The following are excerpts from the Kerry and Bush questionnaires from the NAACP. Note that for the NAACP “equal opportunity” and “affirmative action” have become synonyms.
Q: If elected president, what specific actions will you take regarding equal opportunity (affirmative action) programs?
Bush: I support affirmative access, which aggressively reaches out to minorities, is inclusive of all races, provides equal opportunity, and promotes diversity. My administration has broken down government contracts to allow small businesses, especially minority-owned small businesses, to better compete.
Kerry for Reparations
Why do people still cling to this issue? Why do we still have politicians who dangle the nonsense carrot of reparations in front of black America, when it is so obviously little more than piss poor and transparent vote whoring? From an NAACP questionna…
That’s the last straw. I’m tempted to stream a bunch of obscenities. SLAVERY REPARATIONS IS THE MOST UNFAIR AND RIDICULOUS IDEA EVER.
What pisses me off most is that a man as rich as John Kerry is willing to sacrifice the income of hard working Americans in order to get elected. What a steaming pile of crap.
It would be the most irrational act any government has ever undertaken.
Oh wait… I forgot… being rational is now considered immoral.
Therefore, it would be moral to take money from hardworking americans and give it to those who have not earned it.
Isn’t equality grand.
Being a Bush supporter, I’m pleased to see Kerry’s endorsement of reparations. I’m betting it won’t get much play in the mainstream media though, for obvious reasons. Every single non-black American, and especially the other less favored minorities, will be able to see the economic writing on the wall.
John Kerry promoting slave reparations? Very interesting. Of course he will never publicly promote such a cause. He would lose by a landslide in November. But someone just might “out” Kerry between now and November.
What a choice: Bush or Kerry.
Comments attributed here to both are absolutely pathetic.
Sickening mush.
I am disgusted.
But not surprised.
We are goners.
Of course, the way Kerry’s heritage keeps changing, he may soon claim to be of african american descent.
That would put his push for reparations in a different light. ;-)
Actually, I have no problem with reparations or with the principle that you are entitled to lots of money if your group has been oppressed by another group in the past, even if you have suffered not as much. I think it’s a wonderful idea, as long as we establish priorities.
I’m Jewish, and applying this principle, it seems to me that we have priority. The antisemitism I have suffered personally has been minor as these things go–historically, as a Jew I hit the jackpot by being born in the twentieth century U.S.
But Jews have suffered hideous persecution in the past, and today in other countries. I would like every liberal church group that supports reparations to blacks to get out its checkbook and send me something substantial. In return I will issue personally signed certificates of atonement.
Seems fair, doesn’t it?
Reparations were probably a good idea in 1865 (forty acres and a mule) though I doubt the country could have financially handled anything more than dividing up one of the unpopulated Western territories. The statute of limitations on such things though has to die with the people directly affected or else our justice system would be a mess.
However, if Kerry can’t spin into something positive his support of H.R. 40 – which from looking at it does nothing more than set up a committee to study the effects of slavery and then make recommendations – then he’s going to have trouble with just about any tough question.
Alex, I can’t tell if your comment is tongue-in-cheek or not.
Here’s one of the thing that is very vague about the reparations argument: what kind of harm justifies reparations payments? It seems that some blacks feel they deserve reparations for being called derisive names, or at some point being hurt by insensitive pricks that are too stupid to see beyond skin color. To this particular sector of people, reparations are necessary simply because they can pick out points in their life where they were made fun of in obviously hurtful ways.
What I don’t get is, then why don’t fat people deserve reparations by this rationale? How about people with crossed eyes? What about midgets? If the standard is being made fun of, then the number of groups entitled to “reparations” is infinite.
Of course, there are other aspects of the reparations rationale, but I felt it necessary to touch on this one peculiar part of the justification (which is not to say that all the other parts of the justification aren’t peculiar too.)
What about women? Haven’t we been brainwashed into thinking that we have suffered more at the hands of men for longer than any other group in history? Think about it, people… who did the “rule of thumb” apply to? Who bears the children (an undoubtely HORRIFIC event for your “birth canal”) Who lactates? Who mensturates? Who gets paid less for the same job? The answer is always women..
Now, I am being very sarcastic. I wouldn’t trade my womanhood for ANYTHING! I can’t wait to endure the horrors of the birthing process, I don’t mind making less than men… I will get into that one some other time.
All I am saying is, if anyone deserves repairations, it’s us gals!
We women make less than men because we choose different professions that are lesser payed. Also we tend to have less seniority due to entering the labor force later, or for having taken time out for various reasons.
In the field of medicine, women flock to pediatrics and family practice, but shy away from high paying specialties like neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery.
If we give reparations, it must be on the condition that all those who receive them relocate to Teresa Kerry’s home continent of Africa.
And perhaps a good chunck should come out of her billion, given that she is a European whose family was part of the colonialist exploitations of blacks in Mozambique — and was a part of it herself.
JOHN KERRY IS IN FAVOR OF REPARATIONS FOR SLAVERY
John Rosenberg notes something which I wonder hasn’t received more attention in the big media: John Kerry is in favor of slavery reparations. Specifically, both presidential candidates answered some questions from the NAACP. In response to “Do you supp…
The problem with reperations is that, if they are due at all, they are due to the damaged party from the party that damaged them. No living American was a slave and no living American was a slave-owner.
Are blacks today (I have no illusions that this would apply only to black Americans (specifically the descendants of the slaves), most of whom style themselves as Africans anyway) due a reward for being black? Seems to me that they are already getting one via Affirmative Racism.
Rich
Equal opportunity = affirmative action but with a five point bonus.
I’ve been called derisive names; can I get paid for this? True, most of them were from people who knew me well, and thus rather excruciatingly accurate; however, some were from total strangers. Do I have to pro-rate my payment?
I don’t like Bush; he’s fiscally liberal and socially conservative, and wrong on both points. However, any idiot who would support reparations to someone for offences committed against their ancestors does not deserve my money.
Is there anyone alive whose ancestors were not abused?
I’m told I’m Caucasian (i.e. from the Caucasus mountain range). Although I’m from there, I’ve never been there. Are they nice?
I’m told I’m not Native American, although I was born in Iowa. To which continent am I a native? If my grandfather tells me that my family has always lived there, does that make me a native Iowan? (Actually, if Grandpa does tell me that, I’m gonna freak out big-time ’cause he’s been dead for years.)
I’m told that humanity originated in Africa. I believe that. So, if my ancestors came from Africa, does. . . well, you can figure out the rest of that line of thought.
Hey, NAACP: you won the fight. You achieved the goals you were designed for, and the people that opposed you lost. So go home. There is a word for people who keep hitting after the fight is won:
Bully.
There is another word that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People might want to think about, one that treats people differently based upon who their ancestors were & skin color. . .
For all of those who are so outrage with obscenities and gaul about the subject of reparations I have a form of reparations that would satisfy me, and not cost the country a cent. Plus it is far from being pathetic or immoral.
As an African American and contrary to what most people on this blog might think, this form of reparations is not one that involves economic payments. Though the ideal of monetary reparations is not a new idea. Given that California is on record for giving reparations to those Japanese people that were interned (internee nice new word for prisoners). In fact this is not a totally new ideal given that some Americans are trying to sue the Japanese government for the work they did as POW’s in many of today’s more successful companies in Japan during W.W.II. (I wonder what those who are trying to sue Japan feel about reparations for the descendants of slaves). What I would like as a form of reparations is to have the President (or some part of this government) makes a decree that would say something along these lines:
“We as the United States would like to say that as a country we were morally wrong, and morally sick for the way this country treated African American people during the period of slavery. And that before the World we would like to say e are sorry and we would like to apologize for our actions as a Nation.”
After that, you could close this subject down, get out of my way, and leave me to living my life. The only reason why I say this is because this country has never admitting any wrong doing for their actions. We never as a nation took a stand and said “WE WERE WRONG”. We have looked down on the Germans for their use of the Holocaust, but never looked at our actions during the period of slavery. I think we can all admit that slavery was wrong, yet have we as a society every made such a declaration of our wrong doings? The people of South Africa did that with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They looked at all the events that occurred under apartheid, all the murders and kidnapping and other heinous actions and asked all of those to confess of their wrong doings and tell the world what they did without the threat of jail or punishment. From there they felt the healing process could begin. Is that too much for us to ask from the United States?? I don’t think so. I don’t need any money, I have my own, I just want this country to publicly acknowledge the inhumane way this country treated the former slaves. Then from that moment leave me alone at let me be about my business. Is that too much to ask for??
That works for me.
I always thought it should been something along the lines of:
“Sorry for importing and spreading the moral cancer of slavery. The actions taken during this time have continued to poison our land long after the fact. We’re sorry, we feel just horrible, and we want to start getting past all of this pain. Thanks”
Our bad. Let’s all move on.
Kevin S posted…
“For all of those who are so outrage with obscenities and gaul about the subject of reparations I have a form of reparations that would satisfy me, and not cost the country a cent. Plus it is far from being pathetic or immoral.”
Pardon me for having doubts on all counts. I’ve never seen any feminist or black group or person that has ever been satisfied with anything. Further, I suspect that having admitted guilt in some fashion, this would next be used as leverage for more and bigger demands.
But let’s look at your demand.
“We as the United States would like to say that as a country we were morally wrong, and morally sick for the way this country treated African American people during the period of slavery. And that before the World we would like to say e are sorry and we would like to apologize for our actions as a Nation.”
1. When you say “we as a nation”, who do you mean? Are you part of this group? If so you can apologize at will. I have never owned a slave. And I take a stand on principle, I am not responsible for things done by others (especially others long dead). Clearly you disagree.
2. I will not use the euphimism “African American” unless you are actually from Africa, in which case you’ll need to substantiate the “American” part.
3. By what manner does the US owe an apology to any other country of the world? I assume you include countries like Sudan and Manturia which still practice slavery today. And it’s passing odd that no self-styled African American has ever objected, in my view, to the slavery practiced in Africa today. Do you object to the slavery in Africa today?
If you want to apologize to African nations for slavery (and I assume that you’ve never owned any slaves), to countries which practice slavery, go ahead. But I suggest that if you really object to slavery, you should be opposing the real slavery practiced by real Africans today. But blaming blacks for the slavery they practice just won’t sell today, will it? You yourself have no issues with slavery by blacks in Africa. My observation is that there is no profit to you from objecting to it, and that it’s not a matter of principle or right or wrong as you blame the innocent and excuse the guilty, right here, right now.
I’ll not be admitting guilt or accepting responsibility for things I’ve neither done nor supported anytime in the forseeable future. I should imagine this corresponds with the timeframe for your objecting to the slavery practiced in the world today (and those who own slaves, today).
Rich
No black person alive has been personally enslaved but they have had to deal with the after effects of slavery. For those of you whose minds can penetrate deep enough to understand this, consider the mental effects of slavery. Think about the mind mentality that has been passed down from generation to generation among the black community. I see no problem with reperations but for the people who think it should be given in money I would like to tell you that, that is one of the most ignorant and degrading things I’ve ever heard.
The biggest thing that blacks lost in slavery is our culture. We are no longer Africans nor are we americans ( in a sense). The majority of us know nothing about the african culture but none the less we are different from every other ethnic group in america. I think the best form of reperations this nation could give to the black people is an education about our african heritage. Some would say we don’t deserve reparations at all because none of us were personally enslaved, well I say that the former leaders of this nation should have taken care of reperations a long time ago. Since they didn’t the current leaders of this nation have inherited the responsibility. It isn’t fair but who ever said the past leaders of this nation lead fairly.
Any acceptance of only an “apology” or “admission” of guilt by the U.S. gov’t is a disingenuous proposal. If the U.S. gov’t accepts any complicity in slavery it opens itself up to a class action lawsuit. Thanks for the offer but no thanks. If you are interested in monetary reparations I suggest that you sue the Africans that sold your ancestors into slavery in the first place. But that wouldn’t pay, would it?
I think the people africans that sold my ancestors into slavery are wrong but I think africa is feeling the full affect of what a few individuals decided to do. To elaborate, when leaders of African tribes would collect slaves to trade with ‘the white men’ they would get some of the strongest and biggest African men and women they could find, therefore stunting the growth and properity amongst different tribes.
In rebutal to the comment “Any acceptance of only an “apology” or “admission” of guilt by the U.S. gov’t is a disingenuous proposal. If the U.S. gov’t accepts any complicity in slavery it opens itself up to a class action lawsuit”.
This is absolutely true. An aopolgy or Admission of guilt is a really disingenuous thing for the gov’t to do but so was enslaveing a race and then treating them a curely as they did. If they gov’t wants to continue to be known as a just one then they have to do something. There is no way they can bury this issue and still truthfully live by this country’s motto.
I can’t believe this phony issue is STILL going around. Kerry supports HR 40 which would set up a Commission to STUDY the legacies of slavery and discrimination, and would research the various issues, including reparations of course, that have been raised in that regard. It is so far from a reparations bill that Conyers, the sponsor, has taken heat from reparation supporters who believe his bill will sidetrack and delay the real controversy. They are right, of course. It is this bill that Kerry supported in the naacp questionnaire.
HR 40 is available on the web. Go look it up before jumping to conclusions.
RB, that is not rue. My husband is a neurosurgent. Im sure that if I became or was one, me and him would still not make the same amount of money.I know this for a fact. A friend of the family, who just happens to be a woman, who became a neurosurgent around the same time that my husband did, makes a lot less than he does. Explain that.
Are you guys insane? “SLAVERY REPARATIONS IS THE MOST UNFAIR AND RIDICULOUS IDEA EVER.” UHHMM…. what about slavery?? Most of the people who write on this are probably White Males who have never felt discriminated against or wieghed down by your skin color. The people who ask for reparation are not people that want an extra $100 or anything but people who think America owes them something. Just like the U.S. gave all those Japanese Americans a “sorry” and some reparation so they should do for Black Americans. Do you know that not one U.S. representative has ever apoligized for Slavery or even said the word ” slavery” in many years. And by the way to that Alex guy earlier: Jews in Germany were reparated so check your facts man. It’s not about the name calling or even the division that exist now but if you’re still dont think Blacks deserve something (like sorry or something) then look at a picture of a lynching. No seriously. Check out a man who has just been tarred and feathered and watch his mother and sisters face as they struggle to take his burnt body from the tree. Listen to a woman ( my mother for example) who could’t go to the bathroom at her local high school until every one else had left the school. Think about what it would feel like to be thought of as disgusting and undeserving. A lot if those thoughts affect Blacks all over the world today. Reparations do not even BEGIN to cover what Americans owes it’s Black people. P.S. Who built the White House and countless other U.S. podiums for free? Yeah you self-centered jerks, the slaves did.
John Kerry says we deserve “a president who doesn’t call fairness a special preference.” I think we deserve a presidnt who knows the difference between fairness and special preference.
Jackie,
Thank you for a perfect example of prejudice! You judge me just by the color of my skin! As a white male I’ve experiened plenty of discrimination in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. Were you ever called Dead Beat again and again by co-workers, just because you are divorced father? Never mind that I always kept up on child support. Or how would you like having Ethics Training consisting of a movie that showed ONLY white males harassing women, blacks, etc. Talk to a man from Mass who is under 30 and see if he is even willing to ever get married, due to the discrimination in Family Court. How about having everything taken from you just because you were the wrong sex? I’ve worked with lots of people of color and rejoice at equality. Reparations will destroy years of progress and integration. Let’s hope we don’t get to see it, but I think we will. God help us all.
I’m not providing my name as I fear retribution against family that still lives in Mass.
No one deserves better treatment than the people that work their a$$es off, come home from school/practice or work, dead-tired and worn out from working the entire day, striving to make a living for themsleves. I don’t care what race, sex, age, nationality, or religion you are, you don’t deserve to be handed anything. I’m white, I’m a female, and I’m a minor. I’m not asking for any handouts because I know if I work hard enough, I can get what I need and maybe even what I want. I think we need to get off our tails and actually work for what we want. I deserve the same chance as everyone that works as hard as I do. If you work harder, more power to ya- You deserve it more than me, but not just because you’re black, Jewish, a woman, or your daddy went to an Ivy-League school.
By the way, while we’re on the slavery issue, maybe we should talk to the Taliban/ Al Quida losers taking WHITE AMERICAN MEN captive and decapitating them….
Guys I’m not trying to show prejudice or anything of the sort… What I’m trying to make people understand is that when a person with a history of oppression wants to do something (like make a stand for something that he really believes in) they must do it right because they are against so many people that don’t believe in them. I’m not talking of people giving Blacks hand me out but of getting what is rightfully thiers in the first place. Since the U.S. cant possible give all that it owes to its Black American’s can it at least try with a “sorry” To the Illinois guy- u dont go through the things that u described because ur White man… so uhhm whats ur point and to the young lady (E Thronson) Ur lucky u live in a time where young ladies (regardless of race) or held in higher esteem or then maybe u would be more sympathetic to the issue I raise. My mother often told me that if a Black man (or woman) wanted to be considered equal to a White man then he would have to work twice as hard. Not because it was twice as hard for the Black man to do it but because people expected him to fail and anything less than superb would have equalled failure and if u don’t believe me think of this: would Jackie Robinson have made it anywhere in Baseball history if he didn’t do his job nearly twice as well as a lot of the White guys on his field…. I don’t think so… and to bring things to the present… those young Black men and women who got accepted into Michigan State didn’t ask fo 20 points on thier test scores… but since their infieriority was assumed they got them and when word got out U can bet ur life these men and women had to nearly KILL themselves in order to prove to themselves and thier friends that they were really good enough….. take what I say at face value if u want
Guys I’m not trying to show prejudice or anything of the sort… What I’m trying to make people understand is that when a person with a history of oppression wants to do something (like make a stand for something that he really believes in) they must do it right because they are against so many people that don’t believe in them. I’m not talking of people giving Blacks hand me out but of getting what is rightfully thiers in the first place. Since the U.S. cant possible give all that it owes to its Black American’s can it at least try with a “sorry” To the Illinois guy- u dont go through the things that u described because ur White man… so uhhm whats ur point and to the young lady (E Thronson) Ur lucky u live in a time where young ladies (regardless of race) or held in higher esteem or then maybe u would be more sympathetic to the issue I raise. My mother often told me that if a Black man (or woman) wanted to be considered equal to a White man then he would have to work twice as hard. Not because it was twice as hard for the Black man to do it but because people expected him to fail and anything less than superb would have equalled failure and if u don’t believe me think of this: would Jackie Robinson have made it anywhere in Baseball history if he didn’t do his job nearly twice as well as a lot of the White guys on his field…. I don’t think so… and to bring things to the present… those young Black men and women who got accepted into Michigan State didn’t ask fo 20 points on thier test scores… but since their infieriority was assumed they got them and when word got out U can bet ur life these men and women had to nearly KILL themselves in order to prove to themselves and thier friends that they were really good enough….. take what I say at face value if u want
oh and to thronson again……. taking anyone’s head off sucks… but what has that to do with slavery…. sounds more like extreme prejudice and bottled up hatred to me… how old are u again… hmmm
p.s. sorry to post twice my cpu acts crazy sometimes