GONSALVES: The Opposite of Racism Isn't Colorblindness
Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
August 21, 2001

If St. Paul was right, that the wages of sin is death, is it a stretch to say that the wages of white supremacy is colorblindness?


To suggest such a thing, I'm sure, makes a good number of white brothers and sisters uneasy, thinking perhaps Black Americans have deserted Dr. King's dream where people are judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.


Forget that King, just before his death, called for affirmative action in his last book, "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" His dream wasn't that everyone would not recognize color, but that skin pigmentation would not be used as the key measure of human potential.


King wasn't so naive to think a society steeped in centuries of white supremacy would be magically transformed into a colorblind utopia. I'm not suggesting that affirmative action is our salvation, but neither is it the reverse racism that some opponents claim.


A hard-working white person is sure to raise the question: Why should I be made to pay for America's past racial sins? Evidently, voluntary cooperation is not an option.


In a nation where the majority of its citizens are at least nominally-affiliated Christians, it seems such questions are more knee-jerk deflection than thoughtful reflection.


Eating of the fruit produced by sinful forbears is to partake in the original sin, according to one of the central tenets of the Christian faith.


Deuteronomy 5:9 says: "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."


The point here isn't to promulgate evangelical Christianity. That's Cal Thomas' job. I just find it hard to believe that people in a Christian-saturated society are perplexed by the idea of paying for sins committed by previous generations.


I haven't come across any studies that document how much wealth black slaves were robbed of by two centuries of unpaid servitude, particularly in the cotton industry -- an industry central to America's early economic success.


But, several years ago, a University of California at Berkeley study found that the value of lost income to black Americans because of discrimination between 1929 and 1969 alone comes to about $1.6 trillion.


So, contrary to Thomas Sowell's distortions, the idea of reparations is not about convincing people whose ancestors arrived in America after the Civil War that they owe anybody anything for what happened in the ante-bellum South. Clearly, black economic deprivation goes far beyond the Civil War and the ante-bellum South.


It was AFTER slavery that America allowed the Black Codes, a set of laws designed to restrict the labor mobility of the newly freed slaves, guaranteeing cheap labor for white planters. One code stipulated that any freed slave without "lawful employment" would be subject to arrest and then be leased to a white employer.


So there is a qualitative and quantitative difference between the economic hardships faced by black America and those confronted by every other immigrant group in this nation's history.


Check the history of the U.S. housing market, for starters. Ford Foundation member Dr. Melvin Oliver observes how many of his white colleagues were able to buy a house because of a transfer of assets before the death of their parents. This down payment on their homes was a benefit available to few blacks because of bank red-lining and other such policies.


Oliver also notes the central role Uncle Sam played in creating a strong white middle class with the GI Bill and federal subsidies of mortgages, to name just a few privileges inaccessible to most blacks at the time.


As you read these words, state universities across America are looking to replicate a new admissions approach used by the University of California at San Diego, which hires high school guidance counselors to review the overwhelming number of applications they receive.


One of these counselors who is moonlighting as an admissions officer is from Eastlake High School in San Diego -- not exactly a bastion of the underprivileged.


The counselor, Nancy Nieto, gets inside information that students crave: the outline for the perfect essay and the right combination of high school classes, the Boston Globe reported last week.


"It's really interesting to see what other applicants write in their essays, and how they write," Nieto told the Globe. "My kids can compete better. I know what to tell them to put down."


As that story illustrates, all across America there is an informal social network that gives whites preferential treatment in gaining access to a limited range of economic opportunities. Can colorblindness really be the answer, when, in a race-obsessed society, it renders white-skin privilege invisible?


Sean Gonsalves is a Cape Cod Times staff writer and a syndicated columnist. His column runs on Tuesdays. E-mail him at sgonsalves@capecodonline.com.


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"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X

So, let's sum it up . . . it all boils down to "I want a check from you white guys . . ."

Ummmmmmmmmm . . . NO! Is that a sufficient answer? How about this: IF you're going to use Christianity as a basis for justification of payment, then I'll defer my payment till I'm reimbursed by some Nordic raiders and the armies of Rome who slaughtered a bunch of my people in England. Till then, I suggest you go after the black slave traders that captured your people (well, HALF of your people, anyway) in the first place. Oh, the Dutch owe you some money, too . . . but, I'm betting they're waiting on some kickback from the Romans and more than likely some German and Russians from the 12th century, as well.

So, if it's justice you want, fine. We'll all have a big slavery condemnation party over at my house (byob). You can be the keynote speaker and tell everyone how bad it is to be a slave and how terrible it was. Then we can all get drunk and promise not to let it happen again.

If it's just a check you want, sorry pal. I'm still waiting for an apology from Grant's army for a plantation my family owned that was promptly burned to the ground when his people schmoozed through Tennessee. I'll be sure to let you know when I get some green from "th' Nawth", the Romans, and the Vikings . . . just send me an address where I can mail the guilt, uh, I mean check to.

Oh brother . . .

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

Im glad durden clarified what exactly it was you were saying because i was utterly confused by the end of that piece. I agree with Durden. I'm a descendant of american indians, and by what your saying that means the american people owe me their land. Thats just plain ridiculous, I dont hold any past grievances that I had nor ever will be a part of. Our history is sad I do agree but learn from it instead of dwelling on it or worse trying to profit from it. Ignorance breeds ignorance, and with the state of the world these days we need all the intelligence we can have.



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If you examine your life with real eyes, you may soon come to realize, that our world is full of real lies

Maetoch . . . thanks for understanding, man.

Oh, and sorry about that whole Indian war/massacre thing. We can have a party at my house for that, too. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/wink.gif

For what it's worth, I'm from Tennessee, and we took it in the ass at the Alamo . . . so, the Mexicans got us back for you! LOL! Hehehehe . . . we WOULD sue them, but I'm not sure what we'd sue them for, you know?

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

Originally posted by freedom:
I haven't come across any studies that document how much wealth black slaves were robbed of by two centuries of unpaid servitude, particularly in the cotton industry -- an industry central to America's early economic success.

Early economic success? If living on a farm and growing one's own food is economic success then that is true. But it sounds like the author doesn't know American history in the slightest. Most economic activity of colonial America was the setting up of monopolies to exploit resources and provide the British with cheap goods that they could refine and resell. The British had a love/hate relatationship with the colonies and monoploies were set up to block out rivals like Holland and force the colonies to be dependent on Britain.

Tobacco was the first export to achieve commerical prominence. In 1621, a monopoly was established by the British. Tqar, pitch, glass, salt, leather, wood, paper, alcohol products, numberous chemicals, booze, gunpowder, explosives, and other all-American products were some more exports.

But, several years ago, a University of California at Berkeley study found that the value of lost income to black Americans because of discrimination between 1929 and 1969 alone comes to about $1.6 trillion.

My maternal grandfather had his property stolen by the Japs. In today's market that must be worht millions.

Check the history of the U.S. housing market, for starters. Ford Foundation member Dr. Melvin Oliver observes how many of his white colleagues were able to buy a house because of a transfer of assets before the death of their parents. This down payment on their homes was a benefit available to few blacks because of bank red-lining and other such policies.

Did Melvin's friends evade the IRS tax laws? That transaction would be taxed prohibitively.

Oliver also notes the central role Uncle Sam played in creating a strong white middle class with the GI Bill and federal subsidies of mortgages, to name just a few privileges inaccessible to most blacks at the time.

Uncle Sam sent millions of white boys on the battle fields as cannon fodder as FDR and his satanic internatinal banker friends planned their theaters of war. Those that did survive, got no benefit for the sacrifice they made. My fraternal grandfather fought in France in WWI and my father fought was a Captain in the Air Force in WWII. They each recieved nothing in benefits. Nor did the waste time demanding any.

Does this Sean "Speedy" Gonzales character have anyone in his family tree who fought for freedom? Sorry another weak article.

Walter Williams, a black professor states it this way. "If it wasn't for slavery my family would probably stil be in Africa enduring god knows what. I have benefitted directly from slavery". He does go on to explain that of course he's not condoning slavery, he is merely pointing out the absurdity of demanding reparations.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Walter Williams



A usable black history
http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- JOHN MCWHORTER, linguistics professor at the Berkeley campus of the University of California, has written a compelling essay in the summer 2001 issue of City Journal titled, "Toward a Usable Black History."


Last year, he wrote Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America arguing there's a culture of black anti-intellectualism impeding academic excellence, resulting from an ideology of victimization and separatism. The pursuit of academic excellence is seen as "acting white" and as such amounts to racial betrayal.


In his City Journal article, McWhorter says that, while it would be folly not to teach the history of the injustices of slavery, Jim Crow and gross racial discrimination, " a history of only horrors cannot inspire."


McWhorter says, "When, 'Learn your history,' means, 'Don't get fooled by superficial changes'; and, 'Today's New York City Street Crimes Unit can't be distinguished from yesterday's Bull Connor'; and our aggrieved despair over our sense of disinclusion from the national fabric remains as sharp as ever, could any people find inner peace when taught to think of their own society as their enemy?"


Instead, a better, more usable history would be one that gives greater emphasis to black successes in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. That kind of history inspires, instead of breeding victimhood. McWhorter says today's education chaos is not business-as-usual but something entirely new.


From the late 1800s to 1950, some black schools were models of academic achievement. Black students at Washington's Dunbar High School often outscored white students as early as 1899. Schools such as Frederick Douglas (Baltimore), Booker T. Washington (Atlanta), P.S. 91 (Brooklyn), McDonough 35 (New Orleans) and others operated at a similar level of excellence. These excelling students weren't solely members of the black elite; most had parents who were manual laborers, domestic servants, porters and maintenance men.


McWhorter says that instead of "romanticizing failure" in black communities, young people should be taught that successful economic communities can be had.


Chicago's "Bronzeville" is a handy example. After 1875, blacks occupied a three by 15 block enclave on the South Side. During the early 1900s, Bronzeville was home to several black newspapers and 731 business establishments, by 1917 in 61 lines of work. The Binga Bank opened in 1908 by its founder Jesse Binga, who started out with a wagon selling coal and oil. By 1929, Bronzeville blacks had amassed $100 million in real-estate holdings.


Chicago wasn't the only city where blacks established a significant business presence. Other cities would include New York; Philadelphia; Durham, N.C.; Atlanta and Washington, D.C. -- and Tulsa's Greenwood district, which was destroyed by rioting whites.


Keep in mind that when blacks established business successes such as those in Bronzeville and Durham, it was accomplished in a harsh racial environment. No one can attribute their successes to SBA minority loans, business set-asides, affirmative action and measures deemed indispensable by today's race experts. It was accomplished through hard work, sacrifice and, as my father used to say, coming early and staying late.


Ignoring or downplaying black achievement promotes the victim attitude, where people believe that in order for them to be successful somebody else must perform some benevolent act.


The bottom line indisputable fact of business is that black Americans have made the greatest gains, over some of the highest hurdles, in a shorter span of time than any other racial group in mankind's history. That speaks well of the intestinal fortitude of a people, and it also speaks well of a nation in which such gains were possible.


Today's whining and portrayal of black people as a victim class amounts to an unspeakable betrayal of the sacrifices and the successes of our ancestors.



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Hmmmm, Im thinking

"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."
Martin Luther King Jr.

Almost 30 years later this is still true yet you so call supporters of Dr. King now choose to find people like W.W. to make your arguments. W.W. would be no match for Dr.King and probably wouldn't be where he is today if it were not for Dr. Kings efforts. What do you think Dr.King was reffering to when he said:
"It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice." ??

Clearly Dr. King had a vision that would go far beyond just getting the vote and the Civil Rights Act passed. That is probably why there was a conspiracy to have him assasinated because he had the skill and momentum to make things happen. Now any talk of anything that was once cherished and embraced just causes animosity. I guess those responsible knew exactly what they were doing.



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"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X

I don't know about any conspiracies to kill King. There very well MAY have been. I honestly don't know. Of course, there WAS a conspiracy to kill Malcom-X . . . that's been pretty much proven, but we don't hear too much about that http://discussanything.com/Ubb/wink.gif.

I think it's poetic you use the "bad check" analogy Freedom since that's all I've been hearing out of "the movement" here lately. Reperations . . . "you owe us" . . . everyone wanting a check for something that happened 100 years ago.

If King's eventual goal was to extort money out of the American people, then, with all due respect, I'm glad he died as a beloved martyr and a great leader before he became an extortionist. But, somehow, I'm betting that WASN'T his goal. He spoke of equality . . . not of money.

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

Freedom it looks tome like you didn't read the prior article. There is an anti-academic ethic at work in the community, that has to change. When people stop having illegitimate kids, have a stable family structure, and parents and leaders for role models, the check will be cashed. First, black culture has to go. It is the single biggest reason the American black is where he is. Any black that discards that culture will be successful in what he does, just as any other group would.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

I don't know about any conspiracies to kill King. There very well MAY have been. I honestly don't know. Of course, there WAS a conspiracy to kill Malcom-X . . . that's been pretty much proven, but we don't hear too much about that http://discussanything.com/Ubb/wink.gif.

I think it's poetic you use the "bad check" analogy Freedom since that's all I've been hearing out of "the movement" here lately. Reperations . . . "you owe us" . . . everyone wanting a check for something that happened 100 years ago.

If King's eventual goal was to extort money out of the American people, then, with all due respect, I'm glad he died as a beloved martyr and a great leader before he became an extortionist. But, somehow, I'm betting that WASN'T his goal. He spoke of equality . . . not of money.

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

Hey Dave, how did you do that?

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

"I don't know about any conspiracies to kill King. "


Sure there was, it was even proven in court last year, but it was back page news and forgotten about. Look no further than the FBI..

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Red 86 GT


"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Benito "Il Duce" Mussolini

i have to agree woth CA here. The FBI killed 6 million people since WW2, including MLK. Yes sir, the whole darn 6 mill.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

I bet you've never even heard of Cointelpro? Have you? I can back up what I say with facts.

You ridicule what I've posted, yet you haven't spent a second researching to see if they are true.

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Red 86 GT


"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Benito "Il Duce" Mussolini

Aren't you the guy that said the CIA killed 6 million since WW2? I checked tht out it is malarky. I asked you to document it but so far I have missed it. If your not the same guy, well darn it.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

I posted a link to some newly released documents a few weeks ago. They are out there on the net..

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Red 86 GT


"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Benito "Il Duce" Mussolini

Yeah, I fugured it was you. Darn.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Speaking of reparations, I think we should reimburse the brave yankee army that fought the war to free the slaves. You know, reimburse the descendants of widows, amputees, etc, for 136 years of lost potential.

How about me. According to legend, my family owned most of the state of Pennsy and parts of New Yoork. I could be worth more than Bill Gates.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

86 . . . hehehehe, MAN, I never thought of that. That's BRILLIANT. And, since many of those white people started businesses or entered partnerships with companies that profited from slave ownership, then the money is right where it needs to be, right?

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

Now that you people have straightened out with each other how about taking care of your red brothers. Sending me a check would be nice for starters.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Well, we guys from Tennessee should be exempt . . . until we get some money from the Mexicans for that ass-ripping we took at the Alamo! LOL!

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

| Slavery's Legacy Seen in the Ivory Tower and Elsewhere

By Alex P. Kellogg

Talk about reparations for the descendants of America's slaves has been growing for years, but the conversation heated up late last year, when a number of prominent African American lawyers announced their intent to sue the US government, private businesses and individuals for benefiting from America's most "peculiar" institution. Conservatives deride calls for reparations as divisive at best, and racist otherwise. The majority of Americans, at least 75 percent of whom oppose reparations, according to a poll conducted by Time magazine earlier this year, seem to agree with them. But as the depth and breadth of slavery's legacy in the United States becomes clearer, a real confrontation on the issue, both in the legal and political arenas, appears likelier than ever before.

As reparations opponents frequently point out, the institution of slavery ended in the United States with the close of the Civil War in 1865, or more than four generations ago. One hundred years of Jim Crow segregation, legally sanctioned throughout much of the country and practiced surreptitiously elsewhere, followed. It is that century of history in particular that has come into greater focus recently, sparking renewed energy in the reparations debate.

Earlier this month, three graduate students at Yale University published a damning report detailing the university's long ties to the slave trade, titled "Yale, Slavery, and Abolition." Its authors say they felt compelled to compile their research after watching the university ignore its ties to slavery while it celebrated its "long history of activism in the face of slavery," as literature marking the school's 300th anniversary boasted.

Among the report's findings are that between the 1930s and 1970s Yale named eight of its twelve undergraduate colleges after slave owners and supporters, including Berkeley College, named for George Berkeley, a slave owner who also endowed the university's first scholarship. The authors also revealed that the university relied heavily on slave-trading money for its first endowed professorship — financed largely by the prominent New York slaver Philip Livingston — and one of the institution's first libraries.

Now-dead university leaders also have the unenviable distinction of having blocked the creation of what would have been the nation's first black college, a school that was to have been founded in New Haven in 1831. The reason? Officials worried the college's proximity to Yale would tarnish the institution's image and name.

"Yale has called for an honest appraisal of its own history, but has not mentioned any of its own ties to slavery," said Antony Dugdale, one of the report's three authors. While championing the institution's ties to the abolition movement and its status as the first to grant a doctorate degree to an African American, the university has been silent about having graduated twice as many pro-slavery clergy in the 1800s as any other institution in the country, he contends. "What we're doing with this report is making sure that the history that Yale tells includes both the good and the bad."

In a brief statement issued following the publication of the report earlier this month, the university did not challenge the students' findings but pointed out that "no institution with a history stretching long before emancipation is untainted by the evil of slavery," and that "discussion of those connections is important and worthwhile."

The evidence Mr. Dugdale and his associates assembled came largely from primary sources, including the official statements of Yale officials in the 1800s, census records and bills of sale from slave auctions. They say they hope the report will spark dialogue about what, if anything, Yale should do to redress past wrongs — the kind of debate that as recently as a year ago was heard only in radical settings, not major US universities. But the growth of the reparations movement has pulled the debate from the fringe of American society directly into the mainstream.

While many Americans today associate slavery with the South, many Northern businesses, institutions and individuals profited from the sale of slaves. Yale is not the only Ivy League school to have embarrassing ties to slavery. Harvard's Law School was first endowed by money its founder earned selling slaves in Antigua. Similarly, Nicholas and John Brown, two of the founders of Brown University, made their fortunes in slave trading.

What's more, America's top universities are not the only parties being questioned about their ties to slavery and its legacy.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that for more than six decades the state of Alabama leased out tens of thousands of prisoners, the vast majority of whom were black, to private companies at a high profit and loss of life. The practice continued until 1928. Though many of the companies who leased convicts from the state are now defunct, a number were absorbed over the years by larger businesses still in existence — or are themselves still alive and thriving.

US Steel is among them. The company claims that its leadership helped end the leasing of convicts by calling the practice into question shortly after absorbing Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co., the biggest user of forced labor in Alabama, at the turn of the century. State records reveal that the company, like others, continued to use convict labor to some degree until the practice was banned in the 1920s.

According to the convict board's records, the state's forced-labor system earned the state nearly $225 to $228 million dollars in today's terms. No one knows how much the companies involved in the practice themselves gleaned in profits from the cheap labor.

A legal case has yet to be brought against US Steel or other companies with ties to the leasing and wrongful death of tens of thousands of black prisoners in Alabama. If nothing else, however, the piles of government and courthouse records in Alabama that clearly document the system provide a glimpse into the undeniable history of corporate involvement in 20th century racial oppression.

In a more subtle and widespread instance of discrimination that stretches to an even more recent period, MetLife Inc., one of the largest life-insurance companies in the nation, collected racial data on its customers well into the 1970s in order to screen out poor and middle income blacks and charge those it did accept higher premiums for lower coverage than their white counterparts. Now in the midst of a major lawsuit, MetLife had previously claimed it began phasing out race-based applicant screenings in the 1940s. In the course of the legal proceedings, company documents were found that show discrimination by the insurance giant continued much, much longer.

State regulators across the country are in the midst of examining more than 70 life-insurance companies, including MetLife, to determine possible ongoing effects of past discrimination. A number of companies are, like MetLife, facing private lawsuits as well. State inquiries came after Florida uncovered that some insurers operating primarily in the South continued to collect higher premiums from blacks on policies written many years before.

Advocates of reparations point to such instances, many much more recent than the end of slavery, as reason for reparative payment. They continue to fight for a place at the table at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism this week, one that will likely see limited involvement at best from the US government, which has distanced itself from the conference because, at least in part, of the reparations issue.

Though conservatives have dismissed calls for reparations from the government, businesses and individuals who directly benefited from slavery, reparations supporters argue that the plight of African Americans in America was no different from that of Jews in the Holocaust or Japanese-Americans in the Second World War.

Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree and his team of legal experts, which includes Johnnie Cochran and Alexander Pires — the lawyer who secured a billion dollar settlement for black farmers against the Department of Agriculture — say legal action is imminent, and could begin as early as next year.

As Professor Ogletree points out, the issue is not without precedent. German corporations began making payments in June to victims of Nazi slave-labor programs in the 1930s and 1940s, from a $4.5 billion fund set up after lawsuits and intense diplomatic pressure from the United States and elsewhere. In 1998, Swiss banks agreed to a $1.25 billion settlement of claims tied to the seizure of Jewish assets during World War II.

To Ogletree, the connection is clear. "When the Germans and the Swiss responded to the Holocaust, they acknowledged individual victims but they also… took responsibility as defendants — as a government — even though not every person in that society was responsible or culpable."

Whether the pressure now mounting against the US government and private corporations that benefited from slavery and its legacy will lead to similar action depends largely on the strength of the arguments reparations advocates put forward.

"Other individuals have received financial payment as well as full apologies and other remedial action," says Ogletree. "The cause of slavery is actually more compelling in some respects, because it affected more people."


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"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X

Originally posted by freedom:
"Other individuals have received financial payment as well as full apologies and other remedial action," says Ogletree. "The cause of slavery is actually more compelling in some respects, because it affected more people."
[/B]

Reality check time. Every government's objective is to extract the labor of the people for the benefit of the government. They will use race or any means necessary to achieve this.

My family received nothing from the Japs....Oops I mean the Japanese http://discussanything.com/Ubb/wink.gif for their stealing of my grandfather's property and putting him in a concentration camp in Indonesia.

To compare concetration camps that were designed to torure and exterminate people with America's slave industry is pathetic and quite insane. Slavery in America, quite unlike African and Middle Eastern slavery, affected more people because they were treated well enough to have families and children that were cared for by the plantation foremen.

I am convinced that Freedom is right. Freedom, how much money do you think you are owed. Are yoou going to calculate the cost of crime and welfare in the payments? Let me know what you come up with.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Originally posted by Cosmo:
I am convinced that Freedom is right. Freedom, how much money do you think you are owed. Are yoou going to calculate the cost of crime and welfare in the payments? Let me know what you come up with.


Well I'm in debt 20k for my college education, so if I was relieved of that, I'd be satisfied. You know I think most are confused about my stance on reparations. From the begining my biggest argument has been that the issue has merit and deserves discussion. I never advocated for a "check" for all black people. I know that that would not do any good at all. I just think that America does owe something to a people that they enslaved and discriminated against legally until 1964. It is clear to me that the systematic oppression is partially the reason of the black plight. Nay sayers put the entire blame squarely on the shoulders of black people themselves. That is clearly not the case. The racism and oppression continues today it is just far more subtle and covert. Nay sayers say it doesn't exist and it the accusation is being abused. I am not sure what the "best" solution is but I feel something should be done to close the gap some more and to pull up a people that are in a vicious cycle of poverty and self-hate.



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"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X

Reperations are not going to end the cause of poverty. Not until Proper English is taught in schools, teen promiscuity and pregnancy are dealt with, illegitamacy and breakdown of the family unit is addressed, morality is again a desirable trait, when education and children become valuable resources, and when our society returns to the core values of our culture will there be a meaningful change.

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The truth is the hellhound that gnaws at the heels of those that lie and accuse you of oppressing them!

future Emperor in need of a cabinet(except Minister of Spanking)until then you can call me Chief!

Willie and Al smoke shrub but never inhaled!

Conservatives are RACIST-the world according to IAN.

Originally posted by Cosmo:
Reperations are not going to end the cause of poverty. Not until Proper English is taught in schools, teen promiscuity and pregnancy are dealt with, illegitamacy and breakdown of the family unit is addressed, morality is again a desirable trait, when education and children become valuable resources, and when our society returns to the core values of our culture will there be a meaningful change.



Amen to that.



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You and I, We are strangers by one chromosome

Originally posted by freedom:
Well I'm in debt 20k for my college education, so if I was relieved of that, I'd be satisfied.

I believe college should allow you to teach or work for the college in some other capacity for a year to relieve you of that debt, or the government should cover it. That goes for everyone. I am convinced colleges are ridiculously overpriced and fleecing American students and their families. No one should be denied college should they have the ability and desire to attend.

I never advocated for a "check" for all black people.

Wouldn't it make more sense to find out who had or currently has slaves and make them pay no matter what the racial background of the slaveholder? Why should decendents of black slavetraders be rewarded?

Someone came up with $198,149 to each black family which is the value of 40 acres and a mule in 1865 when slavery ended.

A suggestion from the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations was that blacks be exempted from income taxes in perpetuity. That is a great idea except I think everyone should be except from that Marxist vehicle know as the income tax.

I would say black families should at least get what the Japanese recieved in cash. They government better do it quick though. The longer the government waits, the higher the headcount, and more expensive it will be for all taxpayers, including blacks. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/wink.gif

The thing to realize is we are in this mess together.

Yeah, we're going to end hate by taking money from one group (the "haters" in some eyes) and give it to the another group (the "hatees" if you will). That's a fine choice. That's right up there with killing the first born white child in each home. Jeez, nothing breeds tolerance like a little extortion.

If you want to end the financial differences in the races, sure, give out a check. If you want to end the "black plight" and racism, taking money from "da' white man" ain't gonna' do it. That's silly.

Oh, and I paid off my (my ex's, actually) in a few years. What's your problem? Heck, I paid off SOMEONE ELSE'S . . .

Reperations is the most ludicrious thing I've ever heard.

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Go ahead and call Cosmo "Chief" and Bill is "Fearless Leader" . . . I'm HAPPILY "Minister of Spanking"!!

Famous Last Words:
Socrates - "I drank WHAT?"

I think reparations for blacks is a good idea. As long as they repay ALL of the perks they have received (sometimes for 4-5 GENERATIONS) in the past. Repay ALL of the welfare money, food stamps, medical aid, etc. THEY have gotten while sitting around NOT being productive members of society. Repay it ALL, with interest. Should I be able to sue the European families whom, at one time, held MY ancestors in servitude. My family never owned slaves. Why should I have to help cover these costs? And what about all the blacks whose ancestors NEVER were slaves? Those from Haiti or those whose ancestors arrived in America AFTER slavery was abolished? Do you give this free money to ALL blacks?There NEEDS to be proof that ones ancestors were indeed, slaves!
Remember this. Right OR wrong, slavery WAS legal.
P.S. How many of those receiving a reparation check do you think will actually use that money for useful, productive activities?
:) :) :)

Dig a little to find this one? LOL!

This is embarassing. I have so many typos, and I sound politically correct. Disgusting.

holy poop man... i thought Durden was back till i saw the date of his posts :p

Freedom.

A fantastic article.
I learned a lot from it, and I'm stashing it away in my archive of 'good reads'. Thank you very much for posting it!

M.

Originally posted by Snouter

I would say black families should at least get what the Japanese recieved in cash. They government better do it quick though. The longer the government waits, the higher the headcount, and more expensive it will be for all taxpayers, including blacks. http://discussanything.com/Ubb/wink.gif

The thing to realize is we are in this mess together.



Did you really write this Snouter?

M.