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Evanston, Illinois has become the first city or state in US to pay reparations to black residents. Notice that money is being taken from everyone, regardless of race, past history of slave ownership, or time of arrival in the U.S., and is being given to a very small number (32?) of black families. This is nice, we are told, but certainly not nearly enough. We are told it will take, "a generation of work". So the taxpayers of Evanston have not solved the problem, but have actually created a problem, a drain on taxpayer funds that will last, if this group has its way, for decades. Are congratulations in order?

I'm waiting for anyone to put forward a proposal for reparations that will be conclusive and be considered as the end of any and all appeals to the past as legitimate excuses for the present. I don't mean that sarcastically. I do wonder if there are any proposals out there that have an end in mind.

Rather predictably, no provision is made in this statute for discouraging out of wedlock births.

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The City Council in Evanston, Ill., voted 8-1 late Monday to approve a plan to make reparations available to Black residents over past discrimination and the lingering effects of slavery.
The plan, which could be the first of its kind in the U.S., is to distribute $400,000 to eligible Black households. The Associated Press reported that qualifying households in the city of 73,000 would be eligible to receive $25,000 for home repairs or down payments on property.
Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, the lawmaker who proposed the initiative back in 2019, called the approval a first step but said more needs to be done.
"It is, alone, not enough," she said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "We all know that the road to repair and justice in the Black community is going to be a generation of work. It’s going to be many programs and initiatives and more funding."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/eva...ay-reparations

The biggest lynching event in American history happened to my paisanos in New Orleans in 1891 . I demand reparations !

Most of the people of Evanston are working stiffs who's families had nothing to do with past injustices. Members of Illinois regiments that fought for the Union to end slavery were from Evanston .

One correction .... not everyone pays for it .....only pot smokers .

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One correction .... not everyone pays for it .....only pot smokers .

Very true. The article says, "The funding for the program will come from the 3% tax on the sale of recreational marijuana and donations." However, it's still money that could have gone into the general fund pot (pardon the pun).

Such actions in Evanston are not isolated incidents. Nor are they new since it's in many cities and states but are the first to be actually done so far.

Evanston, Illinois, approves the country's first reparations program for Black residents - KRDO

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Hannah-Jones describes this form of reparations as a “three-pronged approach.”
The first is the transfer of wealth to descendants of American slavery via individual cash payments, followed by “targeted resources into public schools and neighborhoods that have been generationally deprived of the similar types of investments that white neighborhoods have gotten,” along with “the strict enforcement of existing civil rights law.”

Such approaches echo the platforms of groups that have organized Black-empowerment policy resources for decades. Groups like the NAARC and the IBW continue to convene and theorize on reparations policy....

With a small handful of cities setting examples of what reparations can look like, there is more momentum for federal healing initiatives to address what many refer to as America’s original sin.
“Reparations for African Americans are based on paying restitution for 250 years of slavery followed by 100 years of racial apartheid, which we often call Jim Crow. So it’s really an attempt to address both the moral harm, and the crime that slavery and Jim Crow were, but also the wealth gap that was created by both of these institutions,” Hannah-Jones told CNN.

North Carolina city turns to reparations to heal 'a community breakdown' - CNNPolitics

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"I find this wrong in so many ways and I strongly oppose it," added another caller who went by Keith. "The Black people aren't the only race that have been enslaved in America and around the world."
And in another angry call, a man who gave his name as Eddie conveyed a commonly held argument against reparations voiced largely by White opponents of the idea.
"We want to go on record to say that for 200 years, we are not responsible for what happened 200 years ago," Eddie said. "My White privilege is I grew up on a farm, I had 11 brothers and sisters, I baled hay, we milked cows, that is my White privilege, so ... that doesn't fly."
To that, some White proponents of reparations in Asheville say that the reparations proposal is not about guilt or blame being cast on White people. It is about recognizing that for decades, the government institutionalized policies that disadvantaged Black people.
The city itself, according to Councilwoman Julie Mayfield, is a prime example of how White residents have benefited from the racist policies of the past.

"Anybody to some degree who lives downtown and gets the benefit of the extraordinarily high property values, you could argue that they benefit from the fact that neighborhoods of color are no longer right up against downtown," said Mayfield. "As White people, we wake up every day and benefit from the systems that exist that keep people of color at an economic and educational and health disadvantage and give us a straighter track in the world.
She added: "Our world, in this country, is built for White people."

There is always someone who thinks a problem can be fixed by throwing OPM at it

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Originally Posted by tomder55

The biggest lynching event in American history happened to my paisanos in New Orleans in 1891 . I demand reparations !

Were your paisanos lynched for 400 years under abject slavery for 250 years, Jim Crow for 100 years, and continuing discrimination including murder by cop?

False comparisons are not the right approach to a difficult problem.

Those who believe on reparations, have you already started with your own possessions? If not, then why not?

Reparations and an excuse, you cannot make reparations for what previous generations have done that is just victim mentality thinking

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Those who believe on reparations, have you already started with your own possessions? If not, then why not?

Illogical since reparations are not charity but an attempt to right a wrong, and stop the suffering of victims of past mistakes. In this case the consensus of a collective was reached for such action and not just an individual, nor was it lightning in a bottle either as the subject has been bandied about for decades and even centuries on many levels.

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Originally Posted by paraclete

Reparations and an excuse, you cannot make reparations for what previous generations have done that is just victim mentality thinking

Perpetrating those actions through current generations is not victim mentality and no excuse to not acknowledge the harm caused and do better by correcting those previous mistakes. So why down those that do so since is it really skin off your nose?

Are you really free from your own victim mentality?

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Originally Posted by paraclete

Reparations and an excuse, you cannot make reparations for what previous generations have done that is just victim mentality thinking

I mostly agree with that. I do believe we should use our many resources to help others NOW in the best ways we can. We can't make up for the past but definitely can improve people's present and future.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

I mostly agree with that. I do believe we should use our many resources to help others NOW in the best ways we can. We can't make up for the past but definitely can improve people's present and future.

Reparations are a form of that aren't they?

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Originally Posted by talaniman

Reparations are a form of that aren't they?

I guess they would be. I worry more about people here and now, not the ones in the past. I guess it depends on how the reparations are presented and what meanings are derived from them.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

I guess they would be. I worry more about people here and now, not the ones in the past. I guess it depends on how the reparations are presented and what meanings are derived from them.

It's not about the PEOPLE in the past, it's about the EVENTS in the past leading to problems for people here and now. Yes, it depends on how the reparations are presented and what meanings are derived from them.

There are many issues - taxing pot smokers is the source of paying reparations in the Evanston situation. How did the authorities arrive at that solution? Like any tax, some of the same recipients will be the payors also. That can get very confusing trying to even that out.

There is no question that slaves were a major contributing factor to the American economy especially, and obviously, in the South. Lincoln had a plan for reparations, but his assassination ended that.

The Japanese situation has been defended by saying their being placed in camps was illegal, while black slavery was legal. That seems like a weak argument to me.

And again. Those who believe in reparations, have you already started with your own possessions? If not, then why not?

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

And again. Those who believe in reparations, have you already started with your own possessions?

With my heart and soul and personal treasures!

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With my heart and soul and personal treasures!

They are not interested in your heart and soul. As to personal treasures, if you have started giving those to black people only in the form of racial reparations, then you are the rare liberal dem.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

They are not interested in your heart and soul. As to personal treasures, if you have started giving those to black people only in the form of racial reparations, then you are the rare liberal dem.

I'm not a liberal dem. I'm a registered Republican!

And yes, they are very interested in my heart and soul, and respond in kind.

Kind of ignored this part. I wonder why? "As to personal treasures, if you have started giving those to black people only in the form of racial reparations..."

You are a registered repub who lives life as a liberal dem.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Kind of ignored this part.

Guess you'll never know, will you. No matter what I say or how I answer, you question my veracity.