Hereno Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/The Atlantic: The Case for ReparationsTwo hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.I. “So That’s Just One Of My Lossesâ€Clyde Ross was born in 1923, the seventh of 13 children, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, the home of the blues. Ross’s parents owned and farmed a 40-acre tract of land, flush with cows, hogs, and mules. Ross’s mother would drive to Clarksdale to do her shopping in a horse and buggy, in which she invested all the pride one might place in a Cadillac. The family owned another horse, with a red coat, which they gave to Clyde. The Ross family wanted for little, save that which all black families in the Deep South then desperately desired—the protection of the law.In the 1920s, Jim Crow Mississippi was, in all facets of society, a kleptocracy. The majority of the people in the state were perpetually robbed of the vote—a hijacking engineered through the trickery of the poll tax and the muscle of the lynch mob. Between 1882 and 1968, more black people were lynched in Mississippi than in any other state. “You and I know what’s the best way to keep the !@#$ from voting,†blustered Theodore Bilbo, a Mississippi senator and a proud Klansman. “You do it the night before the election.†Click the link to read more. And you should; it's probably the best piece on the conditions of black Americans that I've seen in the press for a while. The title is indeed provocative, but what this piece provokes more than anything else is thought. What are yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagbard Celine Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I'm totally down for reparations. I'm still waiting for my 50 acres and mule. -Hagster 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aisha Greyjoy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Some of us are born nobles. Some of us are born common. And some of us are born descendants of slaves. In today's America, the nobles have it best, the commoners have it worse, and the descendants of slaves have it worst of all. In what world is this different or could it ever be different? Nobles have been abusing commoners and slaves and slave descendants since we lived in caves, and will continue to do so. Welcome to Humanity. Duke of House Greyjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hush or the commoners might realize their name is the only thing that separates them from the descendants of slaves. Then how would it be for the nobles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koba Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) As the descendent of a slaveholding family, Ill happily pay a former slave some reparations if they can prove that they were actually a slave in their lifetime, or in their parents lifetime, and that I personally enslaved them. But NOT if they got 40 acres and a mule (IE the federal reparations to slaves) Edited December 9, 2014 by koba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizban Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 This topic was long-dead, and should stay that way. FORUM RULES - ALLIANCE FORUM RULES - MOD QUESTIONS - APPEALS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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