California is in the midst of a $68 billion budget deficit crisis, so you would think they wouldn't have much time or money to fool around with an issue like slavery reparations.
Not so, says Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.). The state's Reparations Tax Force has completed its work and has come up with 115 recommendations to punish white people for slavery, Jim Crow, and all discrimination against black people ever.
We can agree that there has been a history of oppression, terror, discrimination, political disenfranchisement, racism, and segregation. What is also agreed is that much of this harm to blacks happened in the past, and moreover, the sins were recognized and huge steps taken to right those wrongs.
Beyond any calls for "restorative justice," there lies the sickening fact that punishment is being given to someone based on their race and not any specific crimes an individual would have committed.
In June, Reuters published a study purporting to show slavery links to the families of some of America's political elites. Not individuals living today, mind you. The links are to dead relatives. I suppose the study was created to elicit guilt, but I find it sickening. Asking the elites to apologize for their own actions, I can see. But I am not my father's, or grandfather's, or great-grandfather's keeper. My actions and my sins are my own. And I'll be damned if anyone expects me to carry the burden of someone else's bad behavior or wrong thinking.
Why should someone in 2023 apologize for the actions of a distant ancestor, no matter how barbarous or cruel? The same goes for reparations. If someone wants to sue a contemporary landowner, banker, or employer for discriminatory practices, more power to you. If you can prove it in a court of law, you should be paid handsomely.
California is in a $68 billion hole, but some blacks are agitating to begin the massive transfer of wealth to black people as recommended by the Reparations Tax Force.
“The budget deficit makes it easier to say, ‘Oh geez, this isn’t going to happen,’” said Wesley Hussey, Sacramento State professor of political science.
Well, yes, professor. When the Task Force recommended reparations checks to black Californians totaling $1.2 million per person, not even California Democrats are stupid enough to pay that out.
But some Democrats are that stupid.
“Even in a down budget year, sometimes you want to put a financial stake in the ground to remind folks that our budget is a statement of values,” said Assemblyman Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), a Black Caucus member. “And I think one of those values has to be to repair some of the harms in the past. And if we’re not looking to ground our budget in principles of equity and justice and fairness and inclusivity, then we might miss the mark altogether.”
A "statement of values" is fine. But we're talking about real people and real money. Should reparations be paid at the expense of health care? Food programs? Sacrifices have to be made somewhere.
“Call me a pessimist,” said Jonathan Wright, a Los Angeles entrepreneur who attended several Task Force Hearings. “They have benefited from slavery and discrimination for centuries, but they can’t even tolerate the idea that our families for generations have been impacted by this. It’s OK for them to benefit, but not for us to be compensated. That’s what we’re dealing with and that makes me pessimistic.”
Who is "they" and "them"? It's white people. These are not some invisible bogeymen. They are your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers. That they don't want to pay for the immorality of their ancestors should not be held against them.
The concept of blaming an entire race of people for the sins of a few hides behind words like "restorative justice" and "reparations." We should be held responsible for our own actions and our own lives.
There is a clear historical path ahead for reparations. It's inevitable. The concepts of fairness and justice will have to be redefined, of course. But we're getting used to that now.
