Slavery Reparations Are Wrong
Ladies and gentlemen: I don't believe that anyone in this chamber would move to disagree with the idea that slavery was an atrocity, committed from the depths of the darkest parts of the human sole. Cruelty is the readiness to give pain to others or lack of concern for their suffering. Pertaining to exactly what the white man did to the black slaves. Slavery was not an institution of neither economical nor a paternalistic system. It was a brutal, inhumane abuse of mankind. Africans were seized from their native land, and sold into lives of servitude in a foreign land. Indeed, it was a tragedy on such a scale that cannot be measured nor quantified. And it is this very notion of tragedy, which speaks to the matter of reparations for slavery. To be quite blunt, reparations, even if they may be deserved, are not feasible under any system or economic tangent. Not only would such an undertaking not remedy the situation, but it would sink Africa and her people deeper into the cycle of poverty and oppression that they have so struggled to free themselves from. While the arguments against reparations may seem shallow or self-serving to advocates of such a system, upon examination, the logistic
Some Africans have indeed become wealthy within then white world and do not require assistance - yet it would be unfair to slight them their share - did they not also once suffer? It is equally impossible to prove whether or not someone actually was a slave, or how long they had been slaves; no records of such history were ever kept. Some of African descent were never taken into slavery, nor were oppressed by whites - even if one believed they are deserved of reparations, it would be impossible for an international body to distinguish or properly disburse the requite among Africans of diverse backgrounds. Some historians agree that many early slave traders justified their actions because of African involvement in the trade itself - guns and technology bought these African kings from the Europeans. Also worth noting is the idea that those nations most responsible for slavery are unable to pay for it, such as Belgium and Portugal, while relatively benign countries like Great Britain are economic powers in Europe. If Africans need money, it need not be asked for under guise of slave reparations. Surely, I believe deeply that Africans have been abused and oppressed - yet we should not buy the forgiveness of Africa, nor should Africa have to accept our payments. I would, once again, like to make clear that I do not disagree that slavery was an act of near genocide, and ought never be forgotten nor trivialized - we owe the African of our day a great apology. However, it is the tax money of average citizens paying for these reparations - no one say that these people were actually the ones who contributed to slavery. This makes the interesting point of such, and I feel that Britain does not have to pick up the slack and pay for what other nations did - it is equally unfair as giving reparations to Africans who were not slaves. Also worth of addressing is African involvement in slavery - it ought to be decided whether those Africans deserve reparations. Nor do I disagree that perhaps Africans contributed to global markets in the early days of European expansion. No single person ought to be paying more for slavery than another; in fact few people alive today has ever committed slavery or owned slaves; they ought not to be held responsible for the actions of their ancestors who perhaps once did have slaves. African peoples and nations may be deserved of recompense, but it will never truly be possible to requite the losses in any form of goods or services by a foreign power. By this logic, even if they were forced to sell these slaves, they did indeed contribute to the effort -are the nations, which contain these former kingdoms today, deserved of repayment? Positively, it is unfeasible to say who did and who did not, as any logical observer would note.
Common topics in this essay:
Wrong Ladies,
Belgium Portugal,
African Americans,
assistance questions,
responsible actions,
potential benefits,
responsible actions ancestors,
actions ancestors,
money assistance,
arguments reparations,
slavery ought,
african nations,
african involvement,
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Acceptance Essays
