REPARATIONS

[Ken King (Premo)]

Trevor,

Your latest offering is excellent and I fully agree that this would create even more problems than it would solve.  The errors of the past are over and done with.  It was an acceptable practice to trade in slaves back then and to now hold current companies (that used to practice this) liable for a legal act that became illegal is ludicrous and would be, in my mind, contrary to the ex post facto protections of the Constitution.

[trevor]

Thanks, Ken. I'm surprised this article didn't generate much reaction. Could it be that it's just so plainly obvious that the idea of reparations is so ridiculous that it doesn't even warrant the energy to complain??

[Ken King (Premo)]

Trevor,

That just might be it. I know I wrote an article or two that I thought would fire everyone up but it turned out everyone just simply agreed and didn't have anything else to say.

Here's a similar situation. Let's see if this has a similar outcome. There are a lot of Jewish organizations suing BMW for using Jewish slave labor in Nazi Germany in the 30's and 40's. Many other German companies who used slave labor have come forward and apologized for this but BMW is not budging. There are talks of reperations as well, but BMW isn't listening. Now this only happened 60 years ago and there are still survivors of this legacy. Do they deserve reperations? Is this a time sensative issue? I don't know where I stand on this because I agree that slave reperations are next to impossible but concentrations camp reperations sound different....Are they? What do you all think?

[Tonio]

It took me a while, but I finally figured out what I don't like about the idea of slave reparations.

In my life I've met a few white people who clearly believe that hat all black people are lazy and shiftless. They either say it outright or strongly imply it. They hold onto that hateful belief, even after they meet blacks who don't fit that image. They are simply not open-minded enough to accept that people are individuals.

So when a group of black activists suggests reparations for slavery, those white people would say, "See, see, we were right! They're only looking for government handouts!" Most white people don't believe that crap, of course, but there are some who do. Why give them any justification for their beliefs?

I hope my point is clear. Bigotry against any group (whites, blacks, Jews, gays) is wrong. Having said that, I think people should consider how their behavior looks in light of the hateful stereotypes that are out there. Do Marion Barry and Mike Tyson realize the damage they have done to the statue of black Americans?

[trevor]

As far as reparations go on the whole, my main argument is that individuals who were not necessarily responsible for ills of the past will be punished for essentially doing nothing wrong.

As far as the question about using Jewish slave labor in Nazi Germany goes, it is just as sensitive an issue as black slave labor in the US. I suppose I cannot comment about how individuals who were part of such heinous behavior as the Holocaust are supposed to feel when we have the ability to question them in person. I would suppose that even Jews who lived to experience that could have differing opinions.

However, on the whole, every culture in the world was once party to inhumane treatment by another, and in many cases this still exists (Rwanda, Iraq, etc.). The area in which Jews may have more of a case legally than would blacks in the US is that these practices were illegal, for all intents and purposes, in Nazi Germany and legal at the time in the US (there is likely no need to get into whether that should have actually been the case in the US, obviously). Furthermore, and directly related to my argument against reparations for blacks, is the fact that the US was not unique with respect to the fact that it once practiced slavery, but unique in that they led the abolition of it virtually worldwide. We saw this when the US saved the world from Nazi Germany in WWII.

Another main distinction between reparations for Jews and blacks is that the black reparations movement is being led by race hustlers who know they will not win in court, and they consequently do more to perpetuate the unfortunate "victim" complex that will continue to be bestowed upon blacks -- insinuating that blacks cannot make it on their own -- no matter how successful or wealthy they may already be in their own regard. In this sense, they will do more harm to the struggles blacks have already made to overcome their history. Jews, on the other hand, are, ironically, "stigmatized" for their overall accomplishments, wealth, and self-sufficiency, which was the reason for their imprisonment and murder in Nazi Germany and continues to be the reason they face such hatred from the likes of Palestinians and other anti-Semites today. Jealousy is a, well, you know...

If the Jews want to protest the supposed lack of remorse shown by BMW, they can do reparations one better. They should massively boycott BMW -- that would do far more to hurt the bankroll of the company than a settlement ever could.

I know this is long and delayed, but I wanted to think about my response before I belted one out. This issue wouldn't be so difficult to understand if it weren't so sensitive and tragic on both sides, but ultimately, reparations are reparations are reparations. Getting on a kick where we assume any amount of money could undo the tragedies imposed upon us may in the end work against any good intentions of the present if certain groups decided it's "worth the money" to discriminate.

TB