The topic of slave
reparations for African-Americans who experienced slavery prior to the end
of the Civil War has been a source of contention ever since President
Andrew Johnson rescinded General Sherman's award of "40 acres and a
mule" to former slaves. Recent coverage of this issue by ABC
News provides an overview of the issue.
In reality, President LB Johnson prompted Americans to begin making
restitution to African-Americans starting in 1965, and those "reparations" have been
termed "affirmative
action". The nature of the affirmative action program is,
in effect, a class action settlement. The beneficiaries of this
program include descendents of slavery, and the victims of more recent
gross-discrimination.
Even the most ardent white supremacist should look at 1950s vintage
photographs of segregated bathrooms, and agree that situation smacked of
an unfair situation. Segregation was an example of gross
discrimination. In a non-ideal society, there will always be subtle
discrimination due to personal defects within our citizenry. Such
subtle discrimination is reciprocated black to white, and white to black;
and, there's absolutely nothing the force of government can do to prevent
subtle discrimination. Further, isolated pockets of gross
discrimination will always remain, and the courts are available to handle
modern violations.
After passage of the Civil Rights Act, gross discrimination certainly
began to recede. My personal speculation is that by 1970, the vast
majority of governmentally sanctioned, gross discrimination had ended.
A rash of lawsuits are being filed to extract compensation for past
sins. Such lawsuits are being filed by such groups as the
Reparations Coordinating Committee, led by Charles Ogletree, and
TransAfrica, founded by Randall N. Robinson. Even such ardent slave
reparation activists should recognize that an 18 year old stockholder of
old American corporations is not guilty of the sins committed prior to
1970. My Mom once said, "Two wrongs don't make a right."
The United States must somehow put this chaos behind us, and we must do
so without destroying the free society on which we all depend.