[Tony]

What does 600,000 dead white people have to do with this debate? What about the hundreds of thousands of black people who died on the way here in slave ships? What about the hundreds of thousands of black people whose free labor helped this country to become the economic power it is today? Do you think this country would have developed economically as quickly as it did without slavery and the slaughter of millions of Native Americans?

People who died in World War II and the Japanese citizens who were interned were paid reparations. Taxpayers' dollars are spent every day in places like Isreal, Egypt, Columbia and Kosovo, and I don't read or hear many complaints about that, except from Jesse Helms, who, although it pains me to say this, I agree with regarding this issue.

It's strange to me how easily people can be whipped into a frenzy when it comes to spending money on things like welfare and affirmative action and whipped into compliance regarding foreign aid to places previously unknown to them. All it takes is introducing the dividing factor of race.

Reparations are a bad idea simply because most white people would be resentful. As far as who should pay, it should be the U.S. government, which sanctioned slavery for so many years. Had the U.S. government kept its promise to give the freed slaves their 40 acres and a mule, and had the slaves been able to live free of racism and discrimination, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in right now. Unfortunately, that will never happen because racism is too entrenched in the psyche of this country. Am I the only person on this site who has actually read the Federalist Papers? If anyone has any doubts about how and by whom this country was founded, I would recommend reading the document on which our beloved country was formed. And please don't bring up the Constitution if you can't discuss the difference between it and the Ariticles of Confederation. Before citing erroneous data, I suggest that people learn the truth. Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful things about this country, and there are few places on earth where I would rather live. But come on, people, we have serious problems in this country; admit it.

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Name : Tony, City : San Francisco, State : CA Country : United States, 

[Wallace]

Reparations for African slavery are a touchy subject at best. Unfortunately, since I believe that most Americans do not want an honest discussion on slavery and its history, there is no simple or even practical way to go about reparations, if indeed the U.S. government decided to pay them. But the logic behind reparations, like much of the logic that comes out of the present day Civil Rights professionals, is tragically flawed. Just who should pay these reparations? The descendant of the slaveowner? How the about the descendant of the poor white who owned no slaves? How about the descendant of the free black who owned slaves? Or do we go further back and sue the Spanish, British and Africans who started the slave trade? Do we force the descendant of New England shipping captains who hauled the slaves to the New World? There is no clear logic here to be found because the history is simply much more complicated than what most people have been led to believe.

Unfortunately, the real issue behind reparations has honestly nothing to do with condoning past wrongs and making up for past sins. One would think that 600,000 dead white people would have been enough for that in the War of 1861-1865. No, the real driving force and impetus behind the reparation argument is the continual guilt-tripping of the majority by the minority in an effort on the part of the minority to remain relevant. The NAACP and other professionals, having lost the battles in their own back yard on drugs, crime, poverty, responsibility and the host of other problems that wrack the black community, would rather focus on pie-in-the-sky issues like reparations. Blacks would be behooved to forget such nonsense and work to improve their own lives by their own hands - the true essence of the American Dream that still holds true for everyone.

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Name : Wallace, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Miyazaki, State : NA Country : Japan, Occupation : Teacher, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nicky]

Black people are not the only race that has been enslaved. The Romans had Caucasian slaves, and Chinese people were forced to work the railroads in the early days of 'White America'. Native Americans were treated worse than slaves. They were murdered for 'their' land. Irish people were treated badly when they arrived here. If I understand the stories, Black people were sold into slavery by their own people!!! There are still people living that were POWs during the Holocaust, whereas there are no former slaves living, so the Holocaust is fresher in the mind. Vietnamese people were treated badly when they came here during the 70s and 80s. I'm sick and tired of people trying to make me feel guilty for something I had no part in. And every ethnic group treats the women badly. As John and Yoko said, 'Women are the niggers of the world!'

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Name : Nicky, Gender : F, Religion : Pagan, Age : 46, City : Ft Worth, State : TX Country : United States, 

[Patrick M. Walsh]

I think the reason whites don't want to dwell on slavery and other such issues is because many of the ancestors of these whites (Irish, Jews, Germans, Russians, etc.) had it rough, too. Also if you go back far enough in the history of the world, whites have been the slaves of others, too. (The Romans and others had many many white slaves.)

My family wasn't in the United States at the time of slavery and I am offended when I get put into the category of racist whites by racemongers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. We always hear about it on the news when a white guy says or does something racist but our "fair" media never does any stories about racist crimes commited by blacks.

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Name : Patrick M. Walsh, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 37, City : new orleans, State : LA Country : United States, Occupation : engineer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jason]

I do not believe that African Americans should forget. However, I do not feel it is right to blame. I was raised to believe that I am not white. By all physicall apearances, I am white. My mother is Sicilian and my father is Jewish. Both of my parents were the first born in America.

I get angry when I hear African Americans make comments suggesting that I have benefitted from the slave labor of Africans. This statement is not true considering that my family did not come to America untill the 1940s. As a Jew, I will never forget what happened in Germany during World War II, but I do not blame every living German for what happened.

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Name : Jason, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Sicilian/Jew, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Jacksonville, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[A_Black_Woman24987]

Slavery was devastating to the community. Effects of slavery can be seen today. For example, I rarely see white hatred of self the way I see African-American hatred or for that matter, Latino or Asian hatred of self. Do you get cosmetic surgery to have a wider nose? Do you have a million dollar industry of hair extensions? How many of you dumb down because you want to make sure you fit in with your community?

The aforementioned are fruits of slavery. Should reparations be doled out? Well, every black household or family was supposed to receive forty acres and a mule and that never happened. What if we make sure that Affirmative Action is improved and maintained?

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Name : A_Black_Woman24987, City : Marietta, State : GA Country : United States, 

[tyra24935]

Henry Louis Gates said that there is a hole in the hearts of the African-American people as a result of slavery in this country. Yes, other civilizations and countries have practiced slavery, but the institution of human bondage has NEVER been as cruel and as inhumane as practiced in this country. An estimated 10 million Africans lost their lives in the Middle Passage. Slaves in this country were treated and considered as less than human. They were branded and bred like livestock in attempts to produce a stronger field hand or a house wench that would pass her white owner's beauty standards. Families were torn apart; babies snatched away from their mothers' breasts ...It is not necessary to elaborate on the horrifying atrocities that occurred during the reign of American slavery. This country is very aware, but has chosen to pass it off as having happened too long ago to remember or to be sorry for.As many have commented, this country's terrible legacy of slavery, followed by over 100 years of Jim Crow and oppression has transcended and left its scars upon many many African Americans. One example is the complaint I've heard about lack of unity among Blacks in this country. I believe that this stems from the fact that our History was stolen. How many African Americans can actually trace their families beyond 3 or 4 generations? I feel very sad when I hear Caucasions boast of tracing their ancestry to Europe and beyond. Public records classified slave by age and gender only. Any additional records or information was only due to the grace of the slaveholder.There is not enough space to expound how over 400 years of slavery, oppression, and racism still collectively affect Black Americans todayOne of the best methods to promote oppression is to overpower someone who has an economic disadvantage, take away his complete identity, then begin to instill in him a barrage of self-loathing ideas and lies until he believes and accepts them. This is what was done to generations

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Name : tyra24935, Age : 49, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, 

[Jacqueline-C20999]

I think that a lot of people are uncomfortable thinking about slavery and racism in the United States because it is the most glaring example of hypocracy in the country's history. The very people who wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights where slave-owners. While they were declaring 'liberty and justice for all' and that 'all men are created equal', they owned people as slaves. Those that did not own slaves personally benifited from slave labor. Two hundred years later we are still trying to make 'liberty and justice for all' a reality. Slavery and racism makes us question the basic ideal that the United States as founded on. These are heavy issues to deal with as a country, but they are issues we need to deal with so that the wounds can be healed, not just covered with a bandaid. The first thing people need to do is stop feeling guilty for the things our ancestors did and stop being angry at other people for the things their ancestors did. Accept that people bare no responsiblity for the actions of their ancestors because they had no control over what they did. Once this is internalized, the real healing and change can begin.

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Name : Jacqueline-C20999, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : San Jose, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Floyd L.]

Lord, Lord, K.J. Give us a break. The poster didn't say 'all' nor did he say 'most'. He said 'many'! Such supersensitivity seems to border on paranoia. 'Several' is more than two. 'Many' is more than several and less than 'most'. One is hardly ever wrong in using it in quantifying general human involvement in almost any behavior. The issue is why the subject behavior seems to be pronounced among whites. You are justified in your reaction to the poster's accusing 'many whites' only if you know the behavior of all whites and that no number of them satisfying the poster's definition of 'many' can be found behaving as described. I am pretty convinced that you cannot do that. So one wonders if yours is not a visceral reaction to any accusation of blacks be it against 'one', 'several' or 'many' whites. None of the responses from whites in this thread really address the primary question. It seems either a peculiar state of denial (a type of sweeping under the rug) or that no whites, willing to comment, feel that the poster's question is valid. Both senarios are equally incredible. All crimes have perpetrators and victims. This crime of crimes, victimizing generations of blacks and benefitting generations of whites, seems to be one where too many whites feel that the criminals and their beneficiaries should go free or pay no prices, an attitude akin to that of most criminals. I am willing to say to ALL whites out there that MOST blacks feel the way the poster feels, growing largely out of their experiences, and the question deserve better responses than those given so far.

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Name : Floyd L., Gender : M, Age : 59, City : Memphis, State : TN Country : United States, 

[Pete S.]

Bigchocolateman, let me ask you a direct question in response to your question. Why do you want to 'remember' something you never experienced? Now that I've swung open an ugly door, let's discuss it. First, it needs to be established that slavery is not and never has been the exclusive domain of whites. If you recall from history, the pyramids were likely built by slaves. Are Egyptians white? History has recorded civilization after civilization which resorted to slavery. Your ancestors who came to this country as slaves were not placed there by whites, they were placed into slavery by rival African tribes who then sold them to British, Portuguese or Dutch merchants who transported them to the fledgling U.S. Now, it is true we could have taken a different road and declared that slavery was not allowed and ordered all of the slaves set free. However, history is largely driven by economics. At the time, the north's economy was largely based on manufacturing and the south's economy was largely based on agriculture. With more and more stomachs to feed both north and south, southern plantation owners were kind of stuck between a rock and hard place. Prices for crops were low and demand was pretty high. If the plantation owner can't afford to pay a living wage to migrant crop workers, how can he earn a living from the land and still meet the needs of a growing population? That doesn't make slavery right, it only makes it a fact of economic life. Now, let's leap a hundred and something years forward to your question. Like many of the whites who responded to this question, neither me nor anyone in my family going back generations ever owned other people. Our biggest problem has been trying to keep ourselves alive. Let me ask you this, can anything change the fact that your ancestors were or may have been slaves? Of course not. Money won't change it, apologies won't change it, it's in the past. No one is forgetting it, but the fact is that African Americans choose to cling to it as though it happened yesterday and still defines you today. It's over, my friend. Times and people have changed. Rather than spend time re-hashing something we can't change, let's learn the lessons from it, move forward together and worry about bigger problems today than what happened over a century ago. Deal?

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Name : Pete S., Gender : M, Age : 51, City : Orlando, State : FL Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

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