Reparations Won't Fix Anything
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Reparations Won't Fix Anything
with John McWhorter
With several American cities possibly poised to take action on reparations, what seemed like a pipe dream a couple decades ago—cash payments to African Americans in “compensation” for slavery, Jim Crow, and redlining—could become a reality. I think this would be an utter disaster, and, in this excerpt from our most recent episode, I tell John McWhorter why.
This is a clip from the episode that went out to paying subscribers on Monday. To get access to the full episode, as well as an ad-free podcast feed, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.
Reparations Won't Fix Anything
Reparations are not going to happen on a national sense. If the argument is about injury done by enslavement, the entities that caused the injury are Britain, France, Spain, Holland etc.
A recent book, “The Black Reparations Project”, argues that only United States citizens who are African descendants of slavery (ADOS) are eligible. Barack Obama does not qualify. The late Botham Jean, Andrew Louima, would not meet the criteria. This is a diversion. It does give Conservatives the red meat they need.
Reparations helps Conservatives ignore the incompetent House Republicans who have a leader accepting a deal with the White House before counting the numbers to make absolutely certain that he had the votes. The Republican House, white Affirmative Action at its finest. Perhaps IQ testing is in order?
Edit to add:
Ralph Yarl, the teenager armed with Black skin who was shot in the head by a white guy in Kansas would not be eligible
President Obama, a protege of radical white patrons, could have put an end to the emphasis on victimhood rather than agency and opportunity. He could have redirected the National narrative in a much more productive direction to the benefit of all. Those who see racism behind every tree now need to resort to career criminals as their new folk heroes. Such a wasted opportunity for all of us.