Reader comment: Christy in Utah

I had to stop and catch my breath after reading the comment made by Christy about my post The most dangerous people in America - 11.4.2007.1 (and part 2 - 4.9.2008.1). By this point I would have thought that I was used to these kinds of comments, but sometimes I’m still taken for a loss.

The full comment can be seen at Black & White Blog, where I an a co-author. I am reproducing it here verbatim.

Christy

Perhaps Mike the reason why you always hear of black youth being killed by the police is because they are the violent ones. I live in Utah, which is predominatly white. They dont go around and shoot at eachother, or attack eachother. Yes, they act like boys and yell and tease people. That is hardly killing people or carrying guns.

I think you are in a bit of denial there Mike. Use the recent floods as an example. People are pulling together and working their own way out. They help thier neighbors and help themselves.\\

Then look at New Orleans, when there was flooding they all fell apart, started to rape eachother and shoot eachother. They were shooting at the helicopters trying to help them for hell sake.

It is the mentality that is the problem here. Whites for the most part have the opinion that we need to take care of ourselves and take responsiblity. Blacks, however are of the opinion that they are somehow owed something, and cant pull thier heads out of thier butts long enough to figure out how to take care of themselves.

That is what makes blacks more dangerous then whites. Their inablity to take any kind of responsiblity.

The amount of ignorance being spewed in these few words is enormous. I can say that the friends I have in Salt Lake City, and my experiences in Utah have never reflected the thoughts of Christy. But it reminds me that when any group of people in America is isolated from everyone else ignorance and blatant stupidity is rampant – like Eugene Oregon.

First of all Christy, you ignored all the facts I provided in the post and follow-up comments. Either that is because you chose to ignore factual data provided by the Government, or you could not allow yourself to understand the data’s meaning as it would invalidate your views.

And what views they are. Talk about simplistic racist denial. I am aware that New Orleans had issues after Hurricane Katrina. That is after the flood was over and the streets continued to hold bodies of the dead, and the Government failed to provide the populace with enough food and shelter. I am also aware that the issues that were occurring after the flood were not restricted to a single race, though the major news media had a great time inferring that it was a Black issue only. Had you looked for the full news stories, and not relied on the 15 second news video clips, you would have easily seen that Christy.

And don’t forget the fact that often the media, during the New Orleans floods, showed pictures of Whites and Blacks in the flood waters. The difference was only that when Blacks were shown they were referred to as looters, and Whites were said to be foraging for survival. The bias was blatant if you could look with clear eyes and an open mind.

Still I am unaware of helicopters coming to aid civilians that were being shot at. I’d love to see a link to that news report, provide it if it exists as I never found such a story in all my coverage or following of the story.

Christy, you are as ignorant of history as you are of using a spell check program. You state that Whites take responsibility and care of themselves. Let’s walk through a bit of history. Modern math, which enables Mankind to walk on the moon and have the internet, is all based on the number 0, created and used by the Middle East and Africa. The cradle of civilization, the beginnings of trade, and formal written language, all created in Africa.

Let’s move forward in time. The major wars of the Ancients were virtually all started by White countries needing to dominate the rest of the world. Roman, Greeks, Huns, Prussians, Saxons, ect. It’s a huge list. And how civilized were these hordes? They proliferated the single greatest plague known to humanity, the Bubonic Plague. Who found the cure for the Plague, the Moors – who were African.

The mentality that has created some of the worst conditions and history in Mankind can be summed up as such – European Whites believe themselves to be elite and superior, thus they fought near continuous wars across every part of the world they found. In each part of the world they brought disease, and with their barbarism forced their system of life onto every other culture they encountered. They stole nearly ever advance they could understand and militarized it. The effects are still reverberating across the world.

That is history.

In more modern times we have seen a slow progression towards understanding other cultures. America lags many nations in this effort. Our separation form the rest of the world has allowed us to be isolated and retard our interactions with other cultures. Thus we have never fully unified as a nation of multiple cultures.

Where, Christy, is the responsibility of Whites for the enslavement of Africans? The Government has never offered an apology – and the mere mention of such an act enrages millions. One of the greatest peacemakers ever known was Dr. Martin Luther King and it took over 20 years to provide him with a holiday, which was fought severely against by politicians in office right now like Senator McCain. It’s still a holiday that is not fully observed throughout the nation. Is that responsible?

Christy, you seem to think that the stereotypes of African Americans are true. Yet you ignore the great actions that African Americans have made throughout the existence of America. It was Blacks who learned how to provide blood transfusions that save millions of lives a year. It was Blacks that created the stoplight ensuring safe travel for tens of millions on our roads each day. The list of inventions and advancements is to long to list, and I bet you can’t name 2 of them.

And I again present you further facts.

“So we get this realization, Whites committed 4,297,146 acts of violent crime against a single person, and 759,079 acts against multiple victims that were White. Including the 40,249 multiple Black victims we get a total of 5,096,474. Thus once we move away from percentages and look at real numbers we learn that Whites are far more likely to commit a crime of violence against anyone, especially other Whites.

...

Crimes of violence 2,010,170 Under age 12 - 0.3% Ages 12-20 - 46.9% Ages 21-29 - 13.9% All over 30 - 5.7% Mixed ages - 25.9% Unknown - 7.2%

Thus 61.1% of all violent multiple crimes are committed by those at or under age 29...“

That says nothing of high school shootings – never committed by a Black or Hispanic child even in inner cities where guns and drugs are easily available – or acts of terrorism by fringe groups – like those that lead to the Oklahoma City bombings.

Christy, you don’t see the truth because you chose not to. You allow the major news media to deceive you. You cannot accept the responsibility in front of you because you are too busy heaping blame on others that aren’t exactly like you.

Christy, I accept that there are some African Americans that are not upstanding citizens of America. I accept that there are some that are not nice. Just as I accept that this is true of every race and culture. Yet I also accept that Whites in America overwhelmingly have more issues with people of color and are more violent –even against themselves – than ANY other group in America.

And the fact is that when given facts and examples of how lopsided the landscape is people like you, Christy, chose to wrap themselves in a blanket of old half-truths and misconceptions rather than deal with the situation.

I’m glad to say that most of the Whites I know are not like you Christy. They are good people that give respect to anyone that deserves it. They do not have rules or criteria for each color of person they meet. They deal with all people in the same manner, and can admit that some people are just trash – even if they are White. You are not among those people Christy.

I have lived or traveled through about 1/3 of this nation, I have lived overseas. I love this nation with every problem we have because it is the greatest in the world. But I am not in denial that through all those travels and experiences in my 40 years on this planet, there are some that dislike me just because of the color of my skin. I have had those experiences up to this year, and in reading your comment I am sure that my nephews will have them as well, sadly.

Christy, the point is not that all Whites are bad. It’s not that Whites have a history of barbarism and violence. It’s not that America seethes with an undercurrent of racism. But it is the point that reality is warped by the media in an effort to disguise the issues facing the nation, and to allow those with a mentality like yourself, a mentality that is better suited for the 9th century than the 21st, to be able to sleep at night.

I sleep well at night knowing the truth. I have no fear of people because I see and know the truth. I have friends of ever nationality and color found on the earth because I accept the truth. I have a full life and success because I do not deny the truth. Can you say the same, Christy?

Race in politics - 3.18.2008.1

I’m insulted and angered. State that I can’t get a cab in NYC and I’m told I’m in a rude city, or was dressed wrong, or was in the wrong part of time. Every reason except that I’m Black and the fact is it is harder for me. In fact, put any minority (White women are not a minority in my view) on national television and say that anything is different than the lives they see on television (which is just 2% filled with people of color) or they live and they retreat as if it were silver to a werewolf.

Race is the one means by which it is possible to get the majority of Americans to stick their heads in the sand. Once any aspect of race and prejudice is brought up, everything else before and after that is forgotten. This isn’t the past I’m talking about, it’s right now.

Rev. Wright has helped the poor, the oppressed (in South Africa – before it was popular), gays and lesbians, and yes African Americans. He has defended this nation with his life as a Marine. He is a religious leader in a faith whose major tenants include loving thy neighbor. [Which does not preclude criticizing thy neighbor] But all that is being focused on is that he is Black and speaking up.

I am reminded by the 1970’s program Good Times. I generally disliked the show and watched it infrequently as a child. At first that was because the younger son, Michael was so outspoken. It made me uncomfortable to a degree. Quickly I realized that in fact it was not what he said, but how the other characters were reacting to him. And I never liked the buffoonery required at the time to mask the serious race issues of JJ, the oldest son.

But that was because I was trained to react like this. To shun dealing with race. To avoid mentioning that I was a Black Puerto Rican and that my life was unlike those of the White Americans around me. Much like why there can be no discussion of anything relating to slavery, reparations, an apology, or Affrimative Action (even the Civil Rights Movement) without either the speaker or those spoken to drifting off. And I don’t mean in the 70’s I mean now. It’s part of the reason that Roots has never been on television since it aired once.

Let me ask this.

What is wrong with a President that is aware of the fact that he is an American that has had to live a lifetime of being better than those around him to be treated as average? What is wrong with a President that knows how it feels to be persecuted, and looked down upon because he entered a room?

Why is it so bad that a potential President can know someone that says ‘I’m a proud American that demands to be seen for my actions and accepted as anyone else’? What is wrong with knowing someone that says I will stand a speak out about the failures I see in this nation, a failure that affects millions, and I have given blood and endangered my life to protect the right to say this.

Because I guarantee that Senator Obama has heard those that see Blacks as second-class, drug-addled, ignorant, violent sub-humans throughout his entire life and up to today.

Yet there is no video clips of that - still I bet you had no problem envisioning such a comment being made did you? Yet that is not considered a benefit for his ability to deal with the issues of America. But the converse is seen as a negative.

I don’t care if people voted for or against Senator Obama, when it was about him and his record. But I care a lot about people not voting for him because he is Black. I care that votes will be held back because he knows African Americans that hold views that are honest (at least to a degree), not friendly or pleasing to White Americans.

Obviously Civil Rights did not go far enough, and we are not so far from the days of Slavery or Jim Crowe as we thought and some hoped.

Grammy's versus Black History Month - 2.11.2008.1

Why is it that I have seen news on ‘Cookie’ Thornton for a day last week, and then a bit later news on C.J. Turner, but I have yet to hear that 3 of the 6 defendants responsible for the rape, torture and kidnapping of Megan Williams have admitted their guilt? Why is it that I have seen maybe half a dozen missing women reports since the beginning of the year yet none of them have been Black, Hispanic/Latino or Asian. Why is it that major news media followed every aspect of the OJ Simpson Las Vegas case for 2 weeks, but there was barely 5 minutes of coverage on Wesley Snipes being found innocent of Federal charges? [Look at the linlks on the bottom for posts on the above.]

I bet right now there is more news out about who won Grammy's, and what the celebrities and entertainers wore than on Megan Williams, Wesley Snipes, and every Black woman and child that went missing in this nation since the beginning of the year. At the very least you think you would see more about African Americans since this is Black History Month, yet that isn’t the case.

In fact, there is more news about the drugs Heath Ledger took to kill himself (accidental or not), or the coverage of the news about Kayne West and Amy Winehouse winning awards than there was about the 3 villages in Darfur that were bombed on Friday, and the tens of thousands of men, women, and children that are fleeing for their lives.

But what can the major media do? It’s only Black History Month. It’s only realistic and a small portion of it positive non-entertainment related news about African Americans and Blacks in the world. That’s not something important. And besides the quota of positive Black news was filled with the coverage of Senator Obama winning Primaries and Caucuses.

I would say I’m being obtuse and sarcastic, except I don’t see anything on the major media that refutes such a thought. Nothing. In fact I will make a bet with anyone willing to take it. I say there will be more coverage (in minutes of airtime and/or number of related stories) on the Grammy red carpet and what Beyonce, Bai Ling, Soulja Boy Tell'em, Carrie Underwood all wore, than about Megan Williams, Darfur, Wesley Snipes winning his trial, and every other positive news event other than Senator Barack Obama, combined. I’d also bet that the Grammy’s will garner more attention than Senator Obama’s wins this weekend. I won’t even bother comparing it to coverage celebrating the African Americans who made 1000’s of inventions that we use every day or those that have given up their lives so that Obama can be a Senator now.

I think this is the perfect month to ask, why are those White Americans that run the major media so terrified to present positive and real events involving African Americans? Why is it that the only real media focus is on Blacks as entertainers or criminals? Even in the one, shortest month of the year when attention of a positive nature is supposed to be the secondary, or even terciary focus.

The most I’ve noticed are more television commercials with Blacks in them. Like the one from Time Warner Cable. The one with a woman comedian (who looks White – but could be incredibly light skinned) who thanks Richard Pryor (without ever mentioning his name) for letting her be able to joke about events in her life on stage. While that may be a breakthrough, I think the things that Time Warner could promote about Richard Pryor beyond that can fill hours of television time. Yet that’s the best homage they could manage. Not his writing, his work to fight Muscular Dystrophy (MS) or other events.

In fact even in schools there is a failure to recognize African Americans and there contributions to America. There are tens of thousands of things that African Americans have done over centuries to improve lives in America, but don’t think the major media or schools will mention that. From early versions of gas masks that saved lives of miners and firemen 100 years ago, to the Tuskegee Airmen who saved hundreds of lives and helped win WWII, what has been done is barely ever scratched.

I know of schools that have yet to discuss African Americans, though they are discussing the world history. Kids of all races know a lot about the Holocaust, yet few know anything about the causes of the Civil War and where freeing slaves really fell as a priority. And if it were up to major media, not a single child would learn a thing more than Blacks play games well, can sing and shake their asses, and some can make funny movies. That’s the message out there.

The more I think about it the more I get upset and insulted.

If you have kids, nieces or nephews, take a moment and ask them about Black History. See if they can name more than 5 famous names (and what those people did). See if they can name anyone beyond Senator Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King [the DR. part is important – he had a doctorate and it should be included in his memory], Malcolm X, Dr. George Washington Carver, and Booker T. Washington (rappers, sports figures, and other entertainers of general achievement don’t count). Ask them if they know the real reason America had a Civil War (freeing slaves was an afterthought – tying up loose ends). Ask if they have ever heard of the Tuskegee Airmen, or Tuskegee College for that matter. And if you don’t know these things you can learn about it too.

Everyone in America has seen the positives of White America, the positive news of various selfless acts, and the fears that occur when a White child is missing. I just wish the major media could give a little bit of attention to those same things for African Americans, or any people of color, at least during the shortest month of the year.

Since America is set against apologizing for the slavery that built the foundations of this nation, and livid at the mention of reparations fro that slavery, the Jim Crow laws and segregation that followed, a bit of positive images are the least that can be done.

Heath Ledger dead in NYC - 1.22.2008.1

Heath Ledger is dead. He was 28.

Unexpected? Yes. The big item of news as is being reported by the major news media right now? NO.

Yet again we are seeing that the news is overly focused on relatively unimportant information. I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, and I do not wish to make light of the loss his friends and family are experiencing. But there is the fact that the stock market dropped 450 points this morning, the FED cut interest rates ¾ of a point, the economy is in trouble, and the Presidential race is quickly coming to a point where only 2 candidates will remain.

For nearly an entire hour, the only thing that can be mentioned in the major news media is the fact that Heath Ledger seems to have taken prescription drugs, and had a heart attack. Apparently an accidental death, though pills were supposedly strewn about the body. Already rumors of the apartment being owned by Mary Kate Olsen have appeared and been debunked. Like that makes any difference on where the sun sets.

Consider this. Over the rest of the day, and in the next several days I would bet that roughly 3 days of news will be dedicated to this admittedly tragic event. Something like 8 hours of news will be spent on this. How much time was spent discussing the Tiger Woods lynching comments, and Golfweek magazine cover?

How much time has been spent on the racial tensions that occurred YESTERDAY in Jena? How about the time devoted to the Megan Williams case? Or why all the leading Presidential candidates proffered themselves as advocates of the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King yesterday yet not one has been willing to discuss an official apology to African Americans for slavery, nor Reparations.

I understand that Heath Ledger’s death is news on a celebrity. I understand that this will be talked about prior to the release of the next Batman Dark Knight movie. There is no question that reviewer will be kind in their evaluation of his role as the Joker [which from the trailers I have seen so far are not compelling and thus I expect the film to be lackluster regardless of the box office take]. But honestly there is more to focus on.

Is this harsh? Perhaps. But I tend to be focused on the important facts going on, than the distractions that some would like to fill my head with. The economy, who will be President and how will they govern America, race relations, and the impact of racially insensitive and potentially violent images and words being bandied about with the casual flippancy of a morning greeting are all far more important to me.

Celebrities, minor and major, die from stupid things all the time. Their passing should be noted. But I’m just tired of watching endless hours of useless information about their passing (as was done with Anna Nicole Smith) that benefits no one.

Do you agree?

NJ considers apology for slavery Part 4 - 1.3.2008.4

Concluded from NJ considers apology for slavery Part 3...

Should New Jersey, Georgia, Missouri, and every single state (with the exception of perhaps Hawaii and Alaska) make an apology, I think so. Each and every one has benefited and could not exist without the efforts of slaves and Jim Crow era African Americans.

Should the American government make an apology? I cannot see a justification why it has not already. Nor can I find a single reason why reparations have not been made as precedence exists.

“Yet reparations have been made to Japanese Americans and Native American Indians, at least to some degree."

and a means of reparation exists. Not only the one I outlined at Black & White Blog (where I am co-author), which was challenged and questioned as any controversial idea should be – but it must be discussed, but also elsewhere.

We can do a lot of things. But the first thing must be acknowledging the wrongs done and APOLOGIZING for them. And along with that must be the major media and news covering this issue and presenting it to the American public.

Skeletons in the closet may be a reality of life, but they never benefit anyone. They always come out, and in doing so strife is usually attached when they are forced out against our will. There is no difference in governments and people in this regard.

NJ considers apology for slavery Part 3 - 1.3.2008.3

Continued from NJ considers apology for slavery Part 2 ...

Or

“Mr. Frank Hargrove, a delegate, thinks that Black Americans should just “get over” 246 years of slavery and consideration as property. That the subsequent 100 years of Jim Crow laws and segregation and de facto third-class status should have been more than enough to adjust.”

Or

“I feel insulted, and Michael Medved is the reason for it… Thus I will just have to accept that he is stupid. [Stupid is defined as wanting in understanding or as I like to say ‘ignorance does not know, stupid is knowing and not caring.’] Given that, I think it’s time that a better answer to his “Six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery” is addressed with some logic.”

In each case these elected officials and media pundits seek to belittle the ancestors of African Americans, and in such belittle us today. In each case the argument ignores various points of fact. In each case denial is rampant as the only defense. And in each case the American government has failed to act.

Yet millions defend the right to display the Confederate flag. Millions insist that the South be remembered and glorified in momuments to the confederates and in movies. Hollywood and television see no reason why multiple symbols of the hyper-racist and small-minded nature of America in that time should not emblazened on screens both big and small.

As long as no one opens the closet and sees the lynched Black hanging there. And how dare anyone even mention that the closet exists.

And President Lincoln is offered as the equalizing symbol. That his actions corrected everything done in the past and during the years of Jim Crow and segregation after his 13th Amendment. To bad that is a romanticized lie.

Because history, as it is written and not proffered to us in the shortest month of the year, states that President Lincoln would have allowed slavery if it would have benefitted the nation. That freeing the slaves was less than a tertiary issue in the Civil War. That the 13th Amendment was a means to an end, and no more. And I have never seen a flag celebrating the freedom of the slave adorning a single American governmental building. Because the American government has never felt it is worthy of such celebration. But the Confederate flag is.

Continued in Part 4...

NJ considers apology for slavery Part 2 - 1.3.2008.2

Continued from NJ considers apology for slavery Part 1 ...

Now as of today, Virginia, Alabama, and Maryland have each announced “profound regret” for the slavery they allowed in their past.. North Carolina has announced “profound contrition”. Georgia discussed the issue last year, with the disapproval of Governor Perdue. And there is Missouri and New Jersey as stated above.

As for all the Presidential candidates of 2008, only Dennis Kucinich has ever mentioned the issue, and expressed a need for the nation to apologize and make reparations. The ONLY one.

This is pitiful.

Name one thing in America that has not been built with the foundation of slave labor. Name one company, in existence since at least 1865, which has not benefited from slavery. Even JP Morgan and its shareholders acknowledged the connection.

“We apologize to the American public, and particularly to African-Americans, for the role that Citizens Bank and Canal Bank played during that period," said the company on its website. "Although we cannot change the past, we are committed to learning from and emerging stronger because of it."

In addition to the apology, JP Morgan created a $5 million scholarship for African Americans in Louisiana.”

Please notice that JP Morgan APOLIGIZED. Not regret - an intelligent (and/or emotional) dislike for personal past acts and behaviors. Not contrition - sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation.

The fact is that even now, some 400 years after the first documented slave was forced to America, not one American governmental body has apologized for their part in slavery. None. They are sorry for its existence, and upset that untold millions were slaughtered, but they are not losing sleep over it. In fact many are fighting against it.

There are many like

“The disappointment comes from the statements “I'm not sure what we ought to be apologizing for” voiced by Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson and others.”

Continued in Part 3...

NJ considers apology for slavery - 1.3.2008.1

When you see this image what do you think?


To many this is a symbol of pride, the South, and a glorious and romanticized time in America.

To me and other African Americans, it is a reminder that America explicitly endorsed the belief that we were less valued and important than furniture at one time. It is a subtly and implicit reminder that we are second-class citizens, that we are separate, and that many still feel we are not American. It says America is proud of the days when picking cotton, torture, mental and sexual abuse were the only obligations available to Blacks. That every wrong done to African Americans was justified.

Obviously there is a big difference in what Blacks and Whites see in the Confederate Flag. The flag waves besides the American flag in courthouses and official government buildings across the South. It’s been highlighted in movies and television. And few Whites grasp the impact it makes, the statement it represents.

Because slavery is a taboo subject in this nation. As unspoken as the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII and the virtual extinction of Native American Indians.

When you see this image what do you think?


Most every American will say either the Civil War or freeing the slaves first, but both will be the likely answer. It is this image that sums up, and is the only, form of apology ever made by the American government about slavery.

I have said all this because slavery, and reparations, is finally being spoken about in this nation. Potentially we will hear about them in this election if the trend continues. That is if it continues and the major news media picks it up and tells anyone about it.

Today it has been reported that New Jersey is considering making an apology about slavery. This follows Missouri thinking about the same thing in December. I’m willing to bet most Americans never heard a word about this.

Mind you, they are only talking about an apology. Reparations are something every state fears, and none are willing to even discuss the issue. I kind of see that like the saying

“If everyone is saying your idea is wrong, you probably are on the right track to do something never done before.”

Continued in part 2...

Dog Chapman apologies on Hannity and Colmes Part 3 - 11.7.2007.2

Concluded from Dog Chapman apologies on Hannity and Colmes Part 2...

And lastly the interview ends with his written public apology, and his claim he would rather die than inflict pain on the Black community. Some how I doubt that. Had that been true he would not use, nor allow use around him, of the n-word. He would not have spit out the bile and malicious wording that is now the testament of his thoughts. Again I say his apology sounds hollow and as false as a poorly tuned piano.

But that is not the end of his annoying attempt to get back his lucrative television show and audience. The last thing he mentions is his efforts to get in touch with God and to go to a gravesite of African Slaves and to place a gravestone for each of them buried there.

I’m sorry but my anger cannot be bought so cheaply. My anger that has grown immensely as I hear him continue to speak. Now he thinks that telling me he is going to get in touch with God, and that this should excuses his intent and actions? That his taking the out that all entertainers and celebrities are using now, treatment for deplorable actions, is going to gain sympathy? Not with me.

And to even mention the graves of those Africans that were taken from their homes to become less than furniture enrages me. How dare him. Placing grave markers will not buy my anger off. Providing due respect for the lives of human beings is something everyone should do. America didn’t for over a century, and the paltry hollow actions of one White man who has compounded that insensitivity will not make up for it.

I mentioned that I expected Dog to seek some kind of ‘aid’ for his words. He has done so. I expected that he would apologize in public. And now he has. I did not expect him to lose his cable television show for the private phone call, but having heard his apology I am glad at A&E’s decision.

As I said to a friend about this whole incident,

“He may not be a racist, but he does a damn good job of acting like one.”

Real points on reparations Part 2 - 10.9.2007.2

Continued from Real points on reparations Part 1...

And lastly there is the FACT of precidence.

“Yet reparations have been made to Japanese Americans and Native American Indians, at least to some degree. Remorse has been expressed by the Government to both groups. Yet the United States Govenment has never apoligized nor acknowledged the wrongs done with slavery and its actions/attitudes in the over a century since that time.”

Perhaps Michael Medved would like to dispute these facts. He cannot nor can any person against reparations. That is why they seek out any and every other argument.

As for how to pay the reparations I offer this idea. Provide a tax credit, of say $3,000 for any African Americans that can provide proof of heritage. This will also cover all children of those African Americans from the inception date to 18 years later, thus covering all children born the year of the reparation. The proof would come from authenticated family trees that date back to at least 1865 and can show slavery. This tax credit is a lifetime credit, meaning that you have a total of $3,000 for life, being used over that lifetime. If you use it all in one year its gone. If it take 10 years at $300 a year then so be it. You don’t get more and the max is the start amout of $3,000.

This plan builds the economy, providing jobs for researchers and companies providing authenticated certificates. The Government would increase workers that would manage the list with the I.R.S. Oversite groups could be created to ensure that the fund is not mismanaged. Enforment jobs could be created to protect that scams could not take advantage.

Plus there is the fact that the economy would get a boost from the additional money being used to pay for goods and services. Credit cards coulds be paid off, downpayment and improvements on homes, pay for college tuition and supplies, investments in 401K’s and the stock market. Not to mention purchases of food, clothing, and whatever else.

Explain where this is a bad, or impossible thing to accomplish?

America had slaves, and made them build the nation. America profited and grew from this slave labor. Some of the worst attrocities known to man were commited to the slaves and their descendants, for centuries. America refuses to acknowledge what it did, or the benefit it received. At the same time America has apologized and made reparations to others of its people who were arguably far less abused and persecuted.

I will not put my head in the sand. I will not allow half-thought, tangent laden, slippery-slope arguments to obfuscate and distract me and others from the facts. I do not accept the romanticized arguments and media imagery.

America owes reparations and an apology to African Americans. They can be paid and must. America will always have over it’s head this division of it’s people while avoiding the honest debate and response.

Medved may enjoy this denial, and others like him, but the fact is that this is a rot in America. And given time, any rot will eventually destroy whatever is rotting. The same holds true for America.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Real points on reparations - 10.9.2007.1

This is a continuation of a discussion based on the comments by Michael Medved against reparations. It can be seen at Responding to Michael Medveds rant against reparations - 10.9.2007.1

It is long, but I feel it's worth the time.

**This post can also be found at Black & White Blog a forum for both sides of controversial issues.**

So how about I actually discuss the reasons why reparations make sense? How about we actually talk about American slavery and not detract from the subject in discussion of eras and societies that are not American?

There were millions of slaves that were forcibly taken from Africa to America, and died. That means families experienced the loss of fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, in a boat under duress. Murder is punishable, and as we have abundantly seen with the OJ Simpson case, profitable. Genocide, since this was a willful act done repeatedly to a singular and specific group of people, would seem to up that exponentially.

Of the surviving Africans, they were sold of without regard to their families or any factor other than their perceived ability to work, in the most humiliating manner. They were placed on display similar to a car in a showroom, with potential buyers pawing and prodding them. That is further duress and suffering.

Once sold, the slaves were guaranteed a lifetime of work. This work was menial at its best, without breaks, without pay, without time off. Medical care, which was not guaranteed, could range from intense to minimal and provided no guarantee of time off to recover.

Slaves were routinely beaten, mutilated, physically and mentally abused, sexually harassed and raped while forced to work. Any one of these is enough to cause the employer to be jailed, then or now, if it were done to another human being.

Slaves were denied their right to freedom of religion. They were denied an education. They were fed and clothed just enough to allow them to continue to work. They were denied freedom of speech. They were denied the right to have and/or raise a family.

Slaves built cities, roads, infrastructure, and agriculture. Every aspect of any business and establishment that exists in America today that has a tie to colonial America is connected to the slave workforce. That’s North or South.

If the average slave worked only 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 360 days a year for 4 decades of life that’s 158,880 hours of work per slave. If we assume that there were 3 million slaves from 1619 to 1865 (which is a low-ball estimate) then that is 476,640,000,000 hours of work done. Those are BILLIONS of hours. This does not even touch the Jim Crow era. Assuming a pay of just .05 cents an hour in 1865 money (no adjustment for actual worth in money today) that means $23,832,000,000. If I adjust by taking an increase of just 10% for each year for 55 years that’s a 9150% increase to $2,180,628,000,000. That’s TRILLIONS of dollars, adjusted just 55 years at 10%. There’s still another 87 years to go and we are adjusting from .05 cents. If anyone feels that more than TRILLIONS of dollars of work did not change America, they are stupid in my opinion.

In addition

“Jim Crow and other equally repressive laws and actions hindered Black African Americans. Incidents have occured even in the 20th century and include the Tuskegee syphilis experiments in the 1930’s, the destruction of Tulsa’s Black neighborhoods in 1921 and the loss of life and property when the all-Black town of Rosewood was destroyed by a white mob in 1923.”

Continued in part 2...

Response to 'Average American' comment on comparing news coverage Part 4 - 9.28.2007.4

Concluding from Response to 'Average American' comment on comparing news coverage Part 3...

You go on to say that OJ was freed, actually he was found innocent by a jury of his peers which included Whites. He did nothing more than what other rich men have done. Afforded a great legal team. How much time did Senator Ted Kennedy spend for Chappaquiddick?

The D.C. Mayor was elected. Drug use or not. And how many politicians are duplicitous in their actions? Perhaps you might also find fault that Senator Hillary Clinton took $850,000 from a man (Norman Hsu) that had a warrant for his arrest, evaded prosecution, and scammed people for that money. Even after the fact of his past was revealed, the Clinton campaign spent weeks before mentioning how much money he had given. They even initially tried to give away only $32,000 AFTER they knew of his record. You want to speak about questionable political figures; a Presidential candidate may be where you want to start.

And the Duke Lacrosse team. Those innocent boys, that hired strippers for a drunken party with minors. Whose actions prior to this event gave pause to their credibility and claim of innocence. That had every media outlet defending them from day one. That received justice, fame, and monetary gain for their troubles. Do I feel bad for them? No, they are richer today, several having graduated, and have no long term problem.

“How is it that so many black people care so little for truth? W