By BARBARA SIMPSON
We’ve all heard the comments about the fact that slaves in this country were paid for their suffering. Whether we agree with the fact it was done or whether we agree that it needs to be done, is moot. The issue remains and many Americans seem to have agreed with the reality of it. Thousands of slaves were freed after the Civil War and, in fact, President Abraham Lincoln not only freed slaves, he paid them for their freedom.
He wasn’t the only one. In the United Kingdom, the government compensated thousands of slaves for their forced labor and, in fact, each individual received more than 8,000 pounds each. Such activities may have assuaged the guilt of the living for the “sins” of the past, but the result of such situations has not disappeared.
The issue has raised its head again in this country with the proposal by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that anyone who is a descendant of a legitimate “former slave,” be compensated. Give them real money — to a degree that many consider extravagant.
On the recent anniversary of the national holiday to celebrate Martin Luther King, the San Francisco reparations committee proposed that every eligible black citizen in the city should receive a $5 million payout for the history of slavery in their family.
It is a real proposal, and it goes before the City Council in June. San Francisco: Being what it is politically, the measure is expected to pass.
The key to the success of this is that each person needs to prove to authorities that they are descended from a nineteenth-century black slave. If they can do that, they would be entitled to the money, with no strings attached. Considering that California never was a slave state, such proof will prove to be interesting to see.
One California legislator said it would be compensation for “decades of socioeconomic disparity going all the way back to the days of slavery.” For the city of San Francisco alone, it could be a total bill of at least $50 billion. At this point, the estimate of what it would cost the entire state has not been calculated. Suffice it to say, it would be enormous.
The state of California has recommended that any direct descendant of slaves be paid $223,000 “for the enduring economic effects of racism and slavery.” It’s estimated that some 2 million people would qualify, costing the state about $500 billion. Experts are estimating that if the plan were expanded across the entire country, it could cost up to $14 trillion.
Not everyone agrees this is a good idea. A Harvard professor, speaking to the Daily Mail Online and who asked not to be named, said this idea only promotes racial division.
Some harsh criticism comes from the black community.
Larry Elder, a black lawyer who ran for governor, said: “Reparations is the extraction of money from people who were never slave owners to people who were never slaves.”
Social commentator Candace Owens was quoted as saying that “stealing money from individuals who have never owned slaves and awarding it to individuals who have never been slaves within a state that has never had slavery (California) is peak leftist insanity. It is wildly discriminatory and utterly defunct of any morality.”
Black lawyer Leo Terrell was more to the point: He vowed to fight the reparations bill in court, saying, “This is outrageous. It’s unlawful. It’s unconstitutional. It’s racist.”
The proposal in California not only deals with paying blacks a flat sum of money, but also suggests wiping out all of their current debts, including those for educational and personal loans, as well as credit card debt, student loans and housing loans.
In addition, it’s proposed to provide a basic income to black households to match comparable white families. As for blacks who have faced prison during the “war on drugs,” the proposal is to have them receive financial reparations for the time they spent in prison.
Not surprisingly, the plan has brought out objections to the proposals from Native Americans, who say they were here first, as well as objections from Mexicans, Chinese, and other nationalities who came here and contributed to the growth of the country.
In light of all of this, what is interesting is that there has been a massive movement of Californians — more than 300,000 — leaving the state because of high taxes. Not surprisingly, Gov. Newsom has taken action to get money from them anyway. He has just proposed a new, massive “wealth” tax on Californians who left the state with their own money; Gov. Newsom wants a cut of that simply because they are “are rich.” That they have moved out of the state means nothing to him.
This whole situation promises to be a huge issue, for states and cities. How to determine how much money they want to collect, who gets it, and how to distribute it.
Does anyone really think that even if every black slave descendant gets money, it would put an end to the issue?
Hah! Don’t hold your breath.
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