[axlee]

How many slaves in the family tree should someone have to qualify? Do white slaves count? How far back should we go? Would citizens whose families have immigrated to this country after the deed be also on the hook for reparations? Should reparations only be given to struggling people, or should they be given out regardless of the situation of the descendant of a slave?

It's a lot easier to quantify and equalize the situation here and now rather than to try to make up for a future that could have been, and for which no living being is responsible. The past is complex and blurry, and families aren't a straight line. And generally, people aren't bound by their ancestor's misdeeds.

Poor people should get more help from society in the US, that's a fact: race might be a strong predictor for poverty, but the best signal for poverty remains income and wealth, right here and right now.

Why bother looking at anything else? Are poor whites or asians somehow more blameable for their poverty than poor blacks? Should a successful black person get reparations from a white hobo, simply based on their lineage (that none of them have control on)?

[asveikau]

I agree, it's hard to codify. But there is undoubtedly a large group of people, often identified by their race, that face disproportionate hardship and continued to be legally discriminated against well after slavery was abolished. And note that I mentioned other, post-slavery problems, and you jump right into "how many slaves??"

[troupe]

It is very possible to have someone with dark skin today who is descended equally parts from former slaves and Africans who were responsible for selling the slaves to the Europeans.

[themitigating]

There were racist laws all the way up to late 1960s.

[mcpackieh]

That doesn't address his questions. If you're going to codify these things into law, then you should be able to answer questions like this. My paternal grandfather was discriminated against for being black. In truth he was half black, but that didn't temper the racism he faced from people who considered him to be black. For the purposes of reparations, am I 1/4th black or 1/8th black? Because he was my paternal grandfather and family wealth has traditionally been passed on predominantly through father to son, does my paternal grandfather count more than my maternal grandmother? And if I marry a white woman, will my son be 1/8th black or 1/16th black for the purposes of reparations? Does he get any?

These are sticky questions, but if you're serious about reparations being law then you should be prepared to give some straight-forward answers without deflection.

[themitigating]

I'm not serious reparations I'm simply pointing out that the economic suffering of blacks didn't stop when the civil war ended.

[nomat]

> the best signal for poverty remains income and wealth, right here and right now.

i am having a difficult time understanding this sentence. Poverty by definition is a lack of income and wealth. Why are you saying it's a signal?

[axlee]

Because other people seem to be pushing the idea that race is the signal, as they are pushing for a redistribution along racial lines rather than economic lines.