|
First: ALL races have been oppressed, indentured,
subject to slavery etc...
Second: These injustices and slavery experiences of your ancestors happened
in the distant past...your ancestors (and mine) are long dead. Why should
today's Blacks be rewarded for this? The opportunities for success abound in
today's society...take advantage of it. (Many, including Oprah, have.)
Third: You will have no peace until you get past your perceived
"victimhood" mindset.
Fourth: As far as an "Apology" goes, wasn't the blood of hundreds
of thousands who died in our Civil War enough?
Here is my response.
Thanks for your thoughts. Thanks for throwing the “Challenge Flag” to use
a football term. Now we have a dialogue. That’s what it is all about. I don’t
deceive myself by thinking that The American Reparation Plan will be easy to
accomplish but this is so important that it has to be realized.
Let me tell you a story that just happened recently. It’s nothing
shocking. It’s just true. I hope you are a truth seeker. I went grocery
shopping this morning on the south side of metro Atlanta. I shopped at a chain
that I frequent on the Northeast metro
area. I’ve notice that this was a poor area of town but the store definitely
needs an upgrade. And the people were
friendly and the store was clean.
While I was in line three gentlemen asked me if they could get ahead of me to pay for some turkeys that
the church had purchased for some needy families in the church and they needed
to get back to church and serve these families. I said sure. It reminded me
that so many people are in need of jobs
. Economic stress has paralyzed huge
portions of the Black neighborhood. My point is that lots of people are
suffering economically now especially people of color. I often hear the term
“playing the race card” and I am tire of hearing it too. But sometimes it’s
appropriate.
I’m telling you this because I am sure that many will read
my response to your comments. I am so glad
about it. You may or may not know that many comments were very negative towards
me simply because I agreed with Oprah’s comments.. Some called me derogatory
and negative names. But let’s move
forward because this country is in need of
healing and cooperation
especially at this pivotal point in our
history. History is important. It allow us to avoid mistakes of the past and
focus on the future.
But we must get history right. You and I are not allowed to
reconstruct history to fit our own beliefs and agendas. For example, I noticed that you asked why
should you expect reparations after all
these years? That’s a fair question. History records that US Government promise
freed slaves doing the reconstruction period “40 acres and a mule” but it never happened.. Google this also. There a wealth of information about this
subject. Had the promise of “40 acres
and a mule” been kept who knows where we
would be now.
The case for reparations would be dubious.
The way history unfolded provides overwhelming evidence that
reparations is in order. It’s never been a question of merit but it has always
been a question of will and price. With the American Reparation Plan it permits
America to approach this solution on a long term basis. This
solution will last longer and be less
disruptive than any plan I know ever. That’s
why I am so excited about the possibilities
Who knows where the
good of US of A would be now. It did not happen. We have to deal with realities
as they occurred and not as we wish they
could be.
Then came the Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow law, in
U.S. history, any of the laws that enforced racial
segregation in the South
between the end of the formal Reconstruction period in 1877 and the beginning
of a strong civil rights movement in the 1950s.
Please google this too. There lots of information on this period in US
history. I can’t stress enough how important history is. You can find out most
anything on the internet. The information about these matters is there. You
must have the desire to know the truth and please don’t let people know less
than you dominate your thoughts. Find
out for yourself..
Now do you know about the civil rights movement? It don’t seem so distant when you approach it like this.
If you think you are going to get a fair
and balance information on African Americans from Rush Limbaugh , Sean
Hannity and others talk show hots you
are sadly mistaken. They have their agendas. Both Rush and Sean are masters at what they do..
The Scriptures also speak about reparations. Please google it up
and see for yourself.
Let me tell you briefly how I got to this point. I went to
get my Drivers license renewed at the DMV. Guess what? They asked me for my
birth certificate, social security card, picture ID and proof of my home
address. I didn’t have the birth certificate and social security
card and my valid state issued ID card was not good enough. There was no sensible explanation. I was angry
beyond belief. After all African American are the most documented people in the history of the world. So the State of Georgia knows who I am without a doubt.
I am a son of a slave and sharecropper. It’s
well documented. C
Many things that had
happened in my past were brought to the forefront with my experience with the
DMV. I relived them all over again.
The DMV gave me a
temporary license until October of this year.
It took several weeks to get everything together. I finally
got my license.
For those several weeks I felt that I was a foreigner in my
own land. I was no longer a citizen of
the USA.
I joked to my sister that I expected to be deported soon.
But I couldn’t figure out to what country.
After I calmed down I got focused again on how to turn this experience
into something positive.
I wanted to turn my lemons into lemonade
Mamme, Can you give
me some insight into why the African Americans are so far behind economically
and educationally?
At some point you
have to conclude that The Black man is truly inferior or something else is
wrong. Is He is inferior? You can
understand why some people think he is cursed or inferior because it lines up
with their misguided beliefs. It’s a double self fulfilling prophecy.
People have a tendency to rise to the occasion or lower
themselves to your persistent expectations.
I believe, why should African Americans accept secondary
citizenship in a land where we disproportionately built? We built it with our
blood, sweat, tears and even our lives?
When will we be paid
for the work we’ve done? When? That’s the real issue.
To expect Black America to really compete on a level playing
field of White America would be like expecting the Atlanta Falcons to go to the super bowl with a
win loss record of 3-8. Even if they won all remaining games it’s still will be
impossible to do. Sorry Falcons but this
is a good example.
It’s time we face the truth.
I hope for a better
tomorrow for all.
I noticed that you think that I still have the victim
mentality. I certainly hope I don’t. I am hopeful and believe that America’s
future is brighter than ever before and once again the Black man will
contribute in a great way to the success of this great nation.
As a matter of fact,
who else is uniquely qualified to lead the greatest nation ever? By the grace of God this will happen.
I am very proud to be Black. I also know that things have to
change for us to prosper on a wide scale. Trust me, my ideas are not at all
popular with many in the Black community because many are so beat down that
they can’t see the possibility of reparations can be realized. Do you see this
on Rush Limbaugh or even “Meet The Press?”
Of course this will be a miracle and I believe in miracles.
There is no question
in my mind that reparation will benefit all America. Of course the Black
community will benefit initially but the entire American community will benefit
as much. This is not smoke. This is
true. I challenge you to investigate
the possibility for yourself.
I’ve recognized so many benefits myself and perhaps you can
think of a few yourself . The American Reparation Plan will be the greatest
stimulus to the world economy ever in the history of the United States. Other benefits are as follows;
1)
The welfare and food stamp rolls will be cut by
over 30%;
2)
White unemployment will reach a level of about
2% to 3% within 3 to 5 years or less.
3)
Black unemployment will decrease from 12% to
about 9%-8%
4)
Many existing businesses with be stabilized on a
long term basis. I can’t think of a business that will not benefit.
5)
Black businesses will be created and sustained
at a record pace. They will be creating jobs in the Black community and the
larger community too.
7)
All Americans will feel better about themselves
because Their Beloved Country have made a good faith effort to pay for past
injustices that we all can be proud. That will be a wonderful day to put this
“elephant in the room’ behind us.
You spoke of an apology.
The question of apology is not high on my
list. It’s really not that important to me. My main focus is to make sure I’ve
did my part to leave America better for future generations. It is so evident
that money makes many things better for
all humans. This is a fact for sure. There is lots of evidence to prove this
point.
The bigger point is this, apologies are good but reparations
will be a tangible asset that will do
great things to improve all American lives for years to come. The American Reparation Plan will change
generations to come.
|
