Blog #2 – Florida apologizes for slavery
reparations, slavery April 4th, 2008This will be an issue that comes up now and again as we get farther and farther away from Jim Crow, but the issue of reparations (think $$ or some kind of compensation for damages done to an individual or group) for African Americans has been coming up again and again for the past ten years or so. Here is an article from DiversityInc – http://www.diversityinc.com/public/3308.cfm?gclid=CICe-_jawZICFQLylgodLDD1cg about the recent decision by the state of Florida to apologize for slavery.
“The Florida State Legislature passed a resolution Wednesday that expressed “profound regret” for the state’s role “in sanctioning and perpetuating involuntary servitude upon generations of African slaves,” prompting the state’s governor to say it might be time for reparations. Florida has paid reparations in the past when it allocated $2.1 million to the surviving victims of the Rosewood massacre of 1923, when white mobs attacked and killed many Black residents, reports The New York Times. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, following the resolution’s passage, said it might be time to investigate whether the state should pursue further reparations for slavery, a comment few politicians are willing to make. 
Florida Governor Charlie Crist
“All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing,” Crist told the Times, quoting philosopher Edmund Burke. “I think we are reminded of that today because it takes courage to do the right thing, and it’s not always easy.”
“The apology is symbolic, but to think about a remedy is to go beyond symbol to substance. I think both the decision by the Florida legislature and the impressive comments by Gov. Crist are signs of America’s progress on the issue of slavery and effort to begin to address some consequences of that tortured part of our history,” says Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, and founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. Ogletree, who has been a member of a team of lawyers pursuing reparations for the victims of the Tulsa, Okla., race riots of 1921 and has been involved in seeking reparations from companies that profited from the slave trade, adds that he hopes CEOs follow Crist’s lead. “Gov. Crist’s comments are rare in deed and ultimately refreshing for someone to even think about addressing the past and at least considering current remedies,” says Ogletree. “I hope that it is an example of the independence and courage that other Chief Executives of the U.S. will consider in the months and years going forward.”
Black leaders in Florida said they hoped the state’s resolution would influence the U.S. Congress to offer an apology for the nation’s involvement in slavery. At the very least, Florida’s resolution is a great way for the state to begin to heal slavery’s wounds, said State Democratic sen. Tony Hill. “We’ve passed a lot of resolutions up here, a lot of powerful resolutions, but today it was done from a historian perspective,” Hill said to NBC 12, a local news station. “I think we took another step in Florida in the area of reconciliation. This is a great opportunity for the House and the Senate to say I’m sorry back in the 1800s.” The resolution was passed unanimously by Florida’s House and Senate. Florida becomes the sixth state to make a formal apology for slavery, following North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, which apologized for slavery in January. Florida has state slavery laws that date back to 1822. Florida, which became a state in 1845, seceded from the Union to join slave-holding states of the Confederacy in 1861. But The New York Times notes that the state’s slavery roots stretch further back to the settlement of St. Augustine in 1565 when Africans were used as slave labor on the state’s cattle ranches and sugar-cane plantations.
“From 1845 to 1860, it was one of the fastest-growing slave states in the union,” author Larry E. Rivers, who wrote Slavery in Florida, told The New York Times. “When things were slowing down in Virginia and still going in South Carolina and North Carolina, slavery in Florida was growing in leaps and bounds.” Florida’s resolution admonishes the state for authorizing “African slavery in one of its most brutal and dehumanizing forms.” It also reveals the cruelty of the time, noting that laws then declared that a “slave duly convicted of robbery … or burglary shall suffer death or have his or her ears nailed to posts and there stand for one hour and receive 30 lashes on his or her bare back at the discretion of the court.” And it noted that freed slaves “were denied the right to vote and in later years were, by law, so repressed, restricted and harassed that by 1850 most had been driven from Florida,” reports CNN. “
150 years later, does an apology matter? It seems that for millions of people, it does. 6 states already have apologized, when will the other slave holding states follow their lead? I wonder if South Carolina will be the last former slave state to do so.
My question for you is this: should America consider reparations for slavery? If yes, what form should they take? College and business loans, more funding for poor urban schools, better housing, or straight-out cash? If not, why shouldn’t reparations be considered? How might we make America a more “perfect union” like Senator Obama said in his speech last month if we don’t address the wide economic gap between white and black instead of reparations? How would we pay for reparations? Who would get them?
April 6th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Although all the turmoil that occurred 150 years ago was a tragedy, I do not believe we are responsible to pay for reparations. First of all who would be giving the money? And to who? I feel its pretty unlikely that you can just pay people off for the ownership and control of a whole race. Many people had ancestors that died still as slaves. How can we possibly apologize for something like that? Since it also did occur about 150 years ago it would be hard to determine who is eligable for the reparations. Sometimes things in the past should just left in the past. We can only realize our failures and grow as a country. It truly was a tragedy and we can only move forward from it. Paying people off won’t fix what we did, so I don’t see the point in paying reparations. Money seems to be a bigger and bigger part of our society. So even though it would be very nice of us to pay for what we did to an entire race, I dont think it’s very likely.
April 6th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Reparations are something Americans should consider, along with the pros and cons of such programs. A lot of the reparations listed above are already in effect. In the 1960’s Americans implemented federalized affirmative action; this was an attempt to amend past discrimination and gave minorities greater access to higher education, jobs, and government contracts. Another example of reparations is Proposal A; the Michigan State Government took the tax money (heavily from Oakland County) and redistributed it to poorer school districts, including Detroit. After fifteen years Groves still has a great graduation rate and Detroit has the worst in the country. And in 2006 Michigan voters passed Proposal 2, after 45 years, making affirmative action illegal for Michigan public institutions. These reparation programs didn’t turn out to be completely successful, even though they were passed with good intentions.
Should further reparations be legislated, the influx of immigrants after the 1860’s should also be considered and how reparations will be handed out. My father’s ancestors came over after the civil war and the emancipation of slavery. Why should he and his descendants be held responsible for something they weren’t part of? Should African Americans that came over in the 1900’s be given reparations, also, when neither they nor their ancestors were affected by slavery? Determining which African Americans are covered, and who will pay for the reparations is a difficult and sensitive issue.
Some say a perfect union is where everyone has the same amount of money? Isn’t that a fundamental tenet of communism? A perfect union is when everyone has equal opportunities to make a living and those that want to take advantage of it, can. In order to give out reparations, we have to consider all implications of it and the effect it will have on our economy. Just because some people’s ancestors were enslaved 150 years ago, does that mean the whole race should be given preferential treatment today?
April 6th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
In my opinion i believe that Americans should not consider reparations because it is way to much work and where would the reparations come from. Also this tragedy occurred a long time ago and how would we know who would receive these reparations. Even though it would be a good thing to give reparations to those who had family suffer those years it would be way to hard to give all those people reparations. The best thing that we can give from those tragedy’s is an apology and we have realized our mistake and made it how it should be in this era. In order for us to achieve a perfect union we must learn from our mistakes and choose move an as one to a more perfect union. Even though reparations would be a great thing it is just too hard to give them out 150 years later.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
No because where is America going to get the funding for this program. It would be unfair to take money from white families who’s ancestors where slave owners, because it had nothing to do with them it was the ancestors decision. Also, because the people who are suppose to receive this funding are not the actually victims of slavery. This event happened so long ago there is no way possible to track down ancestors and figure out who there descents are to give them this so called money/funding, if so it would be to time consuming and maybe even to costly. To be perfectly honest slavery is a sad moment in American history that many people will never forget, but actually it is really too late to try and fixed the damage. Concerning a perfect union the most we can do is try to forgive and forget and treat everyone as an equal no matter the color of there skin.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Slavery was a long time ago. Centuries have passed and times have changed. Therefore, I feel that there is no need for America to give reparations for slavery. Enough time has passed that reparations would be inappropriate. One can see that there is a gap between black and white people and that may very well have began during and after slavery. While reparations may make sense in the fact that slavery is the cause for this separation, it doesn’t make sense in the idea that slavery ended over a century ago. If reparations wee to be given, they should have been right after the civil war or the end of slavery. Since the civil rights movement in the 1960’s the nation has become more unified than ever and the gap between blacks and whites is decreasing in size. I feel that the success of ones life is fully up to them and their determination. While some black communities are blatantly harder to succeed out of than others, I feel it is up to the successful communities and fellow African Americans to try to change that. Giving reparations for slavery would only bring back into the minds of Americans the ideas of segregation.
Robbie H.
April 6th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Although the idea is a nice gesture, I think considering reparations for slavery would be a problem waiting to happen. If what happened in history stayed in our history, then why do we need to bring about accounting for our actions 150 years later? A simple apology would do the trick. The reason I say reparations are a problem waiting to happen is because America would be obligated to hand out money to blacks in a sense of pity. This would bring about so many questions and reactions concerning how fair this action is. We can make America a more “perfect union” by making new American history for our books, not going back into it. These reparations would probably somehow find their way out of our taxes. Then you have to consider every mixed person as well. How do you decide if you’re black enough to get money for having slave blood in you? And who’s to actually decide this? The entire idea of reparations, in my mind, is a critical action only to be taken if we want serious problems on our hands. I say we think ahead, move ahead, and stay ahead without looking back. Bring on the peace and the future together as one. After all, don’t we have greater obligations to worry ourselves with that lie in other countries?
April 6th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I do not believe that America should pay reparations for slavery. No living person in America was a slave or a slave-owner. There are too many problems and questions that need to be addressed with trying to figure out the reparation plan that it would not be worth the trouble. How can you put a money figure on slavery? No amount of money can make all those years of slavery disappear. Would you pay a fixed rate? Who would be receiving the money, all African-Americans that can prove their ancestry to a slave? This would be a painstaking and near impossible task to take on. We are already in a huge budget deficit and this would certainly not help. Would we tax everyone in the U.S. and then pay certain people back or would we only tax white people? Would we only tax those states that had slavery or would we tax states that didn’t exist yet such as Alaska or Hawaii? The only reparation that America can realistically pay is a sincere apology and the promise to move on. I do not know what else Senator Obama wants to create this “perfect union”, there are already plenty of questionable scholarships available to people based on race, academic success, sports, and financial need.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Even though slavery was a terrible system in which people were treated like property, America should not have to pay reparations. While the idea does sound very just, we must ask ourselves, can we afford to pay reparations to the families that will claim it. Where is all of this money going to come from to pay back the families of past slaves. Clearly, America is going into a recession or we are right on the border of going into one. The very idea of paying reparations at a time like this isn’t even a possibility if we want to keep our economy strong. Not only can we not afford to pay these reparations, how much should be payed to the families. Can we pay one family more than another because one master was clearly more brutal than another. Who wants to be the one to say that your getting less than your neighbor because your ancestor was not treated as badly when he was a slave. Obviously Senator Obama’s perfect union sounds like a great idea, but how would whites paying blacks reach that goal. All that will happen from this repayment is the revival of segregation and discrimination. Many people will feel like they are getting ripped off, if they have to pay for what slave owners did centuries ago. “Obama’s plan to eliminate taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 annually would mean 22 million elderly Americans would no longer need to file an income tax return”(The Associated Press, Nedra Pickler). The only viable solution to paying these reparations would be through tax payer money. By elimination 22 million tax payers, everyone else will then have to pay much more than they would have otherwise. The only thing that can be done at this point in time is for America to give a true and sincere apology, hoping that can be enough to at least show our regret and remorse for the terrible decisions we made so many years ago.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Reparations are an inconceivable way to make up for injustices that happened many many years ago. Slavery was a terrible, terrible thing. There is no doubt about it. But the money would have to come from the public and it is wrong to make people pay for an injustice that their ancestors may have committed. The only time that it would have made sense to give reparations was once slavery was abolished, when the reparations were given to the people that slavery directly affected. I think that other programs such as affirmative action are wrong because it basically tells people that they are inferior and that they need the help to get into college, meanwhile, other kids who have better grades and have worked harder may get shafted out of acceptance because they are not of a minority. Also, America is in no shape to be thinking about other ways to spend money, reparations are not a top priority. Although slavery was a terrible injustice, it is a fact that America would not have been as economically strong without it. The cheap labor boosted the economy and gave the U.S. power that let them win many important wars. I am not too sure what we can do to create a “more perfect union”, but I think that the key to solving a lot of problems in America is education.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Since slavery was abolished it has been considered one of America’s most embarrassing mistakes. The country in which we live in is built up upon the idea that all men are created equal. Slavery is just hypocritical to that idea. We as a country have come a long way from slavery and 1900s racism. Though this country is not where it needs to be much progress has been made including the apology from several states. Many Americans believe that reparations should be given to the families of slaves. I disagree. Slavery has been abolished for decades. It would be ridiculous for Jews to ask for reparations from the Egyptians and I think that this is a similar scenario. The slaves that were once captive have all died and their families continue to live free today. The reasoning for reparations would be to apologize to the slaves themselves, not their families. Due to the fact that all of the slaves have passed away it would be too difficult and too expensive to give back to the families of all the people that were enslaved. In recognition of slavery I think that the U.S. should give its money to ending slavery in other countries and educating about slavery here in our own.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I do not agree with the idea that reparations should be paid. It has been a long time, and yes, slavery is a mistake made by America, but what sense does it make to give money back many many years after. First of all, if it was to be done, it should have been done a long time ago, why is it being brought up now? Secondly, there would have to be a very complex and largely thought out system to make this reparations process fair. If it was our government that was paying this money, that would be another thing that taxes would be raised for, as awful that may be to say, these things really should have been dealt with much earlier, if this was the course of action that many people wanted. I think if reparations did occur, it was cause even more distress between blacks and whites than there already is. Racism is a very sensitive topic, and as we look back through history is evolved and slowly disappearing over time, it may take a long time, but money is surely not the answer to this gap.It is a nice idea to think of , but it is not realistic. Money can and will never make up for slavery.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I don’t believe that anyone would disagree with the notion that slavery in its entire entirety was a terrible atrocity committed; Africans were seized from their land, and sold to a life of bondage in a foreign land. Indeed, slavery was the original sin of America, but I do not believe that we are responsible to pay for reparations of slavery. What I believe really speaks to the matter at hand is that nobody living now was ever committed to a life of servitude due to slavery and nobody now living had ever committed this such injustice’s. It is because of this fact, that nothing has to be addressed and no reparations have to be given. It doesn’t make sense for the sins of our descendants to be “inherited” for the generations of the future, to put it bluntly, what is done is done, and what is done cannot be changed. The only thing that can be done is to treat all people with the respect, equality and dignity that they deserve.
I think that a perfect union does not deal with the amount of money that a person has, but rather that people have equal chances at attaining that level of economic success. I believe for most instances, that the amount of work a person puts in is usually the payoff that they receive. If all people have these same opportunities (i.e. high school education, job equality, ect.) then we have a perfect union.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I do not think we as a country should be responsible to pay reparations for slavery that took place over one hundred years ago. Is is pretty clear that slavery in America is all but dead and we do not need to address this issue once more. I feel paying money to black becasue of slavery would only cause more controversy on the slavery topic. People would be arguing for the fact that they are owed more money than this person, and in my opinon it would just be a total mess. Slavery is something of the past. I have no problem with money being given to the poor urban society, I just dont think it would be right to call it reparations for the slavery that took place. It would only bring this dreadfull topic to the forefront and stir up feelings and emotions that people have tryed to bury for years. I dont think reperations can truly do slavery justice, slavery was something horrible that this country will have to live with. There is no way out of that and reperations should not be given.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:54 am
I believe that reparations should be made in some form because there is such a gap between blacks and whites economically. The repirations would decrease on poverty levels and help the school systems. You can take at least a good portion out of the military fund to pay for this task because we shouldn’t even be in the war to begin with. With such a gap in white and black society, mostly the poverty of blacks should recieve reparations because thats the other end of the bridge we are trying to fill. We must bring blacks and whites to the same level or at least the same poverty line.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I do not think America should be held accountable to pay reparations. The point of studying our country’s history is to be become more knowledgeable and better understand how to avoid mistakes made in our past. We can’t make up for our ancestors mistakes with a wad of cash or special treatment to African Americans. We have come a long way since slavery but our society is not even close to perfect yet. The everyday battle agianst discrimination and racism would become even worse if reparations are added to the long list of adjustments needed. I want future generations to look back at ours and admire our progress in bringing black and whites closer together , both socially and economically and not by “buying” our way out. No amount of cash can make up for a century of suffering. We will never truely be able to learn from our mistakes if we avoid fixing them ourselves.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:37 am
I’m sort of mixed on the topic of reparations. On one hand, inner-city schools are suffering horribly, and we shouldn’t need a guilt-driven reason to provide them with more funding. Yes, if funding poor, inner-city black establishments and buisnesses falls under “reparations”, than yes I support that. I think we need to stop wasting money and spend it on meaningful things that will enrich the lives of Americans, regardless of race.
Now, if you’re asking if I’m in favor of paying large sums of money to all black people to atone for the sins of my ancient ancestors, than no I don’t really see the point of that. Throwing money at issues isn’t the best way to solve them. I know whites on capitol hill think this will “excuse” them from being racist, prejuiced morons walking on P.C. eggshells all day, but this country needs to heal and move on, not dwell on the past by paying people who maybe weren’t even alive during the Civil Rights movement, let alone the slave trade. We don’t need to run over to “their” side, throw money at them, and scurry back over the line. Money won’t change anything, we need to understand each other. Seriously, guys.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I very passionately believe that reparations do exactly what the intended purpose is. They are intended to make up for past wrong doings and further perpetuate racism. It is true that I am Caucasian, but my ancestors did not own slaves. In fact I am part Native American. Do I deserve reparations, I don’t believe so. Grouping whites into the category of the slave owners, and blacks as slaves is absolutely horrific. To create a false separation just perpetuates racism. If you are black, your ancestors were slaves (not always true) and if you are white, your ancestors were slave owners (not always true). It is about time we stop making these state sponsored divisions. The truth is that we do need to try and end poverty and economic disparities, but not by selecting one race rather than another.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:08 am
i think that America should be paying reparations for blackpeople that are poor and that can’t for example go to college because they don’t have enought money to get educated. these people should be given some money to start their life and get the education they need so they can satisfy with thier life and its not only African American that needs help with paying the college money, but there are lots of white people as well that are poor and can’t get education because they are poor. so i think that the government should be paying some money to those people as well so they can get good jobs in the future and try to end poverty. so everybody can live a decent life. it doesn’t have to be perfect. just a decent life is a good life. instead of having some people so rich and others so poor. we can have people that are rich with people that are not poor that can at least have shulter, food, education and a good job.
April 25th, 2008 at 7:13 am
I do believe that the descendents of slaves deserve reparations, but only the only the ones who are below or near the poverty line. The descendents of slaves who are currently living in poverty are living there largely because of lack of inheritance of wealth from the previous generation. Reparations would be a good solution to the economic imbalance.
Black people in the United States control a disproportionately small amount of the wealth. Even the black Americans who are wealthy have generally earned their money by entertaining wealthy white Americans (through sports or music). In large corporations, blacks are greatly discriminated against for employment. If you ask a white American to name a wealthy white American, they will probably name a businessman like bill gates or warren buffet. If you asked the same white American to name a wealthy black American, they would probably say someone like Michael Jordan or Stevie Wonder (who made their money by entertaining white Americans).
Until the descendents of slaves have financial success in corporate America, the economic gap between blacks and whites will not change. Reparations are the first step in African Americans achieving workplace equality and breaking down the economic gap between blacks and whites.
April 27th, 2008 at 6:23 am
i believe that america should not have to make reparations for something that happened in the past. i say this because at the time it is what seemed like it was necessary. also because why would the people today have to pay for what people who were alive back then. the people who are alive today had nothing to do with the damage done by slavery and the civil war and should not have to re-build anything or do anything to make up for something that happened in the past even though it happened in our country.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
We should not give out reparations to Africans Americans for slavery. This shouldn’t even be considered. I understand that African Americans feel that they were extremely mistreated, which they were, and want to be compensated for it. The problem is that there not the only people that have ever been in slavery or been oppressed before. If we were to give African Americans reparations, we would have to give Jewish people reparations for when they were enslaved in Egypt and many other races and religions would be have to be given money. It would cause way too much controversy to do that.
The second reason that reparations wouldn’t work is because, well, who would pay for them? The government? The slave owner families? How would that be decided and who would be willing to pay their hard earned money for something that someone thought they “deserved”? It would be really hard to find enough money to pay everyone for all the work that they did and, as I said earlier, we would end up having to pay everyone else to make it fair. So, reparations should not be given out. African Americans should start thinking about the furtue instead of dwelling on the past.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Reparations can’t be made but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be made. And let’s not be unrealistic slavery hasn’t been dead 150 years. Throwing a bomb into a church just cause the church is full of black children maybe isn’t slavery but it is an example of the many sins America has to atone for. And that was *forty or fifty * years ago. To say slavery “died out” after Reconstruction is naive and just plain untrue. To say why the hell does it matter when everyone who reparation would impact is gone are ignorant to the fact that inequality based on skin does still exist. These untold unspoken stories have become the casualties of the race war. Reparations would open a dialogue but no matter what, I think, inequality based on skin color isn’t going to die anytime soon
July 10th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Reparations should be payed by those resposible for the slave trade…England and Spain. This is not something that should be shouldered by the American people. Half of the US did not even exist at the time of slavery. Being of Scottish-English-German decent…I feel the Italian government should pay me for enslaving my people. Come to think of it, how about Egypt paying Isreal and Turkey paying Armenia. Where does it all end. All races have been slaves at some point in history. Maybe we all should pay each other off and apoligize for things that happened beyond our lifetimes.