Slavery Reparations
Essay by people • July 20, 2011 • Term Paper • 1,460 Words (6 Pages) • 2,013 Views
Slavery Reparations
Many current day African Americans feel for the acts of slavery and hatred put on their people they should receive reparations for the cruel acts of the past. Slavery ended 145 years ago, reparations if granted should have been paid a long time ago. Many of the African American's fighting for this is not related to many of the slaves brought over, most of them came after. Reparations should not be granted to the African American people because today's African Americans did not experience bondage, many hop on the reparations bandwagon, and many also don't know the concept of reparations.
African American people today have never experienced bondage and it is absurd that they are asking the US government to repay them for 246 years of bondage they never experienced. Research shows "in a normal case, we have to look back at least four to five generations to find ancestors who were actually slaves"(Tracinski, Robert). African Americans are looking for any reason they can find so they can get reparations from the government for something that is so far in the past. Personally am not going to say that African Americans should forget about what happened because it was wrong and inhumane but, families of African Americans have been looked at and "Traced though more of a century of parents and grandparents who were free to make their own choices, guide their own action, and peruse their own fortunes"(Tracinski, Robert). If African Americans were granted this money what would they use it for? They cannot use the benefits to contribute to the well being of the abused family member because they are not living or haven't been for a long time. African Americans were very different people back in the day after slavery ended, they should have receive reparations form the government then so they could use that money to start a family or if they had one use the money to help support the other family members. When then African Americans sit around and lobby for this money they tend to look like they are better than everyone because they were mistreated, "we do not talk about the 'lingering legacy of immigration,' nor do descendants of immigrants seek reparations for the past persecution of their ancestors"(Tracinski, Robert). Every other nationality that immigrated to this country and was treated poorly or unfair because of were they came from had gone on with there life and supported their families, with out asking for reparations. African American people today need to look back and see that was done happened 145 years ago and as hard as it is to get over they need to see that they live a very good life and people try and make it up to them what happened to their people and they still ask for reparations that should have been granted to their grand father four generations ago.
One other reason that African Americans should not be paid reparations is many African Americans jump on a bandwagon of others just like them hoping they can get money for something that has been established as wrong. This quote explains the concept of reparations " The word reparations is derived from the Latin word 'repare' and it means to repair, and its present usage has not departed from its original meaning. Thus, reparations is simply a call or demand by blacks of all nations and their descendent that participated and profited from the Atlantic slave trade" (Ekiyor, Henry A.). This quote explains that African American people are demanding money, and it lets you know that it is not only one group of African Americans it is all nationalities. If it was only one nationality of African Americans asking for reparations it would be easier to believe because then you don't have the rest of the African American community tagging along for the ride. This ended 145 years ago, "African people have yet to recover from the trauma of these atrocities" (Ekiyor, Henry A.). The people fighting so hard for the reparations are the ones who have not forgot, they are holding on to the past if hope to try and get money and try and hold a divine right that something is owed to them. There most likely no African American that looses sleep over the fact that they are not getting paid these reparations, if that true then why do they need them so much? Some say that, "the trans-Atlantic slave trade has been described as one of the most inhuman that has ever been recorded in human history" (Ekiyor, Henry A.). This is true and the White people have apologized many of times, but no acknowledgement has been shown back and I don't see how being paid
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