GIVE US THE FORMULA



As you have probably heard, there is a lot of conversation among the Democrat candidates for president about "reparations".  This issue is supposed to concern all the "African" Americans and "White" Americans in the United States. These "reparations" are, as I understand it, supposed to compensate present day Black people for the horrors of slavery and hold present day White people accountable.  According to some of these candidates' remarks, somehow, all the "White" people in the US are supposed to pay some amount of money to all the "Black" people in the US.  At this point, no-one has provided any details as to how this effort is to be accomplished. We have a few questions after we establish a few facts.

The first most obvious fact is that there is not one single person in the United States today who is a slave or has ever been a slave. The same is true of everyone's parents and grandparents back 5 generations.

The second fact is that there is not one person in the United States who owns a slave or has ever owned a slave. Again, this is true of everyone's parents and grandparents back over 150 years.

In stating these facts, we must conclude that the issue of reparations for slavery would, by definition, have to deal with the actions and circumstances of people's far distant ancestors.

Also, being as the United States is, and has been for a very long time, a true melting pot, there are virtually no people in this country who are pure blooded anything.  You hear people all the time bragging about being of Irish/ German descent, English/Scottish descent, or Native American/ Italian descent.  Whatever. We seriously doubt that one 100% "African" American or "White" American could be found within this country.  So, here are our questions.

In order to ascertain who gets how much money and who pays how much money, would everyone have to take a DNA test to determine what percentage of what race we are?

Suppose a person's DNA proves they are 50% "White" and 50% "Black"? Would their bloodlines cancel out either receiving or paying reparations?

Suppose a "White" or "Black" person immigrated to this country after 1930 and married a person who's grandparents were in this country before slavery was abolished? How would their children's responsibility be calculated?

Suppose a person has the appearance of being either "Black" or "White" but their DNA says otherwise?  How would that be addressed?

After we arrive at a formula to satisfy these questions, wouldn't we be required to address the fact that many other peoples in the history of our country have, also, caught the dirty end of the stick?

How about the multitude of Irish girls who were brought here during the great potato famine? Faced with the inevitability that their entire family would starve and die, many Irish parents opted to send their young girl children to America with the promise they would be fed, schooled, and provided with a bright future. Upon arrival, many of these girls were sold to wealthy men, to work in their houses as maids, of course.  NOT.  These girls were, in polite society, referred to as "indentured servants"; a classy term for slaves. No one knows exactly how many Irish girls fell prey to this fate but conservative estimates put the number in the hundreds of thousands.

How about the Chinese laborers imported to the west coast to work on the railroads? They came with the promise of making their fortune but wound up being worked and starved to death.  Again, no one knows the number of people caught up in this atrocity or the number buried in the wilderness with no markers.

Now, if we want to talk about something unfair, something horrible, something with no redeeming excuse, let's talk about the fate of the "Native" Americans. These people were living here, happily, when the Europeans arrived. They lived and hunted in the swamps of Florida, the woods of Georgia, the low lands of South Carolina, the mountains of North Carolina, and on up the Atlantic coast of the continent. Everything they needed for a comfortable life was there on the land.  They would barter with other tribes for luxuries. The Europeans wanted their lands so the indigenous people were moved to the deserts of Oklahoma. (Until oil was discovered and that land was taken back) It would be a tossup as to whether those who survived the trip were the lucky ones. How would you like to try to fish and grow crops in the desert?

Enough already. As you can see, there have been many atrocities and ill treatment of people during our long history. But, when you get to where the rubber meets the road, that's not the operative point here. The important fact to remember is 'what is and was the point of this country from the start'?  As we read in our founding documents and as we see it, the whole point was and is that we always strive to do better than we did in the past. And, from our vantage point, we have made great progress.

Today, no one has to be a "rich" kid to get an education. It's there for the taking. Today, no human being "owns" another human being. Today, there is no such thing as an indentured servant. Today, no matter how rich or poor you may be, you have rights. Today, anyone can say anything about any subject. Today, no one can take your property or your freedom without due process. Today, you can go where you want, shop where you want, live where you want, eat where you want, work where you want, and most importantly, worship where you want. It doesn't matter your color, creed, gender, or religion. Opportunity is here for any American. In this great nation of ours, the only person standing in the path of any person's success is the individual himself.

So, we have a revolutionary suggestion:

What say we all get off this train of finger-pointing and "what about me" isms? There is not one person reading this who doesn't have some or other ax to grind. We have all been taken advantage of at one point or the other in our lives. We all have regrets from our pasts. But, we have to remember that the world only revolves in one direction, forward. No one can turn back the clock. Wherever we are, the only option we have is the future. Why don't we concentrate on making that future the best it can be. Wouldn't that be a better use of our limited time on this earth?