This should help race relations....sigh....

[midnight Target]

"Any "black" person with any white ancestry in his past would not have been born if the slave trade did not bring his ancestors together to conceive a mixed-blood ancestor. No mixed-blood anscestor - no one would be here to demand reparations!
Besides the fact that all those mixed-anscestry blacks are descendants of slave-owners too! "

Sorry miko, not quite right. What about recent arrivals (last 50 years) who have mixed blood?

[Raubvogel]

Originally posted by midnight Target
"
Sorry miko, not quite right. What about recent arrivals (last 50 years) who have mixed blood?

Recent arrivals didn't have any slaves as ancestors, so it's kind of moot.

[midnight Target]

Thats what I'm saying Raub.

[Udie]

Tahgut,


 What do your kids think about this?  I hope that's not too personal a question.  I'm just curious if being raised by an anglo if they have a slightly diferent view on the issue.  If you don't want to answer no prob bud....

 I saw the lawyers of the case on fox news last night.  They were giving their side of the argument.  I litteraly laughed so hard I started coughing and almost threw up.  It pissed me off, but it was so outragios that it made me laugh.

[StSanta]

It is absurd, this. Here you have citizens in a country who do *many times better* economically, financially etc etc than their counterparts in their origial countries.

And THEY sue their own country.

What should happen if anything is that the African nations should sue the US for loss of people and money. But Americans suing the US, the very country that has enabled them acccess to wealth, riches, education and opportunities they would have gone without had they not been the descendants of slaves...

The whole aspect of "someone else did A therefore I must have B" makes me sick. One should get what one EARNS, and there's little to earn one way or another regarding one's roots.

I mean, I'm Danish through and through. Can trace my family back to the Vikings, basically. I don't claim to have discevered America though.

Oh yes! We were the first Europeans there! The US should give itself in reparations to Denmark!

[eskimo2]

"The same people were asked if corporations that made profits from slavery should apologize to African-Americans. Among blacks, 68 percent said they should while 23 percent said they should not. Among whites, 32 percent said they should and 62 percent said they should not. "

I think that we are missing something here guys.  African Americans as a group still are suffering from the effects of slavery.  African Americans are 100 times more aware than we (white guys) are of the lingering injustices of slavery and inequality in America.  They see many things that we do not.

Yes, I think the Lawsuit is silly.  Making the same argument, anyone who is not Native American, should just pack up and leave the USA.  

But that is not entirely the point...
Japan as a nation is largely in denial of the atrocities that it committed during the war.  They are more mad at the US for dropping the A-bomb than they are apologetic for their own injustices. Injustices that were by far more inhumane and far less essential than using the bomb.  I wasn't alive during WWII and really can't draw anything more than a distant connection to what the Japanese did.  But I still would like to see Japan apologize for what they did and admit all that they did, and admit that it was wrong.  Even if the apology comes from a 35 year-old citizen.

Clearly many African Americans are jumping on the bandwagon in hopes of a quick buck, others are looking for someone or something to blame their problems on.  But I can assure you, that there are many African Americans who are very rational and realistic citizens who would just like the rest of the US to recognize how slavery affected, and still affects the United States.

Aetna profited from slavery.  
For this, the company should apologize.

eskimo

[midnight Target]

Originally posted by Udie
Tahgut,


 What do your kids think about this?  I hope that's not too personal a question.  I'm just curious if being raised by an anglo if they have a slightly diferent view on the issue.  If you don't want to answer no prob bud....

 I saw the lawyers of the case on fox news last night.  They were giving their side of the argument.  I litteraly laughed so hard I started coughing and almost threw up.  It pissed me off, but it was so outragios that it made me laugh.

The older one (24) is very realistic. He sees it as sort of a stunt, but feels very much like eskimo2 wrote in his post. It may be a stunt, but the message still needs to get out that things are nowhere near how they should be.

The younger one (22) want's to know where he signs up for the cash.

[easymo]

http://www.aetna.com/diversity/

Top 100 Employers , The Black Collegian Award, 2000

[GRUNHERZ]

What should happen if anything is that the African nations should sue the US for loss of people and money.

Hmmm who exactly were the slaves bought from???  They were bought, as in bought in exchange for money and goods by Europeans, from AFRICAN BLACK slave traders.  When will people realize that it was Africa that loved and benefited financially from the African slave trade?  My god do people think Europeans just went in and stole these people?

[koala]

I think that we are missing something here guys. African Americans as a group still are suffering from the effects of slavery. African Americans are 100 times more aware than we (white guys) are of the lingering injustices of slavery and inequality in America. They see many things that we do not.

The majority of blacks also thought O.J. was innocent.  So personally I don't care what they think "as a group".  Their acute "awareness" has abslolutely nothing to do with reparations.

[mrfish]

maybe if there was a prosperous black country somewhere in the world people's opinions would be different. maybe then they would say "yeah you could have done so much better, why just look at your rich and peaceful relatives in blacklandia, here's some money"

i think most people look at american blacks and say "damn you got it good what's your problem?"

if people are so 'stripped' from their "homeland", the one they insist on being identified with everytime (african - americans) than why is no one heading back now that the boot of oppression is slightly lifted?

you'd think every day was hell for the displaced poor 'african-american' who hates this place because africa is so pure and better. every weekend i see on the public channel here in the bay area some black fake moslem bakery that gets up and moans and cries about the white devil and how evil america is and how pure africa is...the audience shouts out a 'tell it true!' or something every few seconds and beats the floor if the preacher is saying somthing really exciting.

something like 1 in 4 african has aids and south africa doesn't believe aids is real.....is somalia still technically classified as an anarchy run by warlords or did they manage to hammer something out?..........what's the longest stable running sub-saharan government?........ why isn't the great freedom land of liberia a monument to black acheivement once out from under white oppression?........what's racial persecution like in the great freedom land of rwanda? wait you mean blacks often persecute each other based on ethnicity too? i wouldn't believe that for a second...


my own father came to this country from germany as an orphan and grew up to become an america, including serving in vietnam and taking the good with the bad. if he was brought here in chains and the people hated me because i was his descendant i tell you i would be on the first plane to europe! no hesitation no questions just "see ya"!

 i wouldn't sit here and whine.  that's why it's hard to have sympathy for those who do - whining about it and suing people is passive, have some pride....if you are really so african then take a stand in africa and create this utopia you keep claiming would exist without whites. what would be more 'in-your-face-whitey' than that? quit sitting in whitey world and moping because it 'ain't fair', that only makes you look weak and needy.

[Dune]

- by Pat Oliphant

[Steven]

In a reply above, someone reinforced my idea that many blacks were already slaves in Africa before being sold and shipped off to America.  Uhmm, shouldn't the suit go after those who actually took their freedoms in the first place?  Back then, it was legal there and here.  Maybe ancestors of the white-slave traders have a suit in this as well.  ;-)  

I think every race and creed has been subjected to slavery at some point through the ages and thankfully we are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or at least I hope.)  However, I think women have had it worse than any one particular race.

[midnight Target]

Eskimo2 made a very eloquent point about the lingering effects of slavery and the continued existence of racism in this country. The funny thing is, many of the posts on this thread with rants against this lawsuit just reinforce the fact that racism is far from dead. Here are just a few examples. Please note, many racist remarks are made by people who are well meaning and have the best of intentions. This is why it continues to exist in our Country. Racism is so entrenched it is often missed by those who are not on the receiving end:

that's why it's hard to have sympathy for those who do - whining about it and suing people is passive, have some pride....if you are really so african then take a stand in africa and create this utopia you keep claiming would exist without whites. what would be more 'in-your-face-whitey' than that? quit sitting in whitey world and moping because it 'ain't fair', that only makes you look weak and needy.

The majority of blacks also thought O.J. was innocent. So personally I don't care what they think "as a group". Their acute "awareness" has abslolutely nothing to do with reparations.

It is absurd, this. Here you have citizens in a country who do *many times better* economically, financially etc etc than their counterparts in their origial countries.

I know this is a European opinion, but it seemed to fit in so well

Black people don't "think as a group" any more than white people do. They are Americans and suggesting that they should "go back to Africa" instead of seeking equal opportunity in their OWN COUNTRY is rediculous. The third quote is very subtle, but significant. Why not be happy little darkies.....look at how the bushmen live for krisesakes! No matter how bad it is here you are better off.

[mietla]

They are Americans and suggesting that they should "go back to Africa" instead of seeking equal opportunity in their OWN COUNTRY is rediculous.

That is how I would like to see them. I don't call them African-Americans, they do.

As far as I know, there is not a single law/regulation in this coutry left that would allow to give a preference to a white person at the expence of a black. At the same time, there is a multitude of laws/regulation that would not only allow giving a preference to black, they require and enforce it.

And this is wrong. Affirmative action is as bad and as wrong as the Jim Crow laws were.

The Constitution restricts the Government, not the people.

Sure, there is a lot of people here who are racist. They range from white supremacy through the non-racist middle to rabid black racists. Obviously this is a simplification, racism is not white-black issue. It is us-them issue. Any race/culture will to some extent dicriminate again non-members.

There are also degrees. What makes a person a racist?

On one extreme you have a KKK/Black Panthers. On another you have a preference of asssociation.

Does not moving into a black inner-city neighbourhood, but choosing a white suburb instead make you a racist?

Does not liking rap and preferring Mozart  instead make you a racist?

Does sending your kid to the school that teaces Western Culture, instead of multi-culturalism make you a racist?