General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Should we pay Reparations for Slavery? [View all]malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)After all, the serfs existed much as chattel slaves in the antebellum South, creating massive amounts of wealth and infrastructure to enrich the top 5ish percent.
In fact, the enslaved have ALWAYS done the heavy lifting needed for civilization to exist, beginning way back when the first mud cities arose in Mesopotamia. Every civilization in the history of the world has benefitted from a system of enforced labor. (We still do today, by the way; the enslaved produce everything from the clothes we buy to the electronic devices without which we cannot live.)
The fact is, 99 percent of everyone alive today has ancestors who were enslaved somewhere at some point in history.
Truth and reconciliation? -- YES
Redistribution of wealth to assist those still affected by American chattel slavery? --YES
Cash reparations for anyone who can show that an ancestor was enslaved? -- NO