When Justified makes racist comments towards Arabs, no one here cares, but it's an outrage when the bigotry is directed to Blacks. Justified's racism has been evident for sometime, but perhaps this shows a more selective racism amongst certain others.
With regards to reparations, the issue is patently ridiculous, though I dislike some of the company I keep in my side of this issue.
To put it simply, reparations creates a slippery slope to which there is no clear distinction to be made. As has been mentioned, Blacks and Native Americans were severely mistreated in this nation. But so too were Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, Irish, Eastern Europeans, Italians, Arabs, etc. etc. Does racism exist today? A mere glance of this thread shows that it does. Am I responsible for such racism? No. I don't nor have I ever owned slaves or oppressed a minority. My parents never owned slaves. My grandparents never owned slaves. My great-grandparents never owned slaves. My great-great-grandparents never owned slaves. To the best of my knowledge (and as far back as we can trace), no one in my family owned slaves. I have no doubt that there are unsavory people in my family history. In fact, I know there are. Every family (regardless of race) has such individuals. The sins of the father should not be held against the son. I can't control what my ancestors may or may not have done. No one can.
If nothing else, reparations are a red herring to address real concerns. Slavery is no longer a pressing social matter in America. There are issues within the minority community that need to be addressed no doubt. Issues of crime, poor education, and poverty (3 interconnected issues) plague our inner cities. Instead of focusing on what our great-grandparents may or may not have done, we should work on improving the future.
[ September 08, 2002, 05:33 AM: Message edited by: Candide ]