San Fran's reparations propsal

[Dill]

(03-24-2023, 01:52 PM)Millhouse Wrote: One of my issues with a plan like this, is why for people today? What about those not yet born? You know, lets say 50 years from now, why shouldn't they get reparations at that time, sort of thing?

Regardless, I will be always against this line of thinking. I didn't have ancestors that had slaves. And many of whom were very poor themselves being looked down upon from others. As a matter of fact, I had 3 ancesters that fought in the Union armies during the Civil War, not that really matters. Because even if I did have ancestors that owned slaves or fought for the South, I should never be in no way responsible for something no matter how horrendous it was over 158 years ago.  

Because afterall if we as a people start going down that route on making current generations literally pay for past atrocities like slavery in the New World, the biggest finger should be pointed at those European countries that brought the slaves over here in the first place.

I don't think reparations is about assigning individual responsibility to people living today--like MY wages should be garnished because I actually do have ancestors who owned slaves, but not your wages. (Plus I have at least one ancestor who died to free them. That should count too!) 

I'm not against reparations in principle (righting past wrongs). I am happy with reparations to Japanese Americans wrongly interned in WWII, and  with German reparations to Jews after that war, and would support Israeli reparations to Palestinians.

I just think in this case, handing individuals 5 million bucks and a new house will leave intact the structural inequality which has continued since 1865.

Should the above-mentioned reparations go through, I see much of that money being re-cycled back to "the Man" over the next 20 years, and no permanent change of the sort created by education, vocational training, and affordable housing with the end of red lining and other forms of housing segregation.

I would like to know more about where, or with whom, this specific program of reparations originated as it seems inconsistent with theories of race-driven structural inequality I am familiar with.