Keeping Racism Alive, Part II

ONCE WE HAVE TAKEN THE PLUNGE, and have made the politically correct decision that we the American people and the United States of America must pay reparations to African-America for two hundred forty six years of slavery, more than one hundred years of Jim Crow segregation, and more years still of lingring racism, the salient question becomes: how do we implement it? How do we go about actually doing this, paying reparations to the entire African-American community, for the so called "Greenwood" race riot, which was actually a deliberate massacre of blacks, not a riot? The devil, as we say, is in the details, is it not? A little more than twelve percent of the American people are black. So obviously, the reparations project will be considerable; conciderably massive, and expensive. Consider the plight of the two one hundred and nine year old African-American ladies in Tulsa, Oklahoma, suing for reparations for the great massacre of 1921,in black Tulsa. They were six years old, the children of prosperous middle class black business owning families, whose lives, undeniably,were changed forever by the burning of their community and the deaths of friends, and family members. Its impossible to say precisely how; but you have to assume, for the sake of logic, that having your community destroyed and your family killed when you are six years old is not helpful, to anyone. Harmful, certainly. If anyone in this country deserves commpensation for being victimized by racism, they do. And yet, for more than one hundred years the great state of Oklahoma has refused to recognize this. Now, at this late date, the state claims that, well, the tragic event was simply to long ago to be concerned with now. Now, the state Supreme Court will rule as to whether the lower court was correct in dismissing the case. It doubtles will so rule. In liberal states, such as New York and California, the idea of general reparations paid to African-Americans is gaining traction and momentum. Not so much in conservative red states, unsurprisingly. Trying to determine the value of every single living African-American's suffering due to racism in monetary terms is completely hypothetical, theoretical, abstract, meaningless, impossible. That seems obvious. Any reparations paid to the African-American community of these United States must be rendered to the community in general, rather than to individuals. For example, a federal bill packaged investing billions of dollars in public parks in black neighborhoods, funds for black public schools, low or free college tuition for black students...It seems certain that the NAACP would know what to do with an infusion of cash earmarked for upgrading of facilities and opportunites for black Americans. At the local, state, and federal level, everyone could get involved, and contribute. Discounts in restaurants for black families. Chamber of Commerice sponsered perks for African-Americans, including support for small local black owned businesses. If you put your mind to it, you can think of a billion ways that we the American people could compensate an entire race of human beings for past abuses, by investing in the success and prosperity of that same community of color today. The only question is whether we have the political will, and the decency, to do it.