Reparation Boy

White conservatives like to get upset and pretend they’re being victimized. For these people, equal rights mean fewer rights for them. That’s their logic.

Gay pride parade? Then why don’t we have a straight pride parade? Black history month? Why can’t we have a white history month? Black president? Why can’t we have a racist president?

Now, with the talk of reparations for the descendants of slaves in the United States, white conservatives are once again getting upset. They argue that since they’ve never owned a slave and nobody alive in this nation was ever a slave, then why should there be reparations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell even believes that the “original sin” of slavery has been paid off since one of our 45 presidents was black. A president he stole from and swore to fight to limit to one term.

While nobody in the United States ever owned or was a slave, the entirety of American society is descended from the slavery era, which went from 1619 to 1865. After slavery was abolished, America still persecuted black Americans. Today, black Americans make less than their white counterparts. The average household wealth for African-Americans is 1/16th of that for white families.

Today, there are Americans whose parents were denied their right to vote. Today, there are Americans still being denied their right to vote. We even have a president who practiced housing discrimination based upon applicants’ race.

And, while you argue that you never benefited from white privilege, you never had to give your white son a lecture on how to talk to a cop so he doesn’t kill you for being white in public. I could argue that I never benefited from white privilege, but my talk was how to avoid getting a ticket, not avoiding being shot.

One of my copy editors made the point to me this morning, that people argue “if it hasn’t happened to me personally, then it’s not a problem.” White conservatives believe this is a case of people wanting something for free, but it’s not free. Black Americans paid for it. They’re still paying for it. Many of these people saying “get over it” are still waving a Confederate flag and demanding that their statues not be removed.

The inability to understand that society treats people differently depending on their race is about as sound as Joe Biden’s argument that racist pro-segregation senators respected him because they never called him “boy.” Why can’t we all just get along as well as white Joe Biden did with white racists?

Biden, a liberal, is committing the same sin white conservatives commit on a daily basis. He’s having it explained to him by Cory Booker, a black man, and in return, Biden has demanded Booker apologize to him.  What’s next? Is Biden going to refer to Obama as his black friend?

The bill currently in Congress will not dole out cash to every black American if passed. It will only give a study on reparations. It’s designed to someday make the nation wake up and confront the damage inflicted upon it by slavery that lingers today. We need to move on from being a nation of sorry, not sorry.

We need a better answer than saying reparations have been made because we elected a black president when you didn’t even vote for that president yourself.

The descendants of those who profited from slavery are arguing the bill has been paid when they refuse to even look at the IOU.

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