1 - What is stopping you today on getting a well-paying job?

2 - What is stopping you from creating your own business?

3 - What is stopping you from taking time out of your schedule in order to spend time black kids that do not have a dad at home?

4 - What is stopping you from getting an education?

5 - What is stopping you from learning how to not only invest your money, but to train other Black folks so that they do not have to repeat the circle of poverty?

6 - What is stopping you from helping our men who are in prison to find employment once they get out?

7 - What is stopping you from traveling “to” and “from” anywhere in the world you wish to go?

8 - What is stopping you from getting some folks together to support struggling Black businesses?

9 - What is stopping you from pointing to places where kids who are struggling in school with certain subjects can get the help that they need?

I could add plenty more, but why bother.

To be honest with you, I would prefer that you did not answer these questions because it still would not do a freakin’ thing about these actual issues. My hope is that before you continue to bang your beggars’ cup to White America, take some stock in the untapped strength of your own people. There are plenty of us out here that are doing just fine without White America’s charity. Stop philosophizing about crumbs from the White man’s table and build something!

One very important thing to remember is that, individuals didn’t go above or under the law in creating a society of slavery, but individuals lived within the laws of that time that ordained slavery to be legal and actually had laws concerning the handling, selling, breeding and housing of slaves.

“There is a general assumption being made that all whites have somehow benefited from slavery.”

I do not believe that all whites benefited from slavery, but they did and continue to benefit from the law that deemed them regardless of financial worth, to be equally human, whereas, those of African descent were legally deemed less than equal to White men.

“2- The reparations movement does not include a plan to seek repayment from African tribes that sold their fellow brothers into slavery. The only target is whites and white-owned corporations. ”

Currently, there are thousands of older Jewish people that receive welfare and housing assistance from our government because they were victims of Hitler’s war on them or they are the descendants of such victims. Did our government receive this money paid to the Jewish victims from Germany or is it paid by my taxes?!?

-Not to mention the fact that I feel the part of the continent of Africa that greatly involved itself in the slave trade is currently being pounded by other natural and unnatural disasters. Some of them initiated and funded by our wonderful government.

“If reparations is about seeking economic power, then how are we to interpret the amount of black mayors that have been elected in major cities across the US?”

I feel that this writer is confusing the present day’s hard work and effort of politicians and their constituents with the responsibility of a nation to right a grievious wrong. The fact that Blacks are “allowed” to be mayors and make a lot of money is only in response to the reversal of Jim Crow laws that were set in place AFTER slavery’s end to keep Blacks from achieving what is the rights of all humans. And for those that did receive land and a mule at the end of slavery along with their freedom. Where did that land and mule go? It eventually turned into payments for taxes and goods at exorbitant prices. Which caused for many Blacks to return to their lives of legalized slavery. Only now they were fully equal to be abused by larger families and previous owners, the founders of many of our large corporate conglomerates. Who may I mention have no problem donating to poor countries around the world, but shun away from admitting their own involvement and profit from the very thing they say they are against today.

“Most black Americans today are not full-blooded descendants of African slaves.”

Most slaves during slavery were not full-blooded descendants of African slaves. My family’s light skin attests to that, yet, my family has no 17th-18th century history of intermarrying with Whites. Hmmm? Wonder why? Yet another catastrophe created by the enslavement of nations.

““reparations” have already been paid to black Americans in the form of the many array of government programs offered exclusively to us. ”

I believe that what you call “reparations” is only th US continuing to be Big Brother to the world. Mexicans receive government assistance on a daily basis, though they AREN’T EVEN CITIZENS. What war were they in? What centuries of American enslavement did they endure? This is not reparations. This is the New Deal, issued to all. Latin Americans also receive assistance because they are Latin Americans and there are many Americans whose last names are “latin” and receive assistance based only on that merit. So the fact that there are government programs offered exclusively to us means nothing. Nowadays if I have a yellow dog and a green cat, I’d qualify for a government program.

The problem is that slavery didn’t just create economic hardships for current Blacks. But it erased cultures that we now search for and are ever re-creating, sometimes to the dismay of public figures like Bill Cosby and even myself. Slavery and its offspring has created a world society that still views Blacks as the “Black Sheep” of the USA. Where even foreigners who come here for the first time view us as disdainful. My question is, what do we do about that? How does America fix that?

It’s not the fault of the wealthy in my view.

The government has created an education system that is seriously flawed, vouchers would be a very good start to a more level playing field.

Many factors at age 5 could be assessed as to what would produce a uniformly educted generation of teenagers 13 or so years later. Since it is unlikely that the wealthy with their access to private education would give that privilege up, the bar must be at that level. Every effort must be to improve urban, home and educational facilities so that at 18, all may stand together, no one disadvantaged (by anything other than their own personality!)

My biggest problem is the inability to implement it with fairness and in a just manner. You cannot correct an injustice with another injustice. I also think the reparations movement ignores the other groups who have suffered. This takes away the credibility.