United Nations panel says U.S. owes reparations for slavery, mass incarceration

[Dextroden]

There couldn't possibly some common surnames who's ancestors were never slave.

Ooh, what about non-blacks with those surnames? Or are reparations an AA thing only?

Nothing like having a surname like Jackson.

Don't expect any replies that will hold up. Especially since government entities that would be paying this would be using money from parties that:

1. Have zero to do with slavery.
2. Have slave ancestry but can't prove it.

[Deleted]

It's over a 150 years ago. No one alive today was alive then.

The UN should also be disbanded already. It served it's purpose in the post WW2 world but now it's just another SJW power hub that NEVER gets any reasults anyway.

[Scathbais]

No one can be forced to pay for a crime committed by their forbearers or neighbours.

Actually they can. Where do you think the money comes from every time a black family sues for "wrongful death". Like in Baltimore, the family of Freddie Gray received millions of dollars from the city (even though there were no criminal convictions). That comes directly from the taxpayers!

[Daelak]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ays-u-n-panel/


Seriously, who are these fucking idiots anyways. So they recommend that because 6% of the white population in the south owned slaves (as compared to 30% of free blacks at the time), everyone has to pay reparations? Get real.
What I found particularly troublesome was the statement
as if punishing the vast majority of current US citizens for a perceived wronging they had no part in (many non-blacks moved to US after slavery was abolished) in order to pay the descendants of possible slaves is going to somehow not going to create an inhibition to social cohesion?

I have yet to see any serious character who think is this is a good idea other than an occasional professional race hustler. Since these people want to correct the past wrongdoings, how about reparations for all men as they were duped by Eve into taking a bite from the forbidden fruit.

It makes complete sense, there is a direct correlation between black familial wealth and the rest of the population due to segregationist/racist/enslavement. Hundreds of billions of dollars of wages and real estate appreciation funneled to other populations because of the color of their skin.

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It's not only that. They're trying to get people to pay for something that no one alive did. And, only about 1.5% of all Americans back then even owned slaves. I'm sorry, but my ancestors were Irish, and were treated even worse than the blacks were. When do i get my check?

No they weren't. What's with the false equivalences from the slavery apologists about how Chinese and Irish immigrants were treated just as bad for just as long?

[satimy]

I think the UN should pay us for protection, and also keep its mouth shut.

[Ryme]

I think people should just start demanding specifics, this section:

"In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent"

Is so outrageous in it's mix of damningly vague with nothing helping to support it. The report itself offers very little, they met with people who allege to have had family members killed with no counter or control measures worked with, it uses barely any numerical information aside from the wonky stats such as "African Americans were killed at twice the rate of white, Hispanic and Native Americans" which fail to take into account any circumstance. There are sections cited as sources that are just opinion pieces such as the book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander as a citation on the War on Drugs effects on the African American community; leads me to thinking this is a typically weak UN report.

The best the report seems to offer is that there is a failing in ability to verify the accountability of US police forces, not much more.

[Kalis]

The irish were a dime a dozen, because there were so many of them. An irish slave sold for around 5 sterling, whereas the African slave trade was just picking up. The stronger, more fit black slaves sold for ten times that price. They could beat the Irish to death all they wanted to, because an Irish slave was worth one tenth of a black, more useful slave. It's not a subject talked about very often in America, and it's puzzling that many of our ancestors were treated so poorly and it seems to have been swept under the rug. Ireland's population dropped by 2/3 during just one decade of slave trade. There's plenty of books that deal on it, but you're not gonna find it mentioned except just in passing in american history text books. For some reason African slavery is focused on, even though other races had it far worse than blacks did. Every black person in America should be thanking their lucky stars their ancestors were taken and that they were born here, because they'd have it a LOT worse in Africa currently. Very few countries over there are up to 21st century western standards of living.

The Irish were subject to indentured servitude, not slavery, the former is temporary, not hereditary and was often used a form of criminal punishment, though could be voluntary, the latter is permanent, hereditary and based on race.

It wasn't only the Irish who suffered indentured servitude, the English, Scottish and Welsh did as well.

It was often seen as a way for poor people to get a headstart, though I expect many probably weren't expecting it to be such a brutal life.

[Daelak]

I think people should just start demanding specifics, this section:

"In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent"

Is so outrageous in it's mix of damningly vague with nothing helping to support it. The report itself offers very little, they met with people who allege to have had family members killed with no counter or control measures worked with, it uses barely any numerical information aside from the wonky stats such as "African Americans were killed at twice the rate of white, Hispanic and Native Americans" which fail to take into account any circumstance. There are sections cited as sources that are just opinion pieces such as the book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander as a citation on the War on Drugs effects on the African American community; leads me to thinking this is a typically weak UN report.

The best the report seems to offer is that there is a failing in ability to verify the accountability of US police forces, not much more.

How specific do you want? Why do you think black households have 1/10 of what white households have in wealth?

[McFuu]

lol, UN

The biggest contribution to the world they've given us defeating Charlie Chaplin in Idiocracy.

If there ever was an organization that stood next to a fire with a bucket of water and gave it out to spectators of the fire, it's the UN.

[Ryme]

How specific do you want? Why do you think black households have 1/10 of what white households have in wealth?

I haven't done any research into it, I would hazard a guess at culture and state level wealth disparity.

[Belize]

Also, who's paying for this? What about all the families that emigrated to the states after slavery ended, or never owned any slaves?

So now, you have to find every actual descendants of slaves, and every slave owning family and charge them for it.

Can we stop general statements of "X SHOULD DO DIS!" and look into specifics before talking? It'd save save a lot of people from looking dumb.

[Themius]

So are you saying only those with at least 97% West African DNA are entitled to reparations? That is not going to be many people, probably only a tiny handful.

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I am talking about white people in the US, who had an ancestor that was a slave in the US, not people enslaved outside the US. Lots of people have one ancestor of a different race.

Not unless they were negatively affected. For instance the descendant of a slave owner who rapes their slave leading to a white perdón having a great great great slave grandmother shouldn't receive reparations.

[Kalis]

Not unless they were negatively affected. For instance the descendant of a slave owner who rapes their slave leading to a white perdón having a great great great slave grandmother shouldn't receive reparations.

How do you decide who is negatively affected? Every black person in the US today has had opportunities to better themselves even if they haven't taken them, so they are all out, which leaves...nobody.

If you base it solely on current economic factors, then it is a retarded concept, as it ignores those who succeeded. If you base it solely on skin colour, then you are rewarding many people who aren't disadvantged on a racial basis and using an accident of birth as a means to reward people.

The whole thing is unworkable and racist.

[yetgdhfgh]

Oh my the UN said it so you guys better do as they say LOL

But seriously the UN is the most useless organisation since the league of nations and what they say isnt worth the paper its printed on!

[Thagrynor]

You guys all clearly didn't read the link or text body, which is funny.

A UN-affiliated (which is both broad and vague) group said the US owes reparations. Not the UN.

All these anti-UN rants and none of you bothered to even read the damn story.

Obviously you didn't read the article either, at least past the first sentence. It clearly states the group was appointed by and reports to the High Commissioner of the Human Rights Council and reported their "findings" to the Human Rights Council. That is neither "broad" nor "vague" in who they are or how closely they are tied to the UN. To me, it sounds like they are as much of a consultant to the HRC as the Drug Czar is to the President in the US. True, they are not an "official" part of the governing body, but that doesn't mean they are fringe whackadoo group that just makes crap up and is so loosely associated that the UN has no idea who they actually are. And since they are just reporting their findings, there is still the chance in the future that the UN adopts this same stance.

All this is to simply say, before you call others out for "not reading the article", perhaps you should clearly read and understand what you are claiming others aren't reading or understanding.

[Dezerte]

I am generally a bit skeptical about organizations like these, due to the arbitrariness-factor. I would like to first state that I have no problem with, in fact I approve, of addressing inequalities (I am a evil social-democrat, after all). But as it is with these ideas of reparations - how far back should the reparations cover, and why? And how shall they be addressed? I think these are the important questions to ask.

In this case, people of African descent shouldn't get paid reparations just because they are from Africa. No, there should exist an inequality/disadvantage that affects them today (e.g. hiring practices as an example). And often the reparations shouldn't be about financial settlement but measures to counter the problems, e.g. segregation is not solved by a pay check but rather various initiatives that promotes inter-racial relations and other solutions.

[Daelak]

I haven't done any research into it, I would hazard a guess at culture and state level wealth disparity.

And your hazard guess would be wrong. It is the direct result of lower/no wages through denial of employment during the 20th century and complete wage confiscation during the era of US slavery.

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Also, who's paying for this? What about all the families that emigrated to the states after slavery ended, or never owned any slaves?

So now, you have to find every actual descendants of slaves, and every slave owning family and charge them for it.

Can we stop general statements of "X SHOULD DO DIS!" and look into specifics before talking? It'd save save a lot of people from looking dumb.

It would be a bill that would be debated in the HoR and Senate and signed by the president, so it would be a de facto representation of all US persons repaying and apologizing to the progeny of hundreds of years of rape, enslavement, lynching, redlining, segregation, and deliberate generational impoverishment and incarceration.

[Graeham]

No one can be forced to pay for a crime committed by their forbearers or neighbours.

Agreed. Especially when the crimes in question are hardly something exclusive to 'White People' no matter how often 'humanitarian' organisations choose to overlook history. Slavery is something that cropped up across multiple periods and countries throughout history after all. Heck, it's even employed in certain countries in the modern day but they're left largely unchecked and get only a slap on the wrist at best.

[Deleted]

It's not the UN but a "by a U.N.-affiliated group " , case closed. If you could blame for things like that the middle east sure have alot to pay to africa for the slave trade.

[triplesdsu]

Things like this make me think of Dave Chapelle's "Black Bush" skit where he tells the UN to sanction us with their army. Oh, you dont have an army. When then you should STFU.