Comments on: An historical perspective on reparations

By: Liz Carleton

Liz Carleton — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:32:57 +0000

Slavery was a horrific institution. It went against the very foundation of our country and compromised the one thing we have always prided ourselves on having, freedom. Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” but those men and women certainly weren’t. It lasted as long as it did because it was infused in their way of life. Jefferson himself owned slaves until the day he died, although he supported eventual emancipation. However, event though it was morally wrong for a white American to have power and priveleges over a black American I believe it would be wrong for a black American to receive reparations. Many races have been mistreated over time. It would not be fair to only reward the African Americans. How much money could they be given? Can you really put a price on your ancestor’s and subsequently your own freedom? I don’t think so. I agree with Senator Obama’s idea to give funds to schools. This would create an equal playing ground for everyone.

By: Anne White

Anne White — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:52:28 +0000

I do not think paying reparations to the descendents of slaves is necessary. Paying their descendents does not in any way take away from the pain endured by the slaves in the antebellum time period in the south. I think the descendents of slaves who feel they deserve this payment are just trying to find a way to earn money and blame their own financial problems on the slavery and poverty induced on their relatives. In fact, I think that those who had enslaved realtives would be more inclined to take advantage of the opportunities they have today that their ancestors did not have, including education. This state of mind is a benefit of their family’s past. I am not say, by any means, that slavery was good, but I do not think white southerners today owe any money for the mistakes our ancestors made any more than our children and grandchildren will owe anything for our mistakes. The past cannot be undone, even with something as powerful as money.

By: Anna Frazer

Anna Frazer — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:58:00 +0000

To say slavery was a horrific institution is an understatement. It helped shape our nation, and will always be a defining time period in history. It will always be taught, examined, and critized. But in asking for reparations, the descendents of slaves are asking in a sense to correct or undo history. Are reparations necessary? In my opinion no. They can’t fix the past, and they also cant fix the pain and cruelty that many suffered under slavery. This is not saying that slavery should be ignored or be looked upon lightly. This is just to say that money can’t fix problems of the past, no matter how big or how small. But if we had to pay reparations for every race that has been mistreated throughout the centuries, people would be in massive debt. I think that there is no real solution to repaying for slavery, but I do think that there are ways to keep future generations informed and aware of the impact slavery has on our nation even today.

By: Emma Coogan

Emma Coogan — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:50:40 +0000

Although I do believe that presence of slavery in America up until the civil war still affects our society today, I do not think that it is necessary to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves. Other races could argue the need for reparations, so why should these be answered? They shouldn’t. As Edwards said, Paying reparations will not fix it. We need to try to acheive equality amongst the races through trying to spread oppurtunities to all areas of the country. The government needs to work to try to lessen prejudices effect on blacks, such as the mortgage rates in society. I don’t think reparations are the answer; It’s more complicated than that. I don’t think equality can be acheived quickly it’s a gradual process.

By: Liza White

Liza White — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:48:13 +0000

I do not believe that reparations in the form of money is they way to atone for slavery in America almost two hundred years ago. Slavery, though it was an atrocious institution, was an ordinary practice up until the Civil War. There is no way to ever fully apologize for the aftereffects, but I think a good way to give reparations is to improve America. I do not feel that paying money to the descendents of slaves is the way to appease the feelings, but helping the greater good, like Obama’s idea to improve the school systems. By creating a better school environment and destroy the “corridors of shame” would be a good way to spend the money and improve the education and ignorance of the generations to come. Just giving money to individuals will not improve America as a whole and what really needs to be dealt with is the prejudices that people have against African – Americans as a majority. Improving the educations for the generations of kids to come can show that America has come very far in educating about slavery, and the negative conatation it has. Monetary reparations to individual descendants does nothing but continue the discremination.

By: Allie Gullquist

Allie Gullquist — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:07:53 +0000

Reparation for an unforgivable crime against humanity is a difficult thing to pinpoint. Personally, I do not believe that we as a country should give direct reparations, monetary or in other forms, to descendants of slaves. What we can do is to show our humility and our recognition that what happened was wrong, but that we can’t change the past. Senator Edwards’ words in particular stood out to me. It is obvious that although our country has indeed come a long way since the days of slavery, that we still have a lot of work to be done. If what John Edwards said is true, that blacks’ mortgage rates are consistently higher than that of whites’, it is obvious that there is still some of that underlying persecutory mindset in what we have to believe is mainly the South. Obama’s wish for a stronger school system will, in the long run I believe, help to educate the coming generations to what happened in the past, and how we can work to change it today. Before we can truly begin to contemplate how in the world we can make reparations for enslaving other human beings, we need to deal with the fact that some Americans still have prejudices against blacks. Even though we may not be able to change each individual person’s prejudice, we can deal with the obvious prejudices of society as a whole.

By: Deborah Berg

Deborah Berg — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:47:00 +0000

I do not think descendants of slaves should receive reparations. There is no doubt that slavery was an extremely cruel and evil institution but giving reparations will not change that fact or really do anything for equality in this nation. If it is a matter of apologizing for slavery, how does giving money change anything. It is completely unfair to raise taxes on Americans who aren’t even related to slave owners and even those who are descendants of slave owners should not be penalized for their ancestors poor choices. Yes, it was incredibly unfair for slaves to have been given nothing for their years of work and the injustices forced upon them after they were freed but what needs to be done is improvements in equality of opportunity for all so that these descendants of slaves are not affected by their lack of inheritance from their ancestors. I think that all people living in poverty should be given the chance to improve their circumstances not just those whose ancestors were slaves. If you only give money to these descendants, it is furthuring the inequality between races because then you have left out the rest of the poor population who’s not african american and who’s ancestors weren’t slaves.

By: Anne Garland

Anne Garland — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:27:58 +0000

I do not think that the government should give out reparations to the descendents of slaves, because that is not an adequate apology for the horrible institution of slavery. However, I do believe in what Obama said that we need to improve the public school system and the “corridor of shame”. In doing this it will allow children, who otherwise might not have had a proper education, to be successful and show the nation how far they have come. This will not just effect the present generation, but it will effect the generations of the future because hopefully it will be a long lasting commitment. I feel that in this way we can make our amends for slavery and strengthen our nation.

By: laura wright

laura wright — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:49:18 +0000

I do not think that the government should give slave descendants reparations. Giving them money will not change the past it would most likely just cause for more debate. As much as we would like to change the past, we can only change the future. The awful suffering and cruelty toward slaves should certainly be recognized but it was the mistake of our ancestors, not of the people today. Moving forward for positive change in the future, like some of the presidential candidates suggested, is the best reparation for all. Creating equality of opportunity such as bettering our country’s school systems would be far more effective.

By: Eliza McGehee

Eliza McGehee — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:37:51 +0000

I do not believe that just giving money to the black population is the best way to apologize for slavery. I think we as a country need to work harder to establish equal opportunity for all, black, white, rich, or poor. This really starts in the schools systems as Obama said. Improving public schools will give more children the urge to learn and to lead. It will spark new ideas and ultimately be a great thing for our country. Instead of just giving money, we should do something that will benefit the generations to come like a proper and strong school system that is available to everyone. This will take a lot of work, but in the end it will come to benefit children who would not have had the opportunity to learn like we are so privileged to have.