How many slaves did you own?
As you will recall, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Harvard professor
who got arrested by Cambridge Police a couple weeks or so ago.
Fred Reed was a police reporter for one of the large Washington newspapers.
He now writes a column which can be googled ~ "Fred on Everything."
Fred published a weekly online column in which he got to say the
things his editors would never, ever have let him write in the paper.
His stuff is iconoclastic and various articles have probably
offended everyone..regardless of political orientation. So, with the
warning that "This is
definitely not politically correct," here comes Fred.....
The following is an essay regarding the failings of a system and a
culture. Please note that he elegantly describes the mood of many
Americans and he does so without prejudice.
Slavery Reparations .........by Fred Reed!
On the Web I find that Henry Louis Gates Jr., the chairman of Afro-American
Studies at Harvard, is demanding that whites pay reparations to blacks. It's
because of slavery, see. He is joined in this endeavor by a gaggle of other
professional blacks. I guess he'll send me a bill, huh?
I feel like saying, "Let me get this straight, Hank. I'm slow. Be patient.
You want free money because of slavery, right? I don't blame you." I'd like
free money too. Tell you what. I believe in justice. I'll give you a million
dollars for every slave I own, and another million for every year you were a
slave. Fair enough? But tell me, how many slaves do you suppose I have?
In round numbers, I mean...say to the nearest dozen. And how long were you
a slave?
Oh. In other words, I owe you reparations for something that I didn't do and
didn't happen to you. That makes sense. Like lug nuts on a birthday cake.
Personally, I think you owe me reparations for things you didn't do
and never happened to me. I've never been coated in Dutch chocolate
and thrown from the Eiffel Tower . I'll bet you've never done it to
anyone. I want reparations. Kind of silly, isn't it?
But if we're going to talk about reparations, that's a street that
runs in two directions. You want money from me for what some other
whites did to some other blacks in another century?
How about you guys paying whites reparations for current expenses
caused by blacks? Not long ago blacks burned down half of Los Angeles
, a city in my country. Cities are expensive, Hank. Build one
sometime and you'll see what I mean. Whites had to pay taxes to
repair Los Angeles for you. You can send me a check.
Now, yes, I know you burned LA because you didn't like the verdict in
the trial of those police officers. Well, I didn't like the verdict
in the Simpson trial. But I didn't burn my house and loot Korean
grocers, or burn down a city.
Over the years blacks have burned a lot of American cities: Newark ,
Detroit , Watts , on and on. Now add in the fantastic cost over the
years of welfare in all its forms, the cost of all of those police
calls people had to make, for cells and jails and security systems in
department stores.
I can't live in the capital city of my own country because of crime
committed by blacks. Toss in the cultural cost of lowering standards
in everything for the benefit of blacks. See what I mean?
Now, I'd view things differently if you said to me, "Fred, blacks
can't get anywhere in a modern country without education.. We know
that. We need better schools, smarter teachers, harder courses, books
with smaller pictures and bigger words. Can you help us?"
I'd say, "Hallelujah! Hoo-ahh! Not just yes, but hell yes. Let's
sell an aircraft carrier and get these folks some real schools and get
them into the economic main-stream.' I'd say It partly because it
would be the right thing to do, and partly because I'd like to add you
guys to the tax base..
The current custodial state is expensive. I'd just love for blacks to
study and learn to compete and stop burning places. But is it going
to happen? You may not believe it, but I, and most whites, don't
like seeing blacks as miserable and screwed up as they are.
I spend a fair amount of time in the projects. Those places are ugly.
It's no fun watching perfectly good kids turn into semi-literate dope
dealers who barely speak English. It just plain ain't right. But,
Hank, what am I supposed to do about it? I can't do your children's
homework. At some point, people have to do things for themselves, or
they don't get done. Maybe it's time.
I'll tell you what I see out in the world, Hank... I think blacks are
too accustomed to getting anything they want by just demanding it.
True, it has worked for over half a century.. Get a few hundred people
in the street, implicitly threaten to loot and burn, holler about
slavery, and sadly the Great White Cash Spigot turns on.
Thing is, whites don't much buy it any longer. Most recognize that
what once was a civil-rights movement has become a shakedown game.
Few people still feel responsible for the failings and inadequacies of
blacks. Political correctness keeps the lid on -- but everyone knows
the score. Which scares me, Hank.
On one hand, blacks hate whites and incline toward looting and
burning. (The whites you hate are the ones who marched in the
civil-rights movement. Ever think about that?)
On the other hand, whites quietly grow wearier and wearier of it. Not
good, Hank.
On the third hand (allow me three hands, for rhetorical convenience),
blacks keep demanding things. As I write, you demand reparations for
slavery. Blacks in Oklahoma (I think it was) want money for some
ancient race riot.
Other blacks reject the Declaration of Independence. Blacks in New
York hint broadly at burning and looting over a trial, yet more demand
the elimination of the Confederate flag, and the federal equal
opportunity apparatus, which means blacks want to sue Silicon Valley
for not hiring nonexistent black engineers. That's a lot of demanding
for one month, Hank.
What happens if whites ever say, "No"?
Now, how about you? You've got a cushy job up there at Harvard, and
you can hoot and holler about what swine and bandits whites are. I
guess it's lots of fun, and you get a salary for it to boot. But
don't you think you might do blacks more good if you told them to
complain less and study more?
For example, if you want blacks to work in Silicon Gulch, the best
approach might be to find some really smart black guys, and get them
to study digital design ~ not Black Studies (as you teach). That's
how everybody else does it. It works. Then blacks wouldn't feel
left out, and racial tensions would decline. Sound like a plan?
Just out of curiosity, how many hours a week do professors of Afro-American
Studies spend in the projects, encouraging poor black kids to study
real - life sho-nuf subjects?
~~~
