I Don't Know...

In writing this blog, I'm not so presumptuous as to think that I have all of the answers or that my answers are entirely correct and apply to every situation. In writing these theses, I am attempting to get beyond race and address the real problems and hoping that someone has a good answer. Simply restating the problem doesn't solve the problem. I am attempting to learn, more than I am trying to teach. Why do I preface most topics with race? A valid question. We in America are so busy fighting over the crumbs (race, religion, nationality, etc) that we miss the meal. The racial problems in America aren't so much Black/White/Latino/Asian or (?) but are more socio-economic. Blacks don't have problems with whites as much as they have a problem with themselves. It's mainly the whole "House N----- - Field N-----" mentality. "Annon." & "Dpizz" I see your points of view but I don't understand them (yet).
Q- Why do Blacks expect/hope for reparations?
A- Most Blacks that want reparations have only heard part of the whole "40 acres and a mule" story. General Sherman issued this promise to accommodate the large African-American population fleeing slavery and/or fighting for the North. This wasn't a promise issued by the U.S. government but was a short term idea to fix a much larger problem. When people say that blacks were slaves to America for 400 years, they're incorrect. The United States didn't become a country until 1787. Slaves were freed in 1865 (actually this date is two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Texas, still behind the times, was the last to free slaves. This date became what many African-Americans celebrate as "Juneteenth"). The U.S. government permitted slavery for about 80 years not 400. Was slavery wrong but legal? Yes. Do the whites living today owe me money? No. Who would get the money and how would it be given?
There are about 45 million blacks in America today. Few actually had to come through Ellis Island, swim across a river or hike through a desert to gain citizenship. We are a lot better off (in the opportunities given) than our cousins in Africa. I know the whole 3/5 & Jim Crow saga but what has that got to do with me. (Besides from a historical perspective.) In this country -at this time- we are not guaranteed to be equal, we are guaranteed equal rights and opportunities to be equal. Not every issue is about race. Some have to do with being under-qualified and under-prepared.
How would we distribute a fair reparation? Here is an idea.
-The oldest person in every family over the age of 72 would receive $6,000,000.00. (The age is from what the Bible says every man would live to be. The monetary amount is arbitrary)
-That person would get half (3 mil.) with the rest split evenly with their children.
- Let's say that the first group had two children. The children would get $1.5 million with the other 1.5 million to be split with their children.
- Let's say that these people had two children. Each child would get half of $750,000 with the rest to be split with their children.
-Again, let's say that each of these people had two children. Each person would receive half of their $375,000 with the rest being past down or held in trust for everyone born to that family on or prior to a set date.
Smaller and more well-off families would be rewarded for not being burdensome to the country. Upon receiving your check, you sign away any right or expectation for government assistance for the next 3,4 or 5 generations- depending on how many generations received payments.
This plan may not be feasible but it is an idea and not just a complaint.