The case against reparations

Question: Why can't we get reparations as Black people?

Answer: Because it's impossible.

Imagine if someone stole milk, eggs and flour from you to bake a cake. You find the thief and demand to be made whole for your loss. What would that look like? You could demand the ingredients back, but how would you get them? They're baked into the cake. You would only have two options going forward. You could either take the entire cake as payment or you destroy the cake in search of the individual ingredients. That's the choice we have with regard to getting reparations as Black people and I doubt they would choose to willingly give up those cakes.😄

Other groups have received reparations. The Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps received approximately 1.5 billion. The United States paid a similar amount to the non-Black Natives for seized land between the 1940's and late 1970's. By the time the last Holocaust survivor is buried, Germany will have paid nearly a 100 billion in reparations. Understand all that is a pittance compared to what Black people are owed in this country.

Let me break this down. If the U.S. were to pay reparations to Black people in any meaningful way, it would start in the tens of trillions of dollars. If you were to cut every black American a check for one million dollars, that's already approaching 40 trillion. Let's say 20 Trillion once we remove those fresh off the boat or those who suddenly embrace a 1/16th ancestor. That in itself would bankrupt the nation. And I mean really bankrupt the nation. The nation's already bankrupt but, in in this scenario, a 20 trillion dollar shock to the system would force the US government to shut down. All operations would cease. They wouldn't be able to pay troops or federal employees. There would be no SSN payments going out to seniors. There would be no interstate roadway or bridge maintenance. The country would shut down as its creditors come to collect and others abandon the dollar altogether. Well, maybe we don't get a million. How about 10K? That's only four hundred (or two hundred) billion which would be less than what Germany paid out in real value over more than 6 decades once adjusted for inflation. More reasonable? Of course, this is all in a currency that is no longer worth very much which is why, in addition to cash, you have other services that would continue in perpetuity. I've suggested 3, but there are others.

1) No Black American(ADOS, FBA) pays any tax. No federal tax. No state tax. No sales tax. No preemptive taxes. No hidden taxes. No tax under a different name. Nothing. If the going rate is $30/hr, his check reflects precisely that.

2) No Black American pays for any education at any federally or state-funded school or trade program. No, I'm not talking about scholarships and financial aid to cover the cost. We pay nothing to attend any school that receives any state or federal money. Ever. If they have already paid, they are reimbursed with inflation factored in.

3) No Black American pays for any medical expense. No, I'm not talking medicaid for all. The Whites can have that. We pay absolutely nothing for the best medical care available.

I'm not unreasonable so I'd be willing to forego the 10K check for those 3 things. Even the most racist White, which is to say, your average White, would at least feel some pang of conscience before pivoting to wanting to hang me, right?🤔 It's impossible for decent human beings to dismiss reprations as defined above without first reflecting on them(selves). I know what they think when they hear the R-word outside of the context I've provided so let's address it. What would be the handout here? Being able to keep the money you've earned from being stolen by the gov't through taxation? I thought you were for that? What about affirmative action in schools lowering the quality of the profession with less qualified candidates? Well, no one said you had to inflate grades or hand out high grades. You can design your tests to be harder than the literacy tests you gave Blacks to vote. So, what is your issue with the poor Black kid trying to be an engineer and learning something even if you fail him because you're racist? And finally, I can already hear you saying it, "Hospitals are required to stabilize you people who aren't going to pay anyway. Isn't that enough?" The answer, of course, is no. Are you against Black people living in the food deserts created through your government's policy getting access to adequate medical care? See how being against these things makes you look like the piece of shit you probably are?

The first point says you can't take any more from people you've already taken everything from. Hardly radical, right? The second point says you can't deny education to a people for whom it was once illegal to learn how to read. If a Black American can survive the substandard schooling you've subjected him to and still have the desire to learn, you can't erect any more financial road blocks to his learning. Have I transformed into Saul Alinsky in your eyes yet? Finally, given the history of physical and emotional torture, and the history of medical malpractice and racism, you can't erect any more road blocks to the best medical care to a people you have so grievously and continuously injured. Where's my fatigues and beret, right?

I would be willing to set aside the cash payment for things including, but not limited to, what's listed above. But even if you were to do this, the country would still go under and let me run a few simulations to explain why. In 2008, they blamed Black people for the housing (subprime mortgage) crisis that brought this country to its knees. Even though just over 90% of people (not all White) were current with their mortgage, that just under 10% (not all Black) was enough to have the house of cards come crashing down. What do you think will happen when 13% of the population suddenly becomes exempt from all taxes? Oh, it gets worse. You ever seen some of the corporate websites in India? India is largely a smelly dump filled with darker skinned Asians, but the faces of some of their companies look like they are straight out of an Abercrombie and Fitch ad. Why do you think that is? Do you not think some old troglowhyte may not think something similar.

"Hey, Lamar, would you like to be the face of my billion dollar company? You'll earn your money by breathing."

You think they won't twist the tax code as much as they already do now to benefit from our tax exempt status? Of course they will and the State coffers will be emptier than they are now if that's even possible.

How about the schools? Let me tell you what likely happens there. Schools would see a significant increase in their enrollment. Let's say 5 to 10%. So what does that mean? You need more infrastructure. You need more personnel. You need more space. But you have less money because Black Americans are exempt. So what does a school have to do? Increase tuition. When you couple that with the White flight that will accompany that Black influx of students, many public institutions, along with the secondary businesses who service them, would shutter their windows within a few years. I guess you'll have to pay unemployment benefits to all those people with your shrinking tax base.😄 You would see an increase in private institutions, but they would also have to expand which means tuition would sky rocket especially since they can't accept taxpayer money. Imagine if the only colleges left were Ivy League. Competition to get in would be fierce and they could charge whatever the richest are willing to pay. You would effectively price most Whites out of higher education. Denying folks the chance at a quality education because they're relatively poor? Just monstrous, ain't it? 😄

You would see something similar with hospitals. Ambulances will have to wait in line like they were at a fast food restaurant to drop off a patient. And I don't mean like a Chick-fil-A line in the suburbs. I'm talking a Popeyes line in the hood.

Are you starting to see how any serious reparations movement would capsize this nation? That's why I know all these commissions to study the issues and the lip service by politicians is nothing but smoke blown up your ass...crack smoke. This brings me to my grand solution to the problem. It involves the cleansing nature of fire. To end using the cake metaphor from the beginning of this post, I say put that stolen cake on their table. Put 250 candles to celebrate the upcoming quarter millenial birth of this nation. Turn on the gas on the stove top. Then walk out and lock the door behind you.