I suggest that there’s no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward. If you want to move to a different paradigm, that’s fine, but condemnation of the past is performative compared to putting forward laws and resolutions to benefit others. The Bill of Human Rights was forward-looking, this condemnation is backward-looking. Emphasize where we want to go and why we want to be there, rather than where we were and the mistakes we made as a society.
Slavery was evil, so was the destruction of indigenous peoples across the world. But we can’t yet change the past. We should reinforce that we will work to eliminate slavery (chattel and indenture), human trafficking, and the abuses related to it. Focus on what we can improve today and how we can improve things.
I suggest that there’s no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward.
Okay, as long as we also take away all the historical family wealth that goes back generations too.
But that’s not how it works, is it? Great great great grandad gets to get rich off having slave plantations and his son gets to get rich off of Jim Crow sharecropping, and his great great great grandson gets to inherit that wealth without any complications.
So you suggest ignoring how the current status quo is built on the continuous exploitation of racialized and colonized people?
“The status quo is built on the continuous exploitation of people”
*FTFY
I suggest that there’s no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward. If you want to move to a different paradigm, that’s fine, but condemnation of the past is performative compared to putting forward laws and resolutions to benefit others. The Bill of Human Rights was forward-looking, this condemnation is backward-looking. Emphasize where we want to go and why we want to be there, rather than where we were and the mistakes we made as a society.
Slavery was evil, so was the destruction of indigenous peoples across the world. But we can’t yet change the past. We should reinforce that we will work to eliminate slavery (chattel and indenture), human trafficking, and the abuses related to it. Focus on what we can improve today and how we can improve things.
Is your stance in any way informed by a privilege you hold?
Because there are a lot of people today who are still disadvantaged by the historic slave trade, who would meaningfully benefit from reparations.
So when you say “no meaningful benefit”, who exactly are you talking about?
Okay, as long as we also take away all the historical family wealth that goes back generations too.
But that’s not how it works, is it? Great great great grandad gets to get rich off having slave plantations and his son gets to get rich off of Jim Crow sharecropping, and his great great great grandson gets to inherit that wealth without any complications.
Okay then, we’re taking all your stuff. When your kids want it back, we’ll say:
“How long must we atone for the mistakes of the past”, I exclaim, tears dropping down my face, as I close the door at the family whose house I stole.