Reparations

[LDAHL]

I see some panel of a committee in San Francisco is recommending paying black residents $5 million each up front and then paying for loan forgiveness and an income guarantee program to last 250 years. Being the career bureaucrat I am (or rather was), my first thought was for how the bond rating agencies will be handling that one.

[bae]

What do the Ohlone get?

[LDAHL]

What do the Ohlone get?

A “Land Acknowledgment” ritual before every meeting?

[iris lilies]

Panels on committee make all kinds of recommend actions that go nowhere.

This one will go nowhere.

[jp1]

Is it possible to sabotage something that had approximately a snowball's chance in hell of ever happening?

[LDAHL]

Go nowhere? Probably.

Go viral? Most definitely.

[LDAHL]

Is it possible to sabotage something that had approximately a snowball's chance in hell of ever happening?

It will certainly taint the concept when advocates raise less audacious if equally foolish proposals in the future.

[jp1]

Future proposals may well be less audacious but they will still have the exact same odds of actually happening as this program's. Zero.

[LDAHL]

Petty much just performance art, then?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Tell me someone, am I becoming a Conservative in my middle age? I believe a little reparations would be nice - but $5 million and an income guarantee program? Extremely excessive, and this is coming from someone who believes in large settlements regarding police misconduct. The diff to me is that the police misconduct happened in the here and now and not many years and generations ago as in the case of slavery. Though I will say along these lines that Austria is granting citizenship now to families of Holocaust victims that suffered in Austrian concentration camps such as Matthausen.

Somehow I find Austria's many days late and many Euros short action here commendable, for some reason I am against large reparations for African Americans. I need to look at this - am I being discriminatory here? Rob

[Yppej]

I believe reparations should:

1. Go to individuals whose ancestors appear the 1870 census as black. If you are black but a first generation immigrant you are not entitled, only descendents of slaves.
2. The payment should be the current day value of 40 acres of agricultural land and a tractor since we no longer use mules. It should be a one time payment.
3. The payment should be divided amongst all the ancestor's living descendants. Are you the sole descendent of 2 slave ancestors? You get 80 acres and 2 tractors. Are there 100 descendants of one slave? They each get 1/100th of 40 acres and a tractor, but probably additional money from other ancestors.
4. Pay certified genealogists to do the work in the genealogy capital of the country, Salt Lake City.

[jp1]

Petty much just performance art, then?

Exactly. Just like everything the republicans are going to be doing in the House of Representatives for the next two years.

[Rogar]

I agree that the five million is just some sort of drama, but also that it's a warm up for a smaller amount, like maybe a couple of hundred thousand. I could assume that what ever follows will be a result of the elected government officials, so maybe that is what the voting tax payers would like to have as part of the democratic process?

[iris lilies]

Exactly. Just like everything the republicans are going to be doing in the House of Representatives for the next two years.
There it is! Always tying it all to those wascally Wepublicans.

Gotta love ya jp!

[LDAHL]

I agree that the five million is just some sort of drama, but also that it's a warm up for a smaller amount, like maybe a couple of hundred thousand. I could assume that what ever follows will be a result of the elected government officials, so maybe that is what the voting tax payers would like to have as part of the democratic process?

I see that the State of California has a reparations task force, with a report due to the legislature in July. I would expect the proposed payout would be juicy enough to boost Gavin Newsom’s primary bid among the rent-seeking base.

[LDAHL]

There it is! Always tying it all to those wascally Wepublicans.

Gotta love ya jp!

Mar-a-Lago > Car-a-Lago

It’s science!

[littlebittybobby]

Okay----It may come as a surprise to you kids that I am 100% in favor of Black Reparations. Yup. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that The Black Community owes everyone else in America Reparations for all of the prolllems they have caused over the years!. No doubt about it. I haven't arrived at a dollar figure, but it will be considerable. I personally am VERY sorry that they were bought and sold as slaves and brought to America, in the first place. It was a bad idea, in order to get cheap agerculchural(agricultural) labor, but definitely just wasn't worth the trouble. So yeah--I apologize. Here's a photo of Downtown 'Lanta, the other night. More riots. Yup.512251225122

[jp1]

There it is! Always tying it all to those wascally Wepublicans.

Gotta love ya jp!

You think they are actually going to try to get any legislating done? Bless your heart.

[iris lilies]

You think they are actually going to try to get any legislating done? Bless your heart.
Do you think I actually WANT the idiots (of any stripe) to “get any legislating done?” Bless YOUR heart.

[jp1]

Do you think I actually WANT the idiots (of any stripe) to “get any legislating done?” Bless YOUR heart.

So you don't want congress to figure out how the government should spend money. Or pass legislation to prevent the government from defaulting on its existing debt? At minimum those are key functions of the house and republicans, led by the burn it all down branch of the party, has indicated that they have no plans to do either in such a manner that stands a chance of becoming law because they refuse to acknowledge that their preferred plans just aren't remotely popular with anywhere near a majority of voters so no one outside of their minor minority of representatives has any interest in supporting them.

Or to pass legislation solving inflation and crime and immigration and all the other things republicans ran on? I can understand not supporting the last bit since only the most naive voter among us actually thought republicans had a plan for such. Especially since they didn't actually present any plan. (apparently they haven't ever worked in an office. I've been told countless times in the 33 years I've worked in professional jobs "don't just point out problems, point out solutions." The republican candidates were all "inflation is bad. vote for me" without explaining even in the vagueist of terms why they would be an improvement.)

[iris lilies]

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/17/1176753190/rep-cori-bush-introduces-bill-on-reparations-for-black-americans


My St. Louis congressional representative, Cori Bush, is asking for trillions and has put forth a piece of legislation that will pay back African-Americans in reparations. I bring this up only because DH talked about the $14 trillion bill introduced by Cori with a former neighbor in Liberal Land (city of St. Louis) and our neighbor said no, not true, he said Cori claimed she had been mis-quoted about this.

Here’s an NPR article about it, and the Squad friendly folks at NPR do not seem to be mis-quoting Cori Bush asking for $14 trillion in reparations.

JP should be happy that despite this shitty state of affairs in this shitty state of Missouri, we have beacon of light Cori Bush, member of The Squad in Washington DC. working for us. And for you all.

[LDAHL]

I think we will probably get more up bids on reparations, based on lottery psychology. Certain demographics may know the odds of getting anything are minuscule, but still support the public panderers because the pot is so large. Sort of like when Powerball was a $2 billion.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay----Let me introduce you kids to Ms Reparations, herself. I figure she's starting out bargaining at a high price, but knows maybe a much lesser amount will be satisfactory for the time being. That said, they(progressives) always come back with more demands. Hope that helps you some. 5473

[flowerseverywhere]

I see some panel of a committee in San Francisco is recommending paying black residents $5 million each up front and then paying for loan forgiveness and an income guarantee program to last 250 years. Being the career bureaucrat I am (or rather was), my first thought was for how the bond rating agencies will be handling that one.
How Black do you have to be? I'm 3% sub Saharan African and 4% native American. We hit a dead end in virginia in the 1800's so who knows what happened. Although we did find an interesting story of a boy who was captured by a tribe and later returned to the white men with his native american bride in tow. Not sure if it is heresay or true. Our genealogy looks like a Heinz 57 recipe. Not that we ever pulled an Elizabeth Warren.

That being said, I cannot even imagine how this would be done. And with what money?

[Teacher Terry]

This is truly ridiculous!!!

[LDAHL]

I see the 1619 Project has produced a “Reparations Math” curriculum for use in high schools. I imagine anyone objecting will be accused of being “against teaching math”.

[Tradd]

Evanston, IL is giving reparations. It’s $20K onto a mortgage. A brother and sister in their 70s wanted the money in cash as they didn’t have mortgages. The city council allowed them to get the cash, which doesn’t seem to be the usual thing. I’m too lazy to dig up a link.