by Shamontiel Vaughn

Created on: July 11, 2008

Counter argument from Monique Finley's "Should there be a time limit on collecting reparations?"

It's not that I don't see what you're saying, but you left out one great big point. The reparations debate is moreso towards the African American community. However, women were never chained up in ships, sold like cargo, beaten and raped anywhere near the extent as the African slave man or woman. The comparison to the women's movement doesn't even remotely compare to the Middle Passage. In addition, once women were given the right to vote, that was it. They could vote. End of story. There were laws against slavery, and slaves were banned from being able to read so they didn't even know they were free. Then you had a war where even when freed slaves were fighting for their rights, they were fed AFTER the animals! (Note: I know this because my grandfather fought in that war, and he's still alive.) After slavery was finally over, then came Jim Crow laws. The American government system has found a way to consistently made sure those who could've used the reparations money to HELP the economic issues in their families never got them. This is why you have old money families and new money families. And to top it all off, regardless of slavery being over, there are thousands of people still alive today who survived through the Jim Crow era of being bitten by dogs; the Black Wall Street bombing/burning, the Leesburg Stockade, and so forth. Those folks NEVER even got a thank you, an apology, or anything from the government. The same way that the government set up those $600 checks, they could give some form of compensation to those who suffered economically, physically, and mentally. Hell, I'd be content if they actually got the time to have medical treatment. Affirmative Action levels the playing field of 400 years worth of captivity, but it doesn't nearly compare.

I don't need reparations. I come from a middle class family, and I don't believe every single African American family needs them. However, even if the money isn't going to people, it could at least go to the community, such as the Audi Home in Chicago who has NO books, NO computers, and is teaching in a one-room building because security is scarce. Those are the people I speak of when I speak of reparations.

If you really want to know people who should get reparations, I painted a clear picture in this article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/34228/how_r eparations_can_help.html.

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