US House of Representatives (from Britannica.com)
Jim Crow laws were bad, the federal goverment is prepared to say. This is the first time that a federal branch of government is set to issue and apology for the dehumanization of Black folks in this country, that is if this passes through the system.
This resurgence of the national perspective on slavery and Jim Crow has many re-emphasizing the question, do African Americans need/deserve reparations? NO! Maybe we ‘deserve’ reparations, but do I think we should take them? Not really. I believe that we all need to move on, African Americans included. Yes, in the grand scheme of things slavery did not end that long ago, but if reparations are in order then the government would also have to pay Cubans, Irish-Americans, Koreans, American Indians, Japanese Americans….hell EVERYBODY. I think we have to take the resolution in stride (like the resolution passed for ‘Native Americans’ earlier this year). Taking money will only serve to encourage other ethnic groups to resent African Americans even more, further isolating the community (which I presume is not the direction we wish to go into) and will further cheapen the experience of African Americans in this country. No amount of money can even begin to repair the damage done to our country.
Hell, we’ve made a considerable amount of progress…a man of color has a real shot at the presidency of the United States. One can only hope that if he is elected, that Obama will use his experiences, both personal and professional, to look out for the oppressed all the while promoting a more cohesive, safer Union. I wonder what my friends at Racialicious have to say about this.
1 response so far ↓
Eric Bolling // January 27, 2009 at 3:17 pm |
I don’t know if money is the answer, but how does a nation, a government apologise for 400 years of evil,a the thousands upon thousands of injustices,dehumanizations, and murders suffered by the Black man in this country? True,other ethnic groups have suffered horriblly in America, but, even today the ” African ” stands in a place by himself in this nation. No other ethnic group has been through what the African in America has been through, and it still has ramifications today. Obama is president, and I never thought that would happen. But, this is the only place in the world that a Black man can can assend the halls of government a still be a nigger. Also, I have Native blood in me as well, Muscalerro Apache, and the Native to a degree have been apologised to financially with school grants,non-taxation, and their own land. The Japanese were paid for what the government did to them during a time of war. Should the African, whose endured so much harsh treatment look the other way to a financial apology? Why should we not accept that?