[M-Kemper22538]

Slavery in the United States is something that needs to be remembered and never repeated. But there is a difference between remembering and making reparations. In order for reparations to be made, there needs to be a clear victim and clear perpetrator. In the case of Japenese-Americans who were interned during World War II, there were clear victims (those who were interned and their living descendants) and a clear perpetrator (the U.S. government). In the case of the Holocaust, individuals could be identified who gave the orders to confiscate property from, to imprison and to kill the particular victims.

In the case of African-Americans, there are victims and perpetrators; about this there is no question. But for reparations to be paid, I would ask you the following questions: 1) Many African-Americans are descended from slaves brought to the West Indies. Those of Jamaican descent are one example. Should those descendants, who had no ancestors who were slaves in the United States, be paid reparations? How about African-Americans who immigrated to the United States directly from Africa within the last few decades? Should they be paid reparations? 2) Should the U.S. government be made to pay reparations? Yes, the law allowing slaves to be brought came into being with the ratification of the Constitution, but it ran out around 1820. Should those people who are descended from slaves brought over before 1820 get reparations from the U.S. government? What about those descended from slaves brought over illegally after 1820? 3) Slavery was not legal in all states. Slavery was banned in the United States before many of the Western states became states at all. Should the governments of individual “slave” states be held responsible? 4) I am descended from immigrants who never (to my knowledge) owned slaves. Should I have to pay reparations? 5) What about those people who came to this country within the last few years? Should they be made to pay reparations? They had nothing to do with slavery in this country. 6) Yes, a good portion of this country was built on slave laber, especially in the South. But it was also built by immigrant labor, quite often for nothing more than room and board. 7) What about those descended from voluntary mixed marriages (African-American with non-African-American)? Should they get a full portion of reparations, or would they get a percentage? I am sure there are counter-arguments to all of these questions, but they are still legitimate questions in my mind.

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Name : M-Kemper22538, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 31, City : Temple Terrace, State : FL, Country : United States, 

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