Warren calls for 'full-blown conversation about reparations'

[BlueWI]

4. Sounds like you're presuming what the outcomes would be of a reparations discussion.

I agree that asserting fair police procedure is easier to ask for, which is part of the point I'm making here. For instance, how hard is it to say it's wrong for a police officer in Dallas to enter the home of a black individual and shoot them without provocation, as Amber Guyger did? Still, there's been plenty of white backlash against even avoiding the shooting of unarmed black and brown people.

But think about the core question - crimes against humanity perpetrated against black people have never been accounted for with a public process. Do you support the continuation of that national silence about an issue of such weight? If so, be willing to say that in public and forgo any claim to moral high ground on issues of race. That's my real beef - too many of us want to have it both ways. We're not racist (nobody is) but we're also not willing to have a public conversation about what were the losses due to the crimes against humanity against black people, and what should be done in light of those losses - which might include community investments, etc., not just payment to individuals. But even Obama wasn't willing to put political weight behind an urban Marshall Plan because of perceptions like you're referencing - even as a Democrat, can't lean too hard into the reparations issue.

Many of these atrocities took place long after slavery - lynching? Sundown towns like Rosewood, FL, Tulsa, OK? Until recently, there were still survivors alive after the ethnic cleansing that took place in these locations. We don't even have to go back to pre-1865.

Japanese internees were compensated by the federal government. I didn't personally intern any Japanese people - I wasn't alive. But I supported a fair process of publicly recognizing this atrocity, including financial payments.

Balancing priorities is always necessary, but a lot of books were balanced on the backs of black people in this country's history. You're probably right though - we'll continue to find ways not to address these issues, perhaps indefinitely, and to our moral and political detriment, IMO.