Virginia apologizes for slavery... why?

[bluesbassman]

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I thought this is worth the read

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It's ironic that the author apparently professes to be against racism -- then ends the article with a call to continue or even expand racist admission policies at public universities.

Some people just don't get it.

[John Kilduff]

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I thought this is worth the read

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It seems to me that the push is on to instill guilt in those not in any way responsible for certain evils; and to make the living accountable for the acts of the dead. I really can't think of anything that makes less rational sense.

[bluesbassman]

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I thought this is worth the read

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It seems to me that the push is on to instill guilt in those not in any way responsible for certain evils; and to make the living accountable for the acts of the dead. I really can't think of anything that makes less rational sense.

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Indeed. Racism is a crude form of collectivism. Thus to the racist, it doesn't matter that all the perpetrators and victims of slavery are all dead. Accordingly, those individuals who happen to share the same race as the slave perpetrators should feel collective guilt, and those who happen to share the same race as the victims deserve collective, racial "compensation."

The author of the article expresses disgusting racist views.

[Money2Burn]

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I thought this is worth the read

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But if my grandfather had been black, he wouldn't have had that job with the WPA. My uncle would not have been admitted to the college where he studied for his degree. My father would not have been hired as administrator. And all of them would have gone to school in a rickety building at the edge of town, segregated from the white students. I would have just missed that school myself by a couple of years.



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This is the exact same type of logic that the OP gets bashed for using.

[John Kilduff]

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I thought this is worth the read

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It seems to me that the push is on to instill guilt in those not in any way responsible for certain evils; and to make the living accountable for the acts of the dead. I really can't think of anything that makes less rational sense.

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Indeed. Racism is a crude form of collectivism. Thus to the racist, it doesn't matter that all the perpetrators and victims of slavery are all dead. Accordingly, those individuals who happen to share the same race as the slave perpetrators should feel collective guilt, and those who happen to share the same race as the victims deserve collective, racial "compensation."

The author of the article expresses disgusting racist views.

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What I find disturbing is displayed by the article's title: "Owning Up To Owning People". What precisely is disurbing about that title? It's an insinuation, for one thing. You don't "own up" to something unless you bear some guilt and responsibility for having caused it to occur. Hence the title is insinuating that white people TODAY are somehow guilty and bear responsibility for what happened in the past, things that were done by other people to other people.

Anyone asking for me (or you, or John Feeney) to "own up to owning other people" either cannot think clearly or is deliberately trying to slip us a false guilt pill (or may be doing both). That guilt pill is insidious and false in every way. You can't be guilty of something you had no bearing upon, and therefore you can't "own up" to it.

Moreover, the phrase "own up" insinuates that whites today are somehow wrongly trying to deny their past guilt and responsibility. It's a false and loaded catch-phrase in this instance, and as such is propaganda. Whites alive today had no bearing on deeds done by their dead ancestors. It might be a hackneyed phrase, but why isn't this obvious? And how can anyone ask with a straight face for whites alive today to "own up to owning other people"???

[John Feeney]

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And certainly, we've done very, very little to make amends.

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Again I must quibble. They did very little to make amends. We had, and have, nothing to do with it.

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We disagree on whether it makes sense to seek redress today. Today's American Indians are living in poverty, mostly as a result of a past wrong, from which we are "benefiting." We should do something about that.

Just off the top of my head... we could start by giving them several sizable states, no? So others would have to move out (or perhaps abide by some other arrangement). Seems fair to me. Not sure it would be enough, but it might be a start.

[John Feeney]

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On the one hand, restitution for the American Indian or the African Negro from the part of the White Man. Noble -- on account of past history, which involves genocide and slavery. On the other hand, the Armenians want a slice of Azerbaitzani land -- on account of past history, whereby they ruled the region. Tricky -- and very murderous.

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It's tricky stuff, indeed. It just seems we've done *so* little to try to right our past wrongs toward the American Indian. I would think a good bit would be doable before it even gets very tricky there.

[pvn]

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We disagree on whether it makes sense to seek redress today. Today's American Indians are living in poverty, mostly as a result of a past wrong, from which we are "benefiting." We should do something about that.

Just off the top of my head... we could start by giving them several sizable states, no? So others would have to move out (or perhaps abide by some other arrangement). Seems fair to me. Not sure it would be enough, but it might be a start.

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Who's "we"? In order to "give them several sizable states" the party doing the giving would need to own those several sizable states, don't you agree?

If you want to give a native american your house and property, nobody will stop you.

[tehox]

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I thought this is worth the read

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But if my grandfather had been black, he wouldn't have had that job with the WPA. My uncle would not have been admitted to the college where he studied for his degree. My father would not have been hired as administrator. And all of them would have gone to school in a rickety building at the edge of town, segregated from the white students. I would have just missed that school myself by a couple of years.



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This is the exact same type of logic that the OP gets bashed for using.

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You never know what his grandfather and parents accomplished were due to their abilities and work ethic versus opportunities they had if they had been black. The history of my family is somewhat similar. All of my great grandparents were immigrants and working class. Their children did well, and their grandchildren are doctors, lawyers, professors, etc.

I would say that for my granparents, aunts, uncles, parents, etc., nothing was given to them. They are extremely talented hard working people. However, I can think of several factors that contributed to this that were not open to blacks.

[pvn]

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It's tricky stuff, indeed. It just seems we've done *so* little to try to right our past wrongs toward the American Indian. I would think a good bit would be doable before it even gets very tricky there.

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Again, who's "we"? What wrongs have you personally committed against "the American Indian" (is there only one?)?

Personally, I haven't committed any. So I have no wrongs to right.