Granted, a certain amount of water has thus passed under the proverbial bridge since a small handful (emphasis on small) of conscientious Americans contemplated reparations on behalf of African Americans, or as they were called then... well, lets move on from the colloquialisms. Of course, it didn't happen then, and Congress (as most Americans) won't even consider... talking about it. Ridiculous, outrageous, the absolute nerve of those...
Let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps, just like everyone else! Which sounds all well and good, I must admit- except... The one thing that (African) American history teaches us time and time again, the one thing that Ta-Nehisi Coates' essay repeatedly smacks you upside the head with, is that not only were Blacks prevented from working for what they aspired to, be it from denial of education, opportunity or equal wages, but once they did achieve success by working twice as hard, for twice as long (for half the pay), despite all the pernicious obstacles- American society was then free and clear to take it all away from them! That's why the subject of Reparations remains in the lock box, never to be opened, discussed or attempted. The dirty little secret of secrets would then be revealed: the myth of hard work equaling success, the fallacy of shared sacrifice, the mockery of a justice for all.
Coates equates Reparations with the unpaid credit card of overdue wages for hundreds of years of forced labor; the thing is that those willing to discuss it are not clamoring for a free ride and cash on the barrel head- they're talking: education, health care, income parity, etc. I'm not going to break down every straw man, red herring and outright fallacy that White America throws out in their denunciation of the very thought of Reparations- the experts linked to here do a much better job of that. And as for where would we get the money, well... the previous administration would have told you the same as any other- it doesn't exist, it just isn't there. And that was before they launched us into a totally unnecessary and illegal multi-trillion dollar war.
But we all know we live in a post racial society, and all that animosity, inequality, and unfair housing practices are a thing of a long and bygone era... Right?
Coates equates Reparations with the unpaid credit card of overdue wages for hundreds of years of forced labor; the thing is that those willing to discuss it are not clamoring for a free ride and cash on the barrel head- they're talking: education, health care, income parity, etc. I'm not going to break down every straw man, red herring and outright fallacy that White America throws out in their denunciation of the very thought of Reparations- the experts linked to here do a much better job of that. And as for where would we get the money, well... the previous administration would have told you the same as any other- it doesn't exist, it just isn't there. And that was before they launched us into a totally unnecessary and illegal multi-trillion dollar war.
But we all know we live in a post racial society, and all that animosity, inequality, and unfair housing practices are a thing of a long and bygone era... Right?
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