I've received a lot of hate from some of my fellow brothers and sisters of the ADOS community regarding my opposition to the potential legislation of receiving reparations. As much as I've tried to have a dialogue, nobody coherently, and patiently has laid out issues I've had regarding receiving reparations, especially for slavery. The following is my opinion and by no means do my views reflect the views of other black folks. I realize that my view is an outlier however, the ADOS movement has no convinced me how this could work.
Why reparations don't work
1) The program of reparations will expand to other groups.
According to an article written by the Atlantic, any program of reparations would be extended to other groups for example if African-Americans are getting paid for the brutal subjugation and the horror of systemic racism thereafter then what is stopping the Native Americans? (Don't use casinos as all tribal members are not taking advantage of that in addition reparations could leave a way for Native Americans to push further payment for past atrocities). This would also include Mexicans who were displaced after the Mexican-American War as well as Japanese (who actually received reparations from that.
2) The question of who qualifies will be problematic
I've brought this issue up to many people who subscribe to ADOS ideology. In seeing who qualifies for reparations are we going by the "one-drop rule?" Are we tracing ancestral DNA through matrilineal descent? If in fact, we subscribe to the one-drop rule then you leave open many people of biracial or even triracial descent. This will also open up Pandora's box to the problem of "who is black enough to be a descendent of a slave?" Not to mention even if we could feasibly genetically test all 44-45 million blacks in the United States it would create a back log full of researchers trying to connect the dots of people who may or may not have an ancestral link to early African slaves.
3) Side effects of reparations would cause problems
As was said in the Atlantic article:
"If paid to individuals as an income stream, reparations would dis-incentivize work.
If paid to individuals as a lump sum, reparations would expose one of America’s least financially sophisticated populations to predatory practices that would make subprime lending seem socially responsible by contrast" (The Atlantic, n.d.)
4) If you're going to dish out the payment will we all get the same as individuals or will we get the same per family? How do we measure payment adjustments based on the number of a person's family and do we dictate payment based on the number of people in an individual's family? If such occurs where payment would fluctuate and based on one's family size then some will be excluded.
5) To prevent issues of economic equity, payments might be distributed collectively to the group rather than individuals
If such action were to occur, then the question would arise as to who decides how any and all monies are distributed? Like the state of Israel who received reparations from the Germans, and because we black Americans do not have a state of our own like Israel, we would have to ask if such were the case who is accountable to whom if this was a collective payout?
At the end of the day for me, there is no monetary compensation for what my ancestors went through, subsequent to them my grandparents, parents, and myself. Reparations will not cure the unhealthy habits we have in our community such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, drug usage, alcoholism, and a host of other issues. ADOS doesn't address this and seeks to simply look at immediate gratification.
Reference: The Atlantic (n.d.). The impossibility of Reparations Considering the single most important question about racial restitution: How would it work?. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business...ations/372041/
Why reparations don't work
1) The program of reparations will expand to other groups.
According to an article written by the Atlantic, any program of reparations would be extended to other groups for example if African-Americans are getting paid for the brutal subjugation and the horror of systemic racism thereafter then what is stopping the Native Americans? (Don't use casinos as all tribal members are not taking advantage of that in addition reparations could leave a way for Native Americans to push further payment for past atrocities). This would also include Mexicans who were displaced after the Mexican-American War as well as Japanese (who actually received reparations from that.
2) The question of who qualifies will be problematic
I've brought this issue up to many people who subscribe to ADOS ideology. In seeing who qualifies for reparations are we going by the "one-drop rule?" Are we tracing ancestral DNA through matrilineal descent? If in fact, we subscribe to the one-drop rule then you leave open many people of biracial or even triracial descent. This will also open up Pandora's box to the problem of "who is black enough to be a descendent of a slave?" Not to mention even if we could feasibly genetically test all 44-45 million blacks in the United States it would create a back log full of researchers trying to connect the dots of people who may or may not have an ancestral link to early African slaves.
3) Side effects of reparations would cause problems
As was said in the Atlantic article:
"If paid to individuals as an income stream, reparations would dis-incentivize work.
If paid to individuals as a lump sum, reparations would expose one of America’s least financially sophisticated populations to predatory practices that would make subprime lending seem socially responsible by contrast" (The Atlantic, n.d.)
4) If you're going to dish out the payment will we all get the same as individuals or will we get the same per family? How do we measure payment adjustments based on the number of a person's family and do we dictate payment based on the number of people in an individual's family? If such occurs where payment would fluctuate and based on one's family size then some will be excluded.
5) To prevent issues of economic equity, payments might be distributed collectively to the group rather than individuals
If such action were to occur, then the question would arise as to who decides how any and all monies are distributed? Like the state of Israel who received reparations from the Germans, and because we black Americans do not have a state of our own like Israel, we would have to ask if such were the case who is accountable to whom if this was a collective payout?
At the end of the day for me, there is no monetary compensation for what my ancestors went through, subsequent to them my grandparents, parents, and myself. Reparations will not cure the unhealthy habits we have in our community such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, drug usage, alcoholism, and a host of other issues. ADOS doesn't address this and seeks to simply look at immediate gratification.
Reference: The Atlantic (n.d.). The impossibility of Reparations Considering the single most important question about racial restitution: How would it work?. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business...ations/372041/
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