Every once in a while an idea so incredible comes along and actually gains traction. “Reparations” is easily one of the worst ideas EVER. The process of paying today’s African-American citizens for the slavery era damage done to their ancestors should be laughed out of town. Let’s number just some of the reasons why we should never accept reparations as a US process. (1) Paying today’s black descendants for harm they did not endure is just stupid. Should we pay today’s Japanese descendants for the forced interment of their ancestors during World War II? How about Native Americans…should we find some basis to compensate them after we took their lands and forced them into substandard living conditions in remote areas? Where does the money train stop? And–more important–where does it start? (2) How do we measure the value of slavery in monetary terms? Do we try to figure minimum wages? Do we adjust for inflation? How many hours do we credit slaves for weekly? These are just a few of the logistic questions. (3) Today’s US Federal Budget is 60% “Entitlement” Programs. More than half of those taxpayer dollars are funneled to black families EVERY YEAR. Considering that most of those dollars come from white taxpayers it could easily be argued that reparations have already been out for several years. (4) The majority of prison inmates are black. Again, white taxpayers pay the bulk of their food, clothing and housing sustenance until many die in prison. This cost doesn’t take into account the cost of any negative actions of those inmates for the crimes they committed. (5) Keep in mind that–despite blacks being responsible for the majority of these costs (entitlements and prison costs) they represent only 15% of the total population.
No one should view reparations as a social justice issue. It is simply another power grab by a special interest group to get as much as they can when they think the time is right. Our hope is that the current Administration will see this as a scam and dismiss its validity.
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