Reparations for Egregious Crimes
Ted Folkert
June 9, 2014
The New York Times presents a compelling discussion regarding reparations we may or may not owe the descendants of former slaves for the egregious and deplorable crimes perpetrated against them for more than a hundred years, perhaps four hundred years.
There are many opinions, pro and con, on this matter which have been discussed, argued, considered and reconsidered for many years. The discussion deserves all of our attention and some consensus of a measure of redress of these grievances.
What better way of addressing this subject than providing the best of educational opportunities and health care for those who still suffer from the wrongful mindset of our ancestors. There is no question that the damage is still felt by the entire black community and the opportunities have not become equal to the challenge faced by racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is not a thing of the past, it still exists each and every day in each and every state and city of our nation.
Read the article and consider the discussion:
Some excerpts from the opinion of Randall Robinson, author
of “The debt – What America Owes Blacks”.
“For 246 years, captured Africans were shackled and packed
head-to-foot below-decks in slave ships that trailed blood and corpses across the Atlantic. Those who survived the brutal journey were forced to work under horrific conditions from dawn to dusk usually seven days a week.”
“Those who tried to escape were hunted down, tortured, and
often murdered. Males, for punishment, were often severed of their genitals. Women were systematically raped.”
“That American public and private fortunes were rested upon
their unremunerated toil meant nothing at all. That Harvard Law School had originally been endowed from the sale of slaves by its founder, Isaac Royall, for example, remains largely unknown to many who have gone there.”
“Today, young black men comprise more than half of America’s
prison population. While blacks commit 12 percent of nonviolent drug offenses, they make up 75 percent of those incarcerated for such offenses and usually serve sentences twice as long as whites do for the same crime.”
Read the article and consider the discussion: