Should African Americans Recieve Reparations For Slavery

Slavery was an economic system that benefited both southern and northern states of America. The south benefited by selling their agriculture products to the world. The north profited by using the products produced in the south to boost their industrial revolution. Slavery existed in America for 245 years. African Americans were brought away from their home to a foreign land; stripped of name, language, and identity. These effects can still be seen clearly today. African Americans are still outcasts in this foreign land; surviving on the brinks of society. African Americans still call each other by their slave masters name. African Americans still speak the language they were taught by their slave masters. African Americans will probably never be able to speak their mother tongue again. How much is an identity? How much is a language? How much is a name? Their priceless. However, reparations can be a way for this country to pay back all that was stole from African Americans. Prior Reparations Precedents is fundamental to modern law. If a judge rules one way in a court; a lawyer brings up this ruling because it has set a precedent. If the precedent is set by a superior judge, the judge has to follow it. Again the example of prior reparations sets a precedent for reparations in this country. If a country wrongs another civilization or people; they should pay reparations in the form of money or land; or both. Reparations to Native Americans and Israel were both beneficial and just. Without reparations Native Americans wouldn't have land. This is good because it gives them a identity. It gives them independence of their conquerors. The state of Israel was on the brink or collapse; until Germany paid their reparations for the Holocaust. The government of America supported both of these reparations Why not AA? Why is their case different? These are the questions that have not been answered by the Con. Because there is no difference. AA were stolen from Africa brought to America. Murdered in the millions on the way. Raped in the 100 millions when they were here, (humble estimate.) They worked trillions of hours all unpaid. They were let go and excluded from society. Surely reparations should be paid. Free Labor. The con first makes the statement that the south was responsible for "only 10% of all manufacturing in the nation" (round 1,) then he says the south, "only accounted for 10% of the US economy," (round 2.) Clearly the economy and manufacturing are not synonymous. I believe either one was a typo, or their both not true. Can we see proof?? Slavery is intrinsically an economic system. If it didn't make economic sense it would have never been done. So lets be clear on this: This country made trillions and trillions of dollars on African slaves. From the source he cited it said, "In 1860, the economic value of slaves in the United States exceeded the invested value of all of the nation's railroads, factories, and banks combined." http://www.nps.gov... Definition of economic value: Economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a good or service to an economic agent. http://en.wikipedia.org...(economics) Slaves were a large part of the American economy. Insuring them was a large part of the northern economy. The goods they produced were a large part of the north's manufacturing economy. The staples they planted, tended, and picked FOR FREE were a large part of the world economy. This money didn't disappear in thin air like the Con claims. No it laid a foundation for a great number of fortune 500 corporations still in existence today. It laid the foundation for the industrial revolution of the North; which turned this country into a super power. This isn't new great countries are usually built on slave labor. For instance Rome. America is no different. Reparations would be a way to pay back the fortune that was gained from their labor. Current Conditions Stepping away from the phsycological effect of slavery; now lets look at the economic and status effects of slavery on African Americans. African Americans were brought to America to be slaves. Centuries of indoctrination of the lie that Europeans are intrinsically different than Africans were instilled on white America. Now when the AA were let free this mentality didn't go away. It morphed into laws to stymie the competition presented by AA. After civil rights this mentality still hasn't went away. You see it in the repel of Affirmative Action, murderings of unarmed black men, high incarceration rate. How are they connected you ask? Well Africans are a minority in this country. The police are their former slave masters. The teachers are their former slave masters. The people who hire them are their former slave masters. And my argument is this: if AA would have never been brought here they would never have been made to live and compete in this hostile environment. People always like to point out the model minorities as a comparison to AA. Well lets see what they have that AA don't. 1. Culture: AA have a slave culture derived from their time in slavery 2. Language: AA have no language of their own. Look at Mexicans who are hired in large numbers because of the large population who speaks their language. Or Asian Americans who stick together, look at China town, because of their shared culture and language. These things were stolen from AA. And they are partly to blame for the current conditions of AA. The Con is supporting arguments that I believe are futile. 1. That slavery wasn't a huge part of the American economy 2. That Slavery has no impact on current conditions. Slavery was an economic system for 245 years. It made this country A LOT of money period! We can argue about the numbers, but we have to agree on this fact. The Con acts as if humans are born into a vacuum. As much as we may hate to believe everybody is not born with an equal amount at chance to success. A kid of a millionaire does not have the same chance as success as a kid born to a mother in the ghetto. History has a huge, if invisible, effect on all of our lives. If slavery is the reason AA are in this country and AA are doing bad in this country slavery is the reason AA are doing bad in this country.