Who would, in theory, owe slavery reparations?
InstaPunk has written an excellent essay on the conceptual absurdity of slavery reparations.
He’s not the only one. One of the finest economic minds of our era, Walter E. Williams has spoken and written of it as well.
Instapunk gets a commenter seeking to correct the basis for determining the amount of reparation paid, and that’s what I’d like to comment on. Dr. Williams and Instapunk have both stated that even after having suffered the indignities of slavery, segregation and racism, that American blacks are better off than their African counterparts. The commenter — and indeed, the entire reparations activist movement — argue instead that the basis should be the benefit that society has derived from the labor of slaves.
Which makes things terribly complex. Logistically, it’s a nightmare.
Because it can be safely argued that every man, woman, and child on Earth has benefitted in some manner from the labor of American slaves.
Consider: the argument goes that America would not have grown as rapidly, nor become as wealthy had it not been for the sweat of the slaves, who were denied the fruits of their own labors. This is undoubtedly true. However, the slave owners and businesses that profited direcly from slave labor are not the only beneficiaries. Modern American blacks enjoy a higher standard of living than their forbears, so they have benefitted from that labor. Should they, then, be forced to make reparations?
Let’s see who else benefitted directly from slave labor and the descendants of slaves. We can start with the entirety of Europe. The United States would not have been able to fight World War II without the contributions of the Black Americans to the war effort. Should we then send a bill for reparations to France and England?
I would argue that reparations have already been paid for the abhorrent practice that was slavery in the United States. More than 600,000 people died fighting the war that ultimately ended the practice in the United States.
Can we call the debt paid? In blood?