I have been listening to MPR on Mondays at noon. Great show on race relations. I have heard things I was never aware of, like people being forced from neighborhoods for their race and their property seized. Told to move in one hour. Bank accounts frozen and stolen. Businesses abandoned in the hope not to be strung up on a rope in a tree or simply burned alive, like some medieval horror. How do you make a person whole when their identity is erased from local records, yet there are historical records that prove that they were prominent citizens, productive and consequential. And, it has even happened in Minnesota. Yet, we cannot agree that black athletes deserve to finish their degrees and they walk away from this opportunity! I think it is almost worth paying these kids to finish. And, if they don't finish, maybe we hand them a bundle of cash, enough for a house or a business. We have to start somewhere. As a society, we have to make these kids whole for the generations before them.
In the past, I have said reparations should not apply to me as a white tax payer. But, there must be a way to help make these families and community whole.
My response:
..."like people being forced from neighborhoods for their race and their property seized. Told to move in one hour. Bank accounts frozen and stolen. Businesses abandoned in the hope not to be strung up on a rope in a tree or simply burned alive, like some medieval horror. "
These sorts of things happened in the past, far, far less frequently in the last 50 years. Today they are not only illegal but will be prosecuted. At some point in the past all, all racial, ethnic and religious groups have suffered similar discriminations in the. I, for example, am half Irish Catholic and was born in Northern Ireland. Same stuff in my life time. Jewish people, as an even better example, have suffered the same sort of stuff for their entire, long history. Yet today, they absolutely thrive in this country due to their abilities and their work ethic. As others have pointed out, it all comes down to getting off your butt, stop feeling sorry for yourself, making good decisions and moving forward. Not forgetting about the past, but not letting it hold you down. That a huge percent of African Americans have not sufficiently moved forward given all the progress that has been made in this country is very sad to me, but absolutely not my fault. I can not do it for them. 50% of African American student quit high school without a diploma. What the hell?!