Slavery Reparations Are Wrong Essays - Slavery, Racism, Free Essays

Slavery Reparations Are Wrong Essays - Slavery, Racism, Free Essays Slavery Reparations Are Wrong Ladies and gentlemen; I don't believe that anyone in this chamber would move to disagree with the idea that slavery was an atrocity, committed from the depths of the darkest parts of the human sole. Africans were seized from their native land, and sold into lives of servitude into a foreign land. Indeed, it was a tragedy on such a scale that cannot be measured nor quantified. And it is this very notion of unquantifiable tragedy which speaks to the matter of reparations for slavery. To be quite blunt, reparations, even if they may be deserved, are not feasible under any system or economic tangent - indeed such an undertaking would only not remedy the situation, but it would sink Africa and her people deeper into the cycle of poverty and oppression that they have so struggled to free themselves. While the arguments against reparations may seem shallow or self-serving to advocates of such a system, upon examination, the logistics of what to give, and whom to distribute it to, preclude any potential benefits of such a system of indemnity and requite. The point of the follow critique is not to say that Africans were not mistreated, nor that they are not worthy of reparations, but that perhaps reparations are not an adequate solution to this situation, and indeed will only serve to worsen. Africa is a continent in dire straits. European colonization and colonialism damaged the native structure and society - some might say that this simply proves that European man caused, and ought to pay for, the damages done to Africa and her people. However, I would argue that simply placing a 'band-aid' blanket over Africa, would serve only to mask their problems, and relieve us of our guilt. It was this same attitude that the early European missionaries took with Africa - that they are not capable of dealing with their own problems and situations. Authors suggest that reparations should take the form of capital transfers and African status in the International Monetary Fund (Mazuri, 22). Does this sound like mending the deep running wounds and damage done to Africa, or like a transfer of monetary funds in order to "fix" Africa? Indeed, this idea of presenting money to Africa in order to "apologize" for what we have done is nothing more than a quick fix solution - it is not a long-term remedy for the underlying structural damage. The very center of Africa has been changed, for better or for worse. Surface solutions, while some may claim they are "a good beginning" or perhaps just a token of our apologetic state, will only further social damage and entrench abusive African regimes. A cognate situation with African Americans is with that of Afrocentric history (Asante, 174); many suggest that perhaps we ought to provide black student with their own curriculum, such as to instill in them a sense of pride that will improve their education. The U.S. News and World Report comments: "The Afrocentric curriculum is usually presented as an attempt to develop pride in black children by giving them a racial history? But what kind of pride and self-esteem is likely to grow from false history? And how much more cynical will black children be if they discover that they have been conned once again, only this time by Afrocentrists? ? It is a sure-fire formula for separatism and endless racial animosity (Leo, 26)" This author suggests that indeed, conferring upon youths of African descent their own "different" history will not only further the racial segregation, but also provide them with a false sense of history, fueling the animosity. If the rest of the world were to suddenly step down and bestow upon Africa special privileges and grants, it would only create a sense among the global village that Africans are 'different' and require some sort of special assiezce in order to succeed. This type of compensatory system would not only be insufficient to ever repay blacks for the injustice to them, but also further the rigid separatism that plagues African Americans today - what they need is equality, not special programs catered to what guilty-feeling Europeans feel they "owe" them. Aside from