REPARATIONS = Inheritance Done Ethically
Every “white payroll dollar” in America’s history to this day comes substantially from the pockets of slaves and their descendants.
If most Americans were to be asked, “Should the descendants of those who did the work of building America receive the benefits of those efforts?”, no doubt they would overwhelmingly agree that they should. I suspect it’s not an uncommon opinion that even those now considered “robber barons” were deserving of reward for their work in making America a wealthy and successful nation. Additionally, these same respondents almost universally make the claim that the people possessing those assets should decide which members of the next generation should receive that wealth, and that they should do so untaxed, as if money is some divine gift to be passed on by God to the next generation, untouched even by the greater needs of others or of the nation itself.
But when that same measure of “America’s greatness” specifically includes the construction of most public buildings in a young and rapidly growing nation, as well as the vast economic growth derived from slave-state agriculture, the answer to the question from the same respondents will almost certainly be as different as black and white.
The last thing these same Americans actually want is for those who did the work of building America to receive the reward. Truth be told, the “workers” (i.e.-slaves) largely responsible for America’s continuing global success never saw the first cent for the labors of their own backs, instead scarcely having clothing to wear or a roof to sleep under. So, when that work is forced almost exclusively upon laborers by threats of death and violence based purely on their place of birth and/or skin color, should the proceeds also be passed on to the descendants of those performing the arduous, and often dangerous work? “Only if they’re white!” is almost certain to be the response, even if not spoken aloud. In fact, these same white people claiming they are entitled to the efforts of their ancestors aren’t necessarily talking about any actual work done by their ancestors, but rather the efforts by their ancestors to avoid working, and instead having that work done by those recognizing torture and death as their only alternatives. I feel it safe to say that those believing in violence and suffering as the path to America’s greatness agree that all American money should be in the hands of white men, but others of us would prefer the path of reparations to begin repairing this greatest of all American injustices since the time America’s indigenous pre-citizens were nearly exterminated, also by white greed.
How can it possibly be successfully argued that every “white payroll dollar” (to differentiate from “under the table” cash payments lost forever to history) ever earned in more than 400 years of our shared history wasn’t significantly plundered from the pockets of the descendants of American slaves, even to this day? Considering what could have been accomplished had these same slave workers been paid even a pittance and allowed to own land and use banks, the resulting differences in America’s racial economic imbalance might now be unrecognizably minor. But instead, more than 50 million Americans still see no problem in profiting from racial hate both politically and financially, as January 6 (and Trump in general) proves. What other reason could possibly explain why they have short-circuited their identical thought process of benefiting the offspring of those who created America’s economic position in the world…when the recipients of those labors by their ancestors would be the Black descendants of American slaves? Maintaining an oppressive power structure, including ignoring the justice of reparations, seems easier for far too many white Americans than facing the reality of an oppressive and fear-filled white race utilizing immeasurably high amounts of lies, hate and bloodshed to avoid facing reality. These same people, largely claiming to consider Black Americans to be “lazy”, were willing to fight a war resulting in 1.5 million deaths to keep them enslaved as workers. (It’s hardly possible to discuss “lazy Americans” without putting slaveowners at the top of the list, with the tremendous extremes they went to in order to avoid performing actual work beyond that of being socially prominent. And of course, the slaveholding elite only rarely fought in the American Civil War.)
Is it possible that the very people now demanding to “Make America Great Again(MAGA)”, are forgetting that the wealth generated during much of the time they seemingly so cherish was created during a time of oppressive and murderous slavery…or perhaps they have not forgotten at all. And what is possibly the greatest tool wielded by the far-right in America today? Allowing every follower to ignore all personal responsibility. Instead of ever accepting blame for performing or benefiting from any unjust or immoral action, it’s far easier to simply shift the blame to someone else, or even to ban the teaching of certain aspects of history entirely. That is Donald Trump’s greatest “gift” to the demographic of the American public too lazy and selfish to accept any responsibility for their actions or those of their ancestors, no matter how cruel and reprehensible, or the degree to which they still benefit from those great inequities and injustices.
In closing, once more I must make clear that every dollar earned by white Americans came (and still comes) substantially from the pockets of slaves and their descendants, and that has been the case since the first slave ship landed in 1619. And it’s well past time to balance the equation.
Thank you. (BTW, I’m a white male of advancing years who was born in the south and saw the evils of racial segregation when it was still the law of the land. I look forward to the day that I’m no longer fearful of violence as the result of using my real name on Medium.)
