General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Should we pay Reparations for Slavery? [View all]Takket
(21,550 posts)It is on the right side of morality and the wrong size of everything else..... including...
Where do we get the money for this? There were 37 million African Americans in the US in the 2010 census. Let's assume 20 million of them are actually descended from slaves. What is a fair payment? $1000? That will cost $20 billion. Not that hard. a million dollars? That will cost 20 trillion. No chance in hell a payment that large can be supported by the Federal budget.
Politics: Sorry to say but you are going to have a hard time of even convince all but the most progressive Democrats to support meaningful reparations funding. It is VERY unpopular with the electorate and would lead to a massive red wave if it would pass, and the GOP's first order of business would be to stomp out the payments before they are made. Politically there is no path to victory for reparationists.
Genetics: Like others have mentioned, who gets paid? Do we need to DNA test the entire country to see who has slave blood in them? What about whites who have ancestors who were slaves? Are they entitled to anything? What about blacks that are already rich? Do LeBron James or Barak Obama deserve a payment?
I think most Democrats would agree that what really needs to be done is for the Federal Government to start working again for the poor and middle class and lifting up the quality of life for everyone being trampled on by drumpf. Stop corporate and 1% welfare, make healthcare and education affordable or FREE, pass equal pay for equal work laws, and now you have STARTED the process of reparation, and once we have good paying jobs for everyone and a solid tax base, and the rich paying their fair share, I can envision a time where we actually turn around the deficit and THEN we can talk reparations. (Bad news: after all the damage drumpf has done, on top of what bush did to the Clinton surplus, that is probably at least a generation away).