[PEN-L:7409] Re: Re: Liquidated damages for slavery

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The point is the living descendants' lives are impacted by  history. Today's inequality is caused by the wrongs and inequalities of the past. Each generation's equality does not arise anew upon each generation. Calling the idea of such compensation ludicrous is an unsupported conclusory remark. Whatever the rationale, "equality (material equality)for African Americans NOW !" is the demand.
Without recognizing that today's inequality is caused by events in the past , one ends up having to blame the victims or blame that inequality on the current generation. That is ludicrous. The inequalities in quantity and quality of life between different races in the U.S. is rooted in the past. It is not entirely caused by events in the present. The reparations concept is one way of taking account of this.

In other words, living whites have social and economic advantages based on the wrongs of the past. For you to decide it is too complicated to bring in the wrongs of the past in understanding today, is to conveniently leave whites in their advantageous position.

Another dimension is that many claims to ownership and control in the present are based on tracing connections to the past. For example, what is the basis for claiming that the U.S. can keep people from crossing its national boundaries except claims to ownership of this land traced through dead generations  ? Most law, tradition and custom are the products of dead generations. No one proposes inventing these anew with each living generation. That would be ludicrous. You would respect history when it is to your advantage and ignore it when it is not.

Charles Brown


>>> "Rod Hay" <rodhay@xxxxxxxxxxx> 05/27/99 06:12PM >>>
The issue of compensated the descendants is ludicrous. Am I going to be
compensated by the British government for the clearance of the Highlands?
The list of wrong parties is endless. Compensate the living for wrongs but
dragging out every historical exploitation and compensating the descendants
is not possible or a reasonable political goal.

----Original Message Follows----
How convenient for the descendent beneficiaries of the slaveowners. Yes,
this would require an extraordinary legal step of compensating the
descendants of the slaves. This can be done by extrapolation of legal
principles and common sense.


Charles Brown




Rod Hay
rodhay@xxxxxxxxxxx
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