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July 09, 2006
I Know It's Sunday ~ Peace, Love, Happiness
I was about sick of the Rock, Paper, Scissors bunch, when along comes the Episcopalians to make me forget all about it.
Slavery Reparations Gaining Momentum
Advocates who say black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath are quietly chalking up victories and gaining momentum.Fueled by the work of scholars and lawyers, their campaign has morphed in recent years from a fringe-group rallying cry into sophisticated, mainstream movement. Most recently, a pair of churches apologized for their part in the slave trade, and one is studying ways to repay black church members.
...The most recent victories for reparations advocates came in June, when the Moravian Church and the Episcopal Church both apologized for owning slaves and promised to battle current racism. The Episcopalians also launched a national, yearslong probe into church slavery links and into whether the church should compensate black members. A white church member, Katrina Browne, also screened a documentary focusing on white culpability at the denomination's national assembly.
The Episcopalians debated slavery and reparations for years before reaching an agreement, said Jayne Oasin, social justice officer for the denomination, who will oversee its work on the issue.
Historically, slavery was an uncomfortable topic for the church. Some Episcopal bishops owned slaves - and the Bible was used to justify the practice, Oasin said.
This is getting RIDICULOUS. A 'reconciliation' like South AFRICA? HELLO? Nelson Mandela is ALIVE ~ the people who perpetuated that abomination are ALIVE. The 'new' South Africa is only 14 years old. Unless my math is suspect, we're 150 years removed from SLAVERY. As for injustice, that's a human condition that needs to constantly be addressed and remedied. Robert Byrd can answer for his hood. I don't have to and neither does anyone I know.
Color me 'no'. HELL NO.
Posted by tree hugging sister at July 9, 2006 04:38 PM
Comments
"we're 150 years removed from SLAVERY"
Well, in this country. There are places where slavery is still practiced, but apparently we're not allowed to talk about that, nor to deman reparations.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at July 9, 2006 11:01 PM
If this happens, I want to know what the bill is for families of immigrants who arrived after slavery ended. I want to know what we owe Carribean or European blacks. And I want to know how much, exactly, Derek Jeter's mother has to pay his father.
Posted by: Nightfly at July 10, 2006 12:14 AM
I want to know what we owe Carribean or European blacks
According to a New York Times article last year, quite a few American Blacks don't consider African or Carribean or ANY immigrant blacks to be as "BLACK" as them.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at July 10, 2006 08:05 AM
Do descendants of Union soldiers get brownie points for helping end slavery?
Are descendants of Arab slave traders also on the hook?
Where do descendants of black slaveowners fit in?
Posted by: Ken Summers at July 10, 2006 09:25 AM
And how much do the descendents of the Africans that actually *sold* slaves to European traders have to chip in?
Posted by: Emily at July 10, 2006 09:49 AM
Oh, you'll have a time tracking them down, Miss Emily.
Now, I know these people all assume the slave owners have a Southern face, but how 'bout the New England sea captains/whaling companies that started transporting them here? After all, one can't own anything unless there's a way to buy it.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at July 10, 2006 09:56 AM
A "Molasses to rum to slaves" example:
LAMB: You say that he[Benjamin Franklin] owned slaves but yet was the first spokesman for the abolition movement.
SRODES: He was the primary spokesman. There were others who had come against it. The Quakers had always been against slavery, although William Penn had owned slaves. He probably bought his first slave in the 1740s.
LAMB: When he was in his 30s.
SRODES: Yes. And his progression -- I mean, his father had allowed slaves to be sold in front of his candle factory...
LAMB: In Boston?
SRODES: ... in Boston in the 1720s and '30s. I mean, Boston was a major slave port. New York was a major slave port. Many of the great families of Massachusetts built part of their fortunes on that triangular trade that included bringing slaves to -- so young Ben Franklin saw slaves being auctioned under his father's shop sign.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at July 10, 2006 10:09 AM
No argument, THS. But I do hereby declare that I get a discounted tax for my Cherokee ancestry and for all my ancestors that arrived after the Civil War.
Oh, and a 100% discount because none of the others owned slaves. Not even the southern ones.
Posted by: Ken Summers at July 10, 2006 10:28 AM
none of the others owned slaves
Being Irish, I can testify to not owning anything...
Posted by: tree hugging sister at July 10, 2006 10:57 AM