[tomskunk]

I am in full support of this program to aid African American farmers and other socially disadvantaged farmers. I think this bill does some justice for these farmers. I am also in support of paying reparations for slavery. It seems that our republican colleagues are opposed to justice though and making things right. Aid to African American farmers are NOT reparations. White farmers have in the past received plenty of aid from the Federal government. Black farmers who are also socially disadvantaged should receive the same and ensure that justice is served to make things right for African American farmers.

What bothers Lindsey Graham is that blacks and other minorities are beginning to share some level of equal status with whites who currently have far more wealth and did not have to suffer from the long term effects of discrimination and the legacy of slavery. He's up in arms because he doesn't want to see blacks and other minorities have equal status with whites.

[libertasbella]

What amount of money would it take to settle the matter once and for all? Is there any such amount?

[Rancid]

I think reparations is a bad idea. As it becomes a tool for the state and white folks to absolve themselves from addressing the issues of blacks today and into the future. "We gave you money! We don't need to help you with anything else."

Further, if we just took care of our working poor with better investment in social programs, education, UBI, etc. Reparations wouldn't be needed anyway.

[ckaihatsu]

I think reparations is a bad idea. As it becomes a tool for the state and white folks to absolve themselves from addressing the issues of blacks today and into the future. "We gave you money! We don't need to help you with anything else."

Further, if we just took care of our working poor with better investment in social programs, education, UBI, etc. Reparations wouldn't be needed anyway.

I *basically* agree with your line here, but I also have to point out that there's historical *precedent* for reparations, as happened for my father and his brothers and sister:

Japanese American redress

In 1978, the Japanese American Citizens League actively began demanding be taken as redress for harms endured by Japanese Americans during World War II.

In 1980, Congress established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) The commission report, Personal Justice Denied, condemned the internment as "unjust and motivated by racism rather than real military necessity".[26]

In 1988, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided for a formal apology and payments of $20,000 for each survivor. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership".[27] The Civil Liberties Act Amendments of 1992, appropriating an additional $400 million in order to ensure that all remaining internees received their $20,000 redress payments, was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, who also issued another formal apology from the U.S. government.

Japanese and Japanese Americans who were relocated during WWII were compensated for direct property losses in 1948. These payments were awarded to 82,210 Japanese Americans or their heirs at a cost of $1.6 billion; the program's final disbursement occurred in 1999.[28]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisei#Redress

[Politics_Observer]

@Rancid

That's a very good point that you make. We should always be willing to help our working poor. It's important that people help themselves too and don't abuse the system. Most people from what I have seen want to work though. Those who don't have some kind of mental health issue or have some kind of drug addiction or both. I think drug addiction and mental health should be treated as social problem require the help of doctors and counselors instead of a criminal problem.

It costs a ton of money to imprison people and given that is the case, it's probably better and smarter to spend the money helping these people so that most of them can get back to work and paying taxes and helping them move up the socio-economic ladder so they can make more money and no longer need assistance from the system. But as they say, there are no easy solutions to many problems and this appears to be one of those problems.