I've read that the move for slavery reparations has been gaining momentum.
Every single pro-reparations argument I've seen is utter crap. By “crap” I mean that, although the reparationists make some interesting points, they are not appealing to my brain. Their arguments try to find purchase on my emotions, leveraging guilt that I just don't have. They don't come remotely close to justifying something as cumbersome and divisive as paying out cash, directly or indirectly, to brown people.
The arguments against range from the obvious, to the reasoned, to the plainly ridiculous. “No one responsible is living now.” “How can we justify visiting injustice on people today for injustices of yesterday based on the color of their skin?” “Where is the line for the Irish Catholics who died in droves from brutal conditions and yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans because they were cheaper and more expendable than slaves?” “What about the Cherokee? Ever hear of the Trail of Tears?” “I'm half black and half white. Do I pay reparations to myself?” “France owes me something. Goddamned Normans.”
Many of the arguments against focus on the individual, but what about the corporations or their descendant entities who profited from the slave trade? They are still around. Their actions are a matter of history and of public record. What should they do? What should be done to them?
In a few cases, the entity has made an apology, like Wachovia Corporation and J.P. Morgan. They are sorry that one or more of their subsidiaries used slaves as collateral for loans over 150 years ago.
Is that enough?
I don't like how corporations have grown, pulling more and more power and influence to themselves. Corporate entities are granted advantages of law in exchange for the benefits they can bring to the community, such as tax revenues, employment, and goods and services.
Increasingly, corporations and their executives are proving to be self-serving, amoral monsters who will sacrifice our jobs, our lives, our environment, our government, for a glowing quarterly report and a truckload of options.
I agree with Sun Ra and his ideas for curtailing corporate power, such as amending California's Proposition 13.
I'm constantly seduced by the idea of applying capital punishment to corporations. If a corporation has the rights of an individual and is convicted of something heinous enough, why can't we just throw the switch on it? I know this wouldn't be very practical. Not many businesses would want to incorporate somewhere they'd be subject to the death penalty. Still…
But should a corporation, an effectively immortal entity, be forced to pay slavery reparations?
I don't think so.
I read a lot about “us” and “they” in the reparations dogma: “They stole us. They sold us. They owe us.” The reparationists don't do a very good job of defining “us” and “they”, so corporations are just an easy target.
Why should they pay penalties for something that wasn't illegal at the time? We're passing judgment on history all the time, but we don't ask it to pay up.
Why can't corporations be considered reformed, at least as far as slavery is concerned? The United States itself allowed slavery, but then we paid for our sins with the blood of over 618,000 dead. We've spent the subsequent decades passing laws and enacting social programs to ensure that everyone has a shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's been over 150 years. How many generations are we supposed to go back? The Holocaust survivors and interned Japanese-Americans were lucky enough to be victims and still be alive. As long as a corporation doesn't shovel money at slavers in Sudan, why should they have to pay now?
I think the growing success of the reparations movement invalidates the movement itself. For the reparationists to have a voice, they need a society that is open and accepting enough for them to be heard. For the idea of reparations to not be squashed or laughed out of existence, they need a society that is sensitive enough not to kick them in the balls and send them home.
Our society is not perfectly open, accepting, and sensitive, but it's not imperfect enough to justify slavery reparations.
If you want to learn about what an alternative to reparations might look like, talk to Dr. Cosby.
Pakeha