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I totally disagree, how far do we want to go back? Reparations should be provided as funding the schools, better education for poor and impoverished neighborhoo

I totally disagree, how far do we want to go back? Reparations should be provided as funding the schools, better education for poor and impoverished neighborhoods, not some kind of a $4000 check to people of color. Why not focus on improving communities? I don't want to replace meritocracy with favored treatment one iota, doesn't matter if you were disadvantaged or not. It is the height of hypocrisy as: - What about native indians? - What about asian minorities? - What about people with disabilities? - What about people with low IQ scores? - What about people with low grades in schools? - What about people that got killed by Genghis Khan? - What about people that died in the crusades? At this point, this whole thing lands on a shaky foundation of hypocrisy and favored treatment which is kind of ironic that that's exactly the problem you're trying to solve. Born with a brown skin? You've got things lined up pretty good for you just because you were born brown. Born with a white skin? You've got things lined up pretty much against you just because you were born white (for the record, I am not white). This is reversing what used to happen. I don't think this is the solution, the solution is to go fix the problems in the first place - higher funding to impoverished schools, lifting up the people from poverty and letting these communities flourish. Colored or not. Instead, Democrats focus on reparations in place for meritocracy. I want a society that stops talking about race on both sides - the oppressive and the oppressed. Color of the skin should be taught as a matter of historical context, not some kind of a revenge/reparations. Stop wasting energy on trying to undo history, instead focus on the future.

jjeaff 6y ago
What-aboutism is not a valid argument. And there are programs in place for some of the issues in your list (none of which really stack up much to America's history of slavery and jim crow). Who said anything about cash reparations or Democrats? Yes, programs should be better funded to make up for the past evils of our society. But what about the people here and now that are disadvantaged due to past evils and the lack of these programs in the past? It's the pairing of past injustices with the inability to just "blend in" with the rest of the crowd that creates a special case. If you are born poor as a black person, you are still twice as likely to remain poor. As for your comment that being born white is some kind of disadvantage is just laughable. Look at the data, what does it tell you? The fact is, almost every statistic out there indicates the opposite. Median net worth for black families is 1/10th that of median white family net worth in America. You may think that your success in life is entirely dependent on your personal grit and whatever. But the reality is that wealth and success is heavily dependent upon generational wealth and social capital. Which means that those whose ancestors were enslaved and otherwise abused are by definition starting way, way back from the starting line. You don't get to have a head-start and then halfway through the race declare that from this point forward, all rules will apply to everyone equally. You especially don't get to pretend that those that had to start way back from the start line don't have some little weights attached to their ankles (i.e. modern racial bias).

jjeaff 6y ago

What-aboutism is not a valid argument. And there are programs in place for some of the issues in your list (none of which really stack up much to America's history of slavery and jim crow). Who said anything about cash reparations or Democrats? Yes, programs should be better funded to make up for the past evils of our society. But what about the people here and now that are disadvantaged due to past evils and the lack of these programs in the past? It's the pairing of past injustices with the inability to just "blend in" with the rest of the crowd that creates a special case. If you are born poor as a black person, you are still twice as likely to remain poor. As for your comment that being born white is some kind of disadvantage is just laughable. Look at the data, what does it tell you? The fact is, almost every statistic out there indicates the opposite. Median net worth for black families is 1/10th that of median white family net worth in America. You may think that your success in life is entirely dependent on your personal grit and whatever. But the reality is that wealth and success is heavily dependent upon generational wealth and social capital. Which means that those whose ancestors were enslaved and otherwise abused are by definition starting way, way back from the starting line. You don't get to have a head-start and then halfway through the race declare that from this point forward, all rules will apply to everyone equally. You especially don't get to pretend that those that had to start way back from the start line don't have some little weights attached to their ankles (i.e. modern racial bias).