Democratic panel to open debate on reparations for slavery

[Remarkableriots]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democratic-panel-to-open-debate-on-reparations-for-slavery/ar-AAD5i7l?li=BBnbcA1&srcref=rss&OCID=AMZN

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Actor and activist Danny Glover and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates are among the witnesses expected to testify at a hearing Wednesday of a House Judiciary subcommittee. The stated purpose is "to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice."

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/centuries-old-reparations-promise-renews-debate-on-capitol-hill-campaign-trail/ar-AAD6LLI?OCID=AMZN

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Steps away from the U.S. Capitol -- a building built by slaves -- the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will hold its first hearing in more than a decade on the hot-button topic of reparations for the descendants of Africans brought to America, enslaved and impacted by discriminatory policies including segregation.

The hearing, timed to coincide with "Juneteenth," a date when the last slaves in Texas learned they were free, brings to the forefront the centuries-old debate over what, if anything, is owed.

At the end of the Civil War formerly enslaved families were promised by Union leadership40 acres and a mule -- an offer never fulfilled. Centuries later, the debate over reparationsis playing out on the campaign trail as many 2020 presidential presidential candidates weigh in on the topic and lawmakers press the case with perennial legislative efforts.

Former Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., first introduced reparations H.R. 40 legislation in 1989 aimed at creating a commission to "make recommendations concerning any form of apology and compensation to begin the long-delayed process of atonement for slavery." The measure has been reintroduced every congressional last session since then and was re-introduced this year by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.

The measure has drawn support from NAACP President Derrick Johnson whose organization backed the measure starting in 2014.

"Here we are in 2019 talking about it again. It is a sore spot for this nation," Johnson told ABC News in April. "It is something that we must address, so we can get past this moment in time in a way in which the legacy of slavery, the legacy of segregation, the legacy of institutional racism can once in for all be done away with and we can all prosper as a nation as one whole community."

 

[Anathema-]

Reparations are important for monetary reasons but morally speaking it's right and proper that the American government make a big gesture to acknowledge that the descendents of African slaves are, in fact, Americans.

[Remarkableriots]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-democrats-with-pelosi-s-support-will-consider-a-commission-on-reparations/ar-AAD4SOn?ocid=AMZN

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With the support of a string of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, the idea of reparations for African-Americans is gaining traction among Democrats on Capitol Hill, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi backs the establishment of a commission that would develop proposals and a “national apology” to repair the lingering effects of slavery.

Nearly 60 House Democrats, including Representative Jerrold Nadler, the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, support legislation to create the commission, which has been stalled in the House for 30 years. The bill will be the subject of a hearing on Wednesday — the first congressional hearing on reparations in more than a decade, and the first on the measure itself.

 

[Alpha1Cowboy]

It will be interesting to see where this goes.  I think it's a minor social issue at best when compared to the larger issues that liberals are looking to tackle.  Chiefly climate change, universal healthcare, free or low cost tuition and cost of living imbalance and infrastructure.

 

I feel that if we can tackle those issues....along with the boomer die off and the rise of the multi ethnic Zoomers may of the problems will abate.   I'm certainly not hoping they just come up with something as simple and stupid as cash payouts like some of my co workers have suggested.

 

Money doesn't really resolve the underlying issues from my perspective......I'm getting ready to head back to Minnesota on vacation and we live near a tribe who get payouts for having casinos on their land  (they don't actually have to work or they can work very little...the payouts are more than enough to live on comfortably....but the issues with alcoholism and mental health are as present as ever)

[TheGreatGamble]

Yeah, I’m not for cash reparations. How do you decide who gets them? Where does the money come from? 

 

Obviously slavery has a long reach and black people still feel the ramifications of it, I’m not trying to minimize that. But this only seems like something that will inflame tensions between races and cause more divisions. While a lot of what the turtle said is trash, he’s correct that nobody alive today is responsible for slavery. I think it’s understandable that people don’t want this.

 

that said, it’s not something I would be angry about personally if it happens. It just feels like an attempt to buy the black vote (which they already have).

[CayceG]

8 minutes ago, TheGreatGamble said:

Yeah, I’m not for cash reparations. How do you decide who gets them? Where does the money come from? 

 

Obviously slavery has a long reach and black people still feel the ramifications of it, I’m not trying to minimize that. But this only seems like something that will inflame tensions between races and cause more divisions. While a lot of what the turtle said is trash, he’s correct that nobody alive today is responsible for slavery. I think it’s understandable that people don’t want this.

 

that said, it’s not something I would be angry about personally if it happens. It just feels like an attempt to buy the black vote (which they already have).

 

All black people should get them.

 

It isn't about only slavery. It's about Jim Crow, the repression during the Civil Rights era, the unsaid and not explicit racism in the societal power structures that still exist today. All of that started with racism against blacks. 

If you're angry about black people getting recompense for historical mistreatment, I'd say you're angry about the wrong thing. 

[TheGreatGamble]

2 minutes ago, CayceG said:

 

All black people should get them.

 

It isn't about only slavery. It's about Jim Crow, the repression during the Civil Rights era, the unsaid and not explicit racism in the societal power structures that still exist today. All of that started with racism against blacks. 

If you're angry about black people getting recompense for historical mistreatment, I'd say you're angry about the wrong thing. 

Again, I said it doesn’t bother me, I just don’t agree we should do it. I’m certainly not going to get upset if it happens though.

[CayceG]

Oh, I misread. I read your post as saying you WOULD be angry. Apologies. 

[Guest]

Do it. The generational wealth stolen from black folks is staggering, and the US government was the key agent in so much of it.

[skillzdadirecta]

Me thinks that if reparations WERE to happen there would be a LOT of new "black folks" out there all of a sudden. Remember how many people suddenly discovered their "Native American Heritage" once casino licenses became available to them 

[skillzdadirecta]

36 minutes ago, TheGreatGamble said:

Yeah, I’m not for cash reparations. How do you decide who gets them? Where does the money come from? 

 

Obviously slavery has a long reach and black people still feel the ramifications of it, I’m not trying to minimize that. But this only seems like something that will inflame tensions between races and cause more divisions. While a lot of what the turtle said is trash, he’s correct that nobody alive today is responsible for slavery. I think it’s understandable that people don’t want this.

 

that said, it’s not something I would be angry about personally if it happens. It just feels like an attempt to buy the black vote (which they already have).

 

Black people doing ANYTHING positive or negative inflames racial tensions in this country. That's no reason to not do the right thing and I'm frankly sick of it being used as an excuse... "We don't want to piss off all the racists lurking out there in the country so lets not do the thing that we know we should do... or at least figure out how to sell it to them". Fuck them.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Slavery underpinned the very foundations of American capitalism in both the South and the North.  I suggest reading this impressive book to comprehend the full extent of that reality.

 

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism

[Guest]

People today still suffer the consequences of slavery, including the perpetual dehumanization of black people that began hundreds of years ago. We have policies even today that are ripples in the water caused by slavery. Cash reparations are just part of the equation, we have a long way to go.

[CitizenVectron]

What do people think is the correct answer? Cash, free university, some combination of stuff like that?

[Bloodporne]

Is Rachel Dolezal getting like...50% of the monthly check?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

16 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

What do people think is the correct answer? Cash, free university, some combination of stuff like that?

The really correct solution would have been to carve out an independent state for the freed slaves from the territory of the defeated Confederacy.

[TheGreatGamble]

5 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

The really correct solution would have been to carve out an independent state for the freed slaves from the territory of the defeated Confederacy.

Shoulda given them Alabama!

[Bloodporne]

I'm actually seriously curious to see how this would work in practice. Some sort of overall additional tax for every citizen that ends up being paid in the form of maybe a check/deposit each month to black people?

 

Something like a general tax like that would seem to be the only thing to even make sense to me, otherwise it'd be an exclusion fest, no?

 

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Does this even matter if Senate Democrats don't nuke the fillibuster once and for all?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

5 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Does this even matter if Senate Democrats don't nuke the fillibuster once and for all?

It matters in the sense of it getting into the mainstream discourse.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Does this even matter if Senate Democrats don't nuke the fillibuster once and for all?

Having an actual discussion that isn’t relegated to “fringe” people and their “crazy ideas” does

indeed matter. It may not come to anything in the near term, but this is part of how ideas that seemed laughable or unthinkable become a reality.

[mclumber1]

How black do you have to be to get reparations? How much does someone like Meghan Markle get? 

[CitizenVectron]

20 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

How black do you have to be to get reparations? How much does someone like Meghan Markle get? 

 

Great, now the US is going to be giving a tax rebate to royalty!

[finaljedi]

I feel like the republicans will run on this to a decent amount of success.  The turtle even brought it up and gave their platform in a way.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, CitizenVectron said:

What do people think is the correct answer? Cash, free university, some combination of stuff like that?

It is a tricky thing to pull off, I think. There are so many different approaches to take and would suppose some mixture would be necessary. The major issue I see is that handing over a bunch of cash doesn't fix any of the ongoing systemic issues that black people have to endure. We need to fix the way we fund schools. We need to fix our drug laws. We need to fix our healthcare system. We need to fix cash bail. We need to fix employment discrimination. We need to fix housing discrimination. The list goes on and on. We need a truly comprehensive overhaul of our society.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

21 minutes ago, finaljedi said:

I feel like the republicans will run on this to a decent amount of success.  The turtle even brought it up and gave their platform in a way.

To which I say - so what?

 

Democrats need to stop letting the GOP dictate the field of battle by constraining the scope of "acceptable" issues to be addressed out of fear of electoral repercussions.

[Jason]

32 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Great, now the US is going to be giving a tax rebate to royalty!

 

Did she have to renounce her US citizenship to become Duchess of Sussex?

[Chris-]

1 hour ago, CitizenVectron said:

What do people think is the correct answer? Cash, free university, some combination of stuff like that?

 

Baby bonds! Every child born to at least one African-American parent gets $X amount of money attributed to their Social Security number, fully vesting on their 18th birthday (with partial vesting for educational costs).

 

The inequality of generational wealth will be addressed, AND some enterprising white people will strike up relationships with black people, further mingling our races and rendering the white identity irrelevant. It's a win-win!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

To pay for the program, I propose a financial services surcharge that would be levied on all capital investment transactions.  This should minimize the financial impact on "ordinary" Americans.

 

It also has symbolic value as African slaves were essentially "human capital" to their owners.

[Anathema-]

Something needs to happen. There was never a ritualized "acceptance" of black people and their descendants as Americans. In fact all the rituals we've gone through have only entrenched the idea of black Americans as second class. A big grand gesture would go a long way in correcting that.

[CayceG]

3 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

To pay for the program, I propose a financial services surcharge that would be levied on all capital investment transactions.  This should minimize the financial impact on "ordinary" Americans.

 

It also has symbolic value as African slaves were essentially "human capital" to their owners.

 

I am tumescent. 

[Jason]

Just now, CayceG said:

I am tumescent. 

 

Yes, very pompous.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Jason]

Mitch McConnell Says He Doesn’t Support Reparations: “We’ve Elected An African American President”

 

Also Mitch McConnell:

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

To be more specific, my proposed financial services surcharge would be imposed on "intangible" capital investment transactions.

[skillzdadirecta]

2 hours ago, mclumber1 said:

How black do you have to be to get reparations? How much does someone like Meghan Markle get? 

 

How black did you have to be to be considered Black and therefore inferior during slavery? I believe during slavery times they applied One drop rule So someone like Meghan Markle who is what, Bi-racial? Would definitely be considered "black".