When witnessing a debate on reparations, I often feel like I’m listening to people speaking completely different languages. Consider that when unarmed Black Oakland BART rider Oscar Grant was killed by a White police officer on a train platform, Blacks demanded a first-degree murder charge, although it had little chance of being sustained (no malice aforethought). While the accusation made Blacks feel good for a minute, the illusion of fair play departed when the jury opted for a more accurate charge.When Blacks argue for reparations, it does not mean that they know or care anything about an accurate application. What they care about is a means to take revenge, while getting compensated for the suffering of their relatives (the end). Of course, Whites (and some Blacks) try to explain that reparations do not apply, to a chorus of ‘I-don’t-give-a-bleep what a White man or Uncle Tom thinks’. It’s not about laws or evolving moral codes of the day – it’s about emotion and payback. We need to call it what it is.
Reparations debates will never be resolved until Blacks can inject some objectivity where only emotions currently exist. For their part, Whites will never be a part of the resolution until they can cop to how reasonable it is for Blacks to blame slavery, as the catch basin, for the litany of misdeeds that continued after slavery ended.
Hopefully the day will come when Blacks stop soliciting unfulfilling indulgences from Whites, when what they really want is for Whites to admit that their ancestors outsmarted themselves, not only by kidnapping Africans, but more so by not making Blacks equal opportunity citizens after the emancipation. Both Blacks and Whites need to work (together), minus race cards, at understanding how pretend equality (of opportunity), the sustained post-slavery sin, got us to the dysfunctional mess we find ourselves today. Only then can we start making decisions and taking action to reverse the damage.
James C. Collier
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I agree with most of your points here, on both sides. I would like to emphasize the "Blacks and Whites" sentiment because it's currently being swept away by "White versus Non-White" due to the massive invasion of "Hispanics" and "Asians". It's a failure of our political system that America's historical population (White and Black) is unable to unite on this issue despite widespread agreement.
ReplyDeleteSurely you meant "the illusion of fair play", though.
Anon 3:12, thanks, late night blogging. But to your point, massive invasion is hyperbole. Immigration is critical by the combination of more unskilled labor chasing fewer unskilled jobs, supported by inefficient infrastructure. From the emancipation Whites began training selves and Blacks against ever uniting on anything. There is little evidence that leading White elite (business) attitudes toward Blacks has changed, rather it added the exploitation of cheap Latinos. Your Asian comment just sounds R-ish, is this what you meant?
ReplyDelete