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What about those Chinese who died during the gold rush era and railroad constructions? Are we getting the same compensation?

eesmith 4y ago
> Are we getting the same compensation? Of course not. Just like this isn't the same reparations compensation that Japanese and Japanese-Americans received during the Reagan administration. You do think those internees should have received compensation, even though Black-Americans did not at that time, right? Further, as https://theconversation.com/why-japanese-americans-received-reparations-and-african-americans-are-still-waiting-119580 https://theconversation.com/why-japanese-americans-received-... correctly points out: "It is much easier to obtain reparations under the following conditions: * The number of victims is relatively small. * The victims are easily identifiable. * Many of the direct victims are still alive. * The injustice took place during a relatively short time period. * The perpetrator is known. * The injustice is easily identifiable. * The injustice offends values of equality, personal safety and/or the right to own property. * There is a symbolic victim around whom advocates for reparations can rally. * The amount of reparations asked for is not so large that the public will find it unreasonable. You'll notice San Francisco's list of requirements fits most of those conditions. While the Chinese workers who suffered under back-breaking physical conditions and racial oppression some 150 or so years ago do not. Other reparations are surely possible, and I agree with you they should be done. One sort of reparation is "guarantees of non-repetition", which I here might include explicit denunciation of the official white supremacy policies and "yellow peril" xenophobia in the US which lead to these atrocities, and resulted in the decades-long prohibition of Chinese immigration, and with the reasons for that denunciation taught as part of our history. Could you elaborate what your "we" means? You certainly weren't one of those workers, and it's unlikely you are one of their descendants. This SF proposal doesn't include all Black people, and I'm hard pressed to think why you think you would be included in a similar one for America's 19th century Chinese labor oppression.
Overtonwindow 4y ago
Absolutely not, you do not represent a voting bloc that San Francisco cares about.

eesmith 4y ago

> Are we getting the same compensation? Of course not. Just like this isn't the same reparations compensation that Japanese and Japanese-Americans received during the Reagan administration. You do think those internees should have received compensation, even though Black-Americans did not at that time, right? Further, as https://theconversation.com/why-japanese-americans-received-reparations-and-african-americans-are-still-waiting-119580 https://theconversation.com/why-japanese-americans-received-... correctly points out: "It is much easier to obtain reparations under the following conditions: * The number of victims is relatively small. * The victims are easily identifiable. * Many of the direct victims are still alive. * The injustice took place during a relatively short time period. * The perpetrator is known. * The injustice is easily identifiable. * The injustice offends values of equality, personal safety and/or the right to own property. * There is a symbolic victim around whom advocates for reparations can rally. * The amount of reparations asked for is not so large that the public will find it unreasonable. You'll notice San Francisco's list of requirements fits most of those conditions. While the Chinese workers who suffered under back-breaking physical conditions and racial oppression some 150 or so years ago do not. Other reparations are surely possible, and I agree with you they should be done. One sort of reparation is "guarantees of non-repetition", which I here might include explicit denunciation of the official white supremacy policies and "yellow peril" xenophobia in the US which lead to these atrocities, and resulted in the decades-long prohibition of Chinese immigration, and with the reasons for that denunciation taught as part of our history. Could you elaborate what your "we" means? You certainly weren't one of those workers, and it's unlikely you are one of their descendants. This SF proposal doesn't include all Black people, and I'm hard pressed to think why you think you would be included in a similar one for America's 19th century Chinese labor oppression.

Overtonwindow 4y ago

Absolutely not, you do not represent a voting bloc that San Francisco cares about.