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Does
America Owe Black Americans
a Debt?
by William Reed
 Segments of Americans are
gearing up to oppose Senator Barack Obama because they fear he will be
more considerate of the debt America owes to
Blacks. Anti-Obama whites, in particular, are concerned
he’ll get into the White House and put Blacks on track for
“a reparations gravy train.” CNN debate moderator
Anderson Cooper put Black Reparations on track to be a part of the
presidential dialogue during the South Carolina Primaries.
The African-American vote in South Carolina was very important, and
that made the reparations question relevant in the Democratic
Debate. At that event former Senator John Edwards said “
I'm not for reparations…but I think there are other things we
can do to create some equality that doesn't exist in this country
today” he said, going on to talk about inequities African
Americans experienced paying mortgages in Charleston, S.C., where the
debate was held.
When Cooper asked Sen. Barack Obama about reparations he sidestepped a
yes or no answer instead preferring to redefine reparations to make it
part of a broader conversation about economic justice. “I think
the reparations we need right here in South Carolina is investment, for
example, in schools.” Obama said.
To corner Obama and nail all the candidates down, Cooper asked for a
show of hands and questioned: “Is anyone on the stage for
reparations for slavery for African-Americans?” The
only “yes” came from Congressman Dennis Kucinich who said:
“The Bible says we shall be and must be repairers of the breach.
And a breach has occurred. We have to acknowledge that. It's a
breach that has resulted in inequality in opportunities for education,
for health care, for housing, for employment.”
From then on, reparations have been an issue in the campaign.
America owes Blacks $700 billion to $1.9 trillion for unpaid labor that
built the country’s infrastructure, including the U.S.
Capitol. While Obama dodges the issue, his “old church,
Trinity United Church of Christ, lists “The Debt: What America
Owes To Blacks, by Randall Robinson (Penguin Putman Inc., 2000) as
recommended reading”. In The Debt, Robinson argues that
America still owes an enormous debt to Africans and African Americans
for the incalculable damage that backs have suffered and continue to
suffer as a result of two hundred and fifty years of slavery and
segregation.
Barack’s birthright bothers many whites; but Wautella Graham of
the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
(N’COBRA) breaks the question of slavery into four categories of
involvement: victims, collaborators, perpetrators and beneficiaries and
makes the point that, “Even immigrants and people whose ancestral
line contains no slaveholders should pay reparations, since every
American benefits from slavery.”
Slavery victimizes free blacks to this day. All American people are responsible for the debt America owes.”
Source: Black Press Intenational
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