a capitalist system. That beats the hell out being born in Soviet Russia during the Stalin years. Is that an excuse?

I don’t know what sort of a singer Ms. Hill is, but she wins no prizes for intellect.

@elbanditoroso She’s kind of rap/ R&B. Was very popular about ten years ago here.

Yeah, if you’ve read the article, it says she has six kids, which to me makes it even worse she compared it to slavery, because slaves didn’t even get to raise their children usually, that in itself is something she should be thankful for.

@KNOWITALL ”[she had six kids] in itself is something she should be thankful for”

You realize how that sounds right? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but just so you understand: nobody should ever have to be thankful to anyone for having the right to reproduce.

@gorillapaws I believe @KNOWITALL meant the ability to raise your own kids as opposed to having them taken away and sold; not the right to reproduce in the first place.

@livelaughlove21 ok, but my point stands, nobody should have to be thankful for that. It’s a right. Or should the black people say their daily thanks to the descendants of white folks who decided to emancipate them? Obviously the idea is ridiculous and offensive. I can only assume that wasn’t the intent.

@gorillapaws I feel like my post explained what I was thinking perfectly. In addition, I don’t think it’s a ‘right’, it’s a privelage and the hardest job in the world.

@livelaughlove21 Thanks.

It’s not the government. It’s the landowners in the South who inherited their land instead of having to pay for it and earn it by working hard.

@mattbrowne So since Great Britain made the loans to English citizens to come to colonize America and sanctioned slavery by helping bring the slaves to America to work the plantations, surely the payback is Great Britains rather than Americans?

@mattbrowne – not entirely true. Not all Southern landowners inherited. Some did, of course, but some land was settled through land grants from the government, some was simply claimed and settled, and some (2nd tier) bought it fair and square from the original landowners.

All that is secondary to the original question, which is what black slave descendants are owed. Which – no matter who owned the plantations – is still “nothing”.

The descendants of folks from Great Britain (or from wherever) who settled in the American South and became wealthy because of slave labor, should pay. Southern landowners, who didn’t inherit, shouldn’t pay. That’s what I wrote.

One could also argue that the descendants of folks in Great Britain who became wealthy because of the slave trade should pay.

@mattbrowne I still favor the idea of descendants bearing the burden of proving their families were plantation owned and getting ‘cards’ to get their benefits like American Indians.

It wouldn’t hurt to give them a college benefit or a paid extradition trip back to their native lands if that’s what they wish, I mean they were just as mistreated as the Indians.

@KNOWITALL – where does the money come from? On what basis could it be collected from the descendants of the slaveowners? OR does it come out of my taxes?

@elbanditoroso From everything I’ve seen it’s mostly grants from companies like Nissan, individual and corporate sponsorships and donations, for the Indians, and some tribes themselves.