Reparations for the descendants of black slavery are in order, but how will they pay?………..the US is saying 1.5 million to each person is due (tongue in cheek)……………how will Britain quantify it and when will they pay??, and please, for those of you who like to jump in, it is about black slavery from the African continent.

This is thought provoking, since they claim a drop of black blood makes everyone black……they can base it on their racist tendencies and pay according to melanin content, visible melanin content……..DNA screening of millions of people of African descent might cause them to go broke and defeat the whole purpose.

Assuming that at least 40mn people were involved and reparations should be $500k–1mn/ person affected, then the cost would be $20-40Tr. Now forgetting that the Western World (Europe, USA) is currently BANKRUPT that sum or anything near it will never be payable under normal circumstances farless now. What would be a possible strategy would be to reach an immediate agreement to pay say $10tr in today’s $$$, starting in 5yrs and then pay up when the hyperinflation gets cooking and a coffee is selling for like $25. This is what happened in Germany after WW1 when the victors demanded reparations and eventually the Mark was printed in Billion Notes and was worthless. ( workers were paid 2x/ day at lunch and after work hours) It was like Zimbabwe today. (indeed, I have a $100Trillion Zim Bank Note in my wallet).

AS regrettable as the nasty institution of slavery was and is( pimping etc), proper reparations are totally impractical and who would you pay to? So let’s say every black person in the Americas received $100,000, would that help or hinder? Remember that money not worked for ie inheritances, lottery winnings etc usually does not improve the long term life of those involved as evidenced by high rates of early death, divorce, suicide, losing everything etc

Moneybrain wrote “AS regrettable as the nasty institution of slavery was”

The only way you can argue against reparations is with the “outta sight outta mind” theory or “it happen too long ago and great great great great grand parents don’t matter.

Any black person who loves his family cannot be insensitive to the demise of his slave family.

Reparations should be paid even if the recipients use the money to buy ice and fry it. What a person does with his inheritance is his concern.

Here is an important essay on this topic from the New York Times:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/king-cottons-long-shadow/

Conclusion: It is not simply that the labor of enslaved people underwrote 19th-century capitalism. Enslaved people were the capital.

I believe WW is on the better track of spending to ensure top level education for black peeps, improving via education is critical especially in today’s World with excess humans ie excess labour. The world to come will be very tough since even less labour will be required due to Robotics, Nanotech etc.

Hants, I appreciate the emotional nature of this topic but to give loads of money directly is not the same as an inheritance since the reason for reparations did not directly impact the lives of peeps alive today. AS far as Inheritance is concerned the first family objective should surely be to focus on Education and prep for a sound future. Why would this situation be any different? Far too many humans coming in to a serious sum of sudden $$$ will waste it and cause themselves DAMAGE ie lets party and worry about the future later. Setting up Education, Community Centres et al would seem a better option.

@David
Great concept and I would throw in experienced entrepreneurial consultants into the mix, ie utilise seniors who would like to share their expertise/ experience to help black peeps set up business, finance etc. Loads of retirees with serious ability who are bored out of their minds and would gladly devote 10-20hrs / wk to keep mentally active.

There are many ways to accomplish this in a very effective way. I doubt just giving peeps loads of cash is the way to go especially youngsters, naturally Hants is a mature gent who would easily know how not to ill treat capital.

Let us not forget, that thousands of people of African descent in America. Haven’t had the unfortunate pleasure, of living under the predominance of that inhumane institution of slavery.

For starters:

Allow ALL West Indians who meet matriculation requirements to study at ANY UK university (both at the undergraduate and post graduate levels) at the same cost as UK citizens.

Removal of the air passenger tax for C’bean destinations.

Duty free access for West Indian products to the UK market.

Oh shoot, Moneyb knockin’ ’bout up in here … I stepping back let some odder body deal wid he bo’. I los’ my edge long time ..!

@Hants
Tru dat I know plenty fishermen, shopkeepers etc I grew up on the village pasture playing sports with who have several iceboats/ shops etc through sensible management.

@David
I hear you regarding the psychology of slave History. While I appreciate the concept I personally believe that it must be used as a personal psychological motivator to prove one’s own worth/ success.
What I mean is that I have used the very negative experiences in my life ie bullying by older family members, undeserved racism by a few at school/ other venues to enhance my life and progress. So I would strongly recommend that reparations also be used to address negative psychology within the community.

Hue-Man Rights

Here is a quote from the New York Times article posted above:

We are accustomed to reckoning the legacy of slavery in the United States in terms of black disadvantage. The centrality of slavery to the nation’s economic development, however, suggests that any calculation of the nation’s unpaid debt for slavery must include a measure of the wealth it produced, of advantage as well as disadvantage. The United States, as W. E. B. Du Bois wrote, was “built upon a groan.”

@ Mark Fenty
Runaway slaves were forcibly taken from family in Africa or born in slavery

Moneybrain……………you and your family and descendants for another 7 or 800 years deserve every penny spent on you on education or whatever reparation is suitable to these times, so do every American of African descent and all the peoples of the Caribbean of African descent…….the descents of slave masters cannot live long enough to repay the damage and misery, death and destruction visited on our ancestors. We are still seeing the effects of our ancestor’s enslavement today…………..there is not enough that can be ever repaid to the descendants of slaves.

For those who may not be aware, the cotton gin was invented by a former slave Eli Whitney…………..not knowing of the value of patents, he did not patent it and was robbed of his invention, his descendants were never compensated.

Mark……don’t let them fool you with psycho babble, no black person miraculously appeared in the west from the 15th century onward, none of the people who are in the Caribbean, North America or England hopped a plane or boat and decided to come across to the west to be enslaved….every last one of our ancestors were stolen, sold out or kidnapped and brought to these regions……every thing else is his lying story, distorting history for financial gain.

compensate us with the same blood money alive an well today? you got to be kidding me that sounds like a lot of folly to me besides we are priceless gems what compensation what the only penalty is death by fire cause we are very well priceless begins no amount of monies can mend our fractured countenances so don’t get fool wid it

The bible was a useful tool in Africa and later the Caribbean, North America and Europe, to keep slaves in line…………like the part where they told the slaves the harder you work, the closer you will get to heaven, causing some slaves to work themselves to death while they sat their white lazy asses in the shade living large……….PM carry your crap elsewhere.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=564652760242333&set=a.397732896934321.99189.118221548218792&type=1&ref=nf

AC……………………..if black people get billions of dollars in reparations, you can guarantee within five years whitey will have back every cent………………..i will not even try to explain that one to you. MILLER, BUSHIE, AC needs you!!!

when Marcus Gravey made that statement he was mostly talking about people like you well! Well! a glaring example of one Who have abandoned their homeland to drink from the poison fountains of the West all in the meantime pointing a critical and accusatory finger at those who have stayed behind to face the fire.

AC…………..I did not realize that you are also geographically ignorant, without going into too many details……………the Caribbean is also considered WESTERN CIVILIZATION…..you will have to google the rest….i refuse to indulge you in certain things, remember my wing span is much wider and I can fly much higher………yardfowls cant.

@ well ! well!
worse than being a yardfowl ! you are a traitor and a coward and a hypocrite not because you abandon your homeland in hard times but because you have the audaucity to be crtical of the ones left behind who are working there a.ss off to find a better solution while you nestle comfortably among the agitators and the evildoers of the blackman’s past , yes indeed you are drinking from a poisionous cup.
Physician heal thyself.

don;t worry about my ignorance . what is at stake is your hypocrisy, as for calling on bush TEA for assistance , i belive he can assist in giving you a Bush tea bathe to cleanse your soul .