“I personally would want to see our tragic history, or the tragic elements of our history, acknowledged….I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”
B. Hussein Obama
UNITY ’08 Conference in Chicago
This quote by Obama comes at the same time that the US house of representatives offered up an apology which,
acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow; apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.
Never mind that the whole LBJ “Great Society” program was a vast transfer of billions of dollars committed to rectifying the lingering consequences of slavery and Jim Crow. Never mind that quotas and affirmative action hiring programs were passed as legislation committed to rectifying the lingering consequences of slavery and Jim Crow. Never mind Brown vs. The Board of Education and all the Busing turmoil this country went through in order to rectify the lingering consequences of slavery and Jim Crow. These “deeds” are not enough.
In point of fact no “deeds” will ever be enough because without this issue to manipulate white people the politics of guilt and pity could never work. Race pimps would cease to exist without this issue and so no matter how much white America does it will never be able to rectify the lingering consequences of slavery and Jim Crow.
A people who are constantly made to feel guilty about their history will be a people who have no confidence to move into their future. A people who cannot be released from their transgressions will constantly be defeated by the shame and burden of their guilt. If atonement and forgiveness cannot be secured a people heaped with sins will die, and another people will take their place who know what it means to experience forgiveness for their sins.
Make no mistake about it, the table is being set for reparations legislation. All of this is a prelude to be legally mugged. If the Democrats sweep into office capturing all three branches of the Federal government you can bet the house that your bottom dollar will be used to pay reparations. I will never vote for Juan Mequeno and seldom if ever for any Republican but I can understand how people would be frightened in to doing so given this recent rhetoric and action.
How does one prove the existence of “lingering consequences”?
I’m sure they would point to disparity between the two communities, as well as things like the black incarceration rate, black out of wedlock pregnancy rate, etc. These are all our fault.
They don’t believe that every tub has to sit on its own bottom.