Reparations: how to apply for yours

Quote: Gandler

Should slaves have received reparations in 1865 when freed?

I am of the opinion that they should have. They were unjustly enslaved, and used for forced labor in horrendous conditions. I can't think of somebody who deserves reparations more.

Reparations from whom though? The government did not enslave them.

The big problem was that you cannot just free a person who has been a slave all their life and hope for the best. Some will do OK, in the south this would probably be those in smaller-scale slavery where the master owned say 1-10 slaves. They would have had some even if little interaction with free society. They would have picked up some life skills.

But if they were on a large scale plantation with 50-100 not nearly as much.

Direct reparations would have been throwing money away. We should have had a better transition policy.

Quote: AZDuffman

Reparations from whom though? The government did not enslave them.

The big problem was that you cannot just free a person who has been a slave all their life and hope for the best. Some will do OK, in the south this would probably be those in smaller-scale slavery where the master owned say 1-10 slaves. They would have had some even if little interaction with free society. They would have picked up some life skills.

But if they were on a large scale plantation with 50-100 not nearly as much.

Direct reparations would have been throwing money away. We should have had a better transition policy.

It's the same problem with North Korea, if NK was liberated overnight 98% of the population would be unable to function in a free society.

That being said the government facilitated a land where they could be enslaved, so yes, I feel government reperations would have been justified at the time. Though, a fund using fines from the plantation owners would have been good too.

Quote: Gandler

It's the same problem with North Korea, if NK was liberated overnight 98% of the population would be unable to function in a free society.

That being said the government facilitated a land where they could be enslaved, so yes, I feel government reperations would have been justified at the time. Though, a fund using fines from the plantation owners would have been good too.

The government tore the nation apart over the issue. Slavery was normal worldwide until the 1800s so "facilitating" is not the proper way to look at it.

"Fines" would not work as the owners would not have much cash. And I will repeat, no matter what, just handing out cash would be a disaster. Same as just handing out welfare has not solved anything and in many ways made things worse.

Quote: AZDuffman

The government tore the nation apart over the issue. Slavery was normal worldwide until the 1800s so "facilitating" is not the proper way to look at it.

"Fines" would not work as the owners would not have much cash. And I will repeat, no matter what, just handing out cash would be a disaster. Same as just handing out welfare has not solved anything and in many ways made things worse.

I have honestly not done a ton of research on it. (I learned quite a bit just from this brief thread and linked articles over the last few days.)

But, my understanding is, they were not giving the freedom slaves cash or gold. The plan was to give them farmable land, and animals, and protecting the land for them (so sketchy business people did not trick them into signing it away.). Which, this would be way smarter than giving them straight up money.

Quote: Gandler

I have honestly not done a ton of research on it. (I learned quite a bit just from this brief thread and linked articles over the last few days.)

But, my understanding is, they were not giving the freedom slaves cash or gold. The plan was to give them farmable land, and animals, and protecting the land for them (so sketchy business people did not trick them into signing it away.). Which, this would be way smarter than giving them straight up money.

I've read and heard it many times over the years. One show the guy mentioned it was not all that expensive to buy freedom in most cases, but whenever it happens the people are almost always enslaved again within a year. There needs to be structure. They need to learn how to function.

Quote: AZDuffman

I've read and heard it many times over the years. One show the guy mentioned it was not all that expensive to buy freedom in most cases, but whenever it happens the people are almost always enslaved again within a year. There needs to be structure. They need to learn how to function.

White people needed to not enslave them in the first place. And funny how those states that abolished slavery early on or before the civil war didn't suffer the parade of horrible of freed slaves or free people of color not being unable to function.

Quote: GenoDRPh

White people needed to not enslave them in the first place.

Slavery wasn't as common in the North as it was in the South as there wasn't the same need for stoop labor, i.e. cotton, rice, tobacco plantations.

Slavery was fairly well entrenched in various countries and old habits die hard.

I have to think that today it would be wise to enslave the homeless: get them off the streets, clean them up, sober them up, and put them to work; actually use poor farms as opposed to enslaving them, but either way they need to get out of my line of sight: they're no good to society or to themselves when homeless.

Quote: missedhervee

Slavery wasn't as common in the North as it was in the South as there wasn't the same need for stoop labor, i.e. cotton, rice, tobacco plantations.

Slavery was fairly well entrenched in various countries and old habits die hard.

I have to think that today it would be wise to enslave the homeless: get them off the streets, clean them up, sober them up, and put them to work; actually use poor farms as opposed to enslaving them, but either way they need to get out of my line of sight: they're no good to society or to themselves when homeless.

Funny how the old habits didn't have a hard time dying as hard in some places in the US as in others.

Quote: AZDuffman

Same as just handing out welfare has not solved anything and in many ways made things worse.

I don't think you should confuse slaves with the welfare population. Most slaves already knew how to work OR ELSE. Probably harder than any of us.

Quote: GenoDRPh

White people needed to not enslave them in the first place. And funny how those states that abolished slavery early on or before the civil war didn't suffer the parade of horrible of freed slaves or free people of color not being unable to function.

Black people enslaved them before white people did.

States that abolished slavery earlier had a few different things. One, they did not have the large-scale slavery that the south did. More of a chance that someone had just one or a few. Additionally, in most of those states it was gradual. Generally, children of slaves were free after some age, generally in their 20s. So you did not have millions of people who knew nothing but slavery freed and told "lots of luck" with the best hoped for.

I have seen emancipation papers and slaves freed in wills. In most cases there was a transition period, until either the widow died or say a year or two. It is easy to believe that such a benevolent master would prepare the soon to be free slave about life.