The Proudest Privilege
William Raspberry, in a recent Washington Post column, describes the tone and tenor of reader responses to a previous column in which he approved of a very clever reparations proposal. Some of the comments were vile and disgusting, which should not come as a surprise to careful readers of this site.
Of the many things about which very nearly all White Americans are entirely ignorant, reparation proposals for the African slave trade and its 100 plus year Jim Crow legacy are at the top of the list. The reader comments on this web site are typically never as stupid, as openly racist, as mean or nasty as when they are comments about reparations. The uniform nature of these comments is raw, boastful, proud ignorance. Very few reparations opponents, it seems, actually have any idea what the policy proposals are, the historical basis upon which they rest, the moral or political principles from which they flow, or the historical precedents upon which they draw.
It is not possible to come to a reasonably well-informed conclusion about the issue of reparations until or unless one has a good working understanding of the history of African slaves and their descendants in North America. On that first, fundamental point, most White Americans fail miserably. Second, one must have a basic understanding of the idea of reparations, both in common law, customary international law, and in legal precedent. For example, one must understand why and under what conditions reparations were paid to Japanese Americans interred during WWII or to survivors of the Nazi Holocaust in Europe. Last, one must have some conceptual grasp of the moral and political principles which ground reparations as a piece of social policy. It’s worth nothing that these are some of the very same principles which most, if not all of the so-called opponents of reparations would never consider denying or contravening, if, that is, the shoe were on the other foot.
I don’t expect that reparations will ever get a fair hearing in this country, not so long as the Congress, both political parties, and corporate boardrooms are dominated by White folk. Setting aside the privilege of dictating public policy from a position of near absolute ignorance, the real reason reparations are unlikely to get a fair hearing, much less become policy in this country is simply that reparations would strike a very real, very public, and very clear blow to the racial self-interests of Whites. Reparations would too closely approximate justice and fairness, which always require of the oppressing group a measure of sacrifice and loss. And I just don’t see that happening any time soon, not so long as being White means being privileged.
June 20th, 2002 at 2:57 am
As an extrememly open minded, globally minded neo liberal, I’ve had it with both racist to the core, white hating black america and its entourage of pathetic at best light skinned black lovers, aka white haters. If you don’t like whitey, get the holy hell out of this country ! Now ! Get out ! Go somewhere where you can be free of the horrible whiteness around you. Get out !! Go !!
June 21st, 2002 at 12:09 am
“As an extrememly open minded, globally minded neo liberal”
Ah, dear Virtuoso, your introduction alone gives away your bilious neoconservative stripes. My problem with reactionaries and neoconservatives are not so much their politics, but their dishonesty. You and your ilk invade liberal-oriented sites throughout the web, spreading your venom under the guise of being liberals. If you guys claim to honor the ideals of honesty, morality, and integrity, how do you reconcile your actions?
Real liberals tend to be honest about their politics and mot do not spell out their political affiliations in their posts. If you are going to pretend to be liberal, at least try to be more convincing. Try the keep that in mind the next time you try to be something or someone you aren’t.
Thank you Kendall for your insightful piece. I have been reading and referring friends to this website for quite some time now. Please, keep up the good work.
June 22nd, 2002 at 11:51 am
What result do we intend in paying reparations and are reparations likely to achieve that end? If the goal is to punish whites, then reparations will do so, albeit minimallly. If the goal is to bring blacks et al. back to some sort of lasting parity, then they will not work. What will work and what true justice entails is providing good schools, food, housing, a reasonably human environmet, etc. to the disadvanted/poor of all races. Our city schools and housing are third world pits from which will emerge more poor and disadvantaged. Reparations, like all easy answers to historical problems, will hurt the poor and blacks, because they will pretend to be the end of the issue of poverty and third class citizenship. Reparations translate to: “Pay ‘em off and forget ‘em.”
July 3rd, 2002 at 5:59 pm
Being unable to fully restore an injured party to its status and condition before the injury is simply no reason whatever to avoid doing what can be done.
Reparations for the descendants of those who were enslaved as well as for those who experienced the depredations of formal American apartheid — and let’s not forget that many African Americans who suffered under Jim Crow are still alive — would do at least two things: first, and most importantly, I think, it would send a clear and stark message that African Americans deserve the full dignity and respect of citizenship; second, it would provide some tiny measure of recompense for the harms suffered.
It’s hard to see how those effects are not social goods, well worth the cost.
July 16th, 2002 at 1:10 pm
Hello,
Just clicking along and found your website. Lots of great information. As a middle class White American, I am curious as to what portion of White America should pay out for reperations?
My family history began in the late 1800’s and were dirt poor ducth immigrants. Am I and my family held responsible because we are lumped altogether in the great White society?
Yes, I agree I haven’t truly been given the chance, nor will I probably ever will know what has been discussed about reperations from the higher-ups in our country, but I am curious as to what more does the country have to do?
I’ve lost out on two great careers, with a college degree (and I am the only family member in my lineage to get a degree) because of affrimative action regulations; In college I was denied welfare stamps so me and my young wife can survive and better ourselves because our families made to much money, and my wife has lost out as well because of quotas-
I’m sure there are other examples that America has helped Black American gain ground in this country. No? I agree this country has a very long way to go, but may never make it with what we see and read each day.
Well, thanks for reading and giving me the opportunity to add to your discussion-
Van
July 16th, 2002 at 10:26 pm
As a middle class White American, I am curious as to what portion of White America should pay out for reperations?
Well, it depends on whether you’re asking a moral question, about the nature of the obligation whites owe to blacks, or whether you’re asking a policy and political question. I’ll assume the latter.
Most proposals focus on a payment from the federal government and from the states; some limit the liability to states where de facto apartheid and segregation existed after the Civil War, others do not. No proposal of which I’m aware suggests making payments to *individual* African Americans; or, for that matter, payments *from* individual whites or others. Rather, the payments would form a fund out of which monies would be drawn to rebuild African American communities, civil institutions, and so on.
My family history began in the late 1800’s and were dirt poor ducth immigrants.
Sure, sure. No one has ever denied — nor is it in any way inimical to the idea of racial apartheid — that there is a white underclass, even to this day.
Am I and my family held responsible because we are lumped altogether in the great White society?
Frankly, yes. Not you specifically, but, yes, *all* Whites, even the poorest, benefitted from there being a permanent, oppressed, racially-identified underclass. The privileges of whiteness extend to poor Whites, not just to rich ones.
Yes, I agree I haven’t truly been given the chance, nor will I probably ever will know what has been discussed about reperations from the higher-ups in our country,
You should read more carefully what I said; that the elite of this country does not include you in its deliberations wasn’t the point.
but I am curious as to what more does the country have to do?
The question is, more properly speaking, what *has* it done so far to remedy 100+ years of *post*-slavery racial apartheid?
I’ve lost out on two great careers, with a college degree (and I am the only family member in my lineage to get a degree) because of affrimative action regulations;
Well, so you say. These kinds of claims are *very* hard to warrant. Do you mean that a non-White person got a job or promotion and you didn’t get it? So what? How’s that different than losing a job or promotion to a White person? Point is, you lost it. Life is all about not getting what one wants. So what.
In college I was denied welfare stamps so me and my young wife can survive and better ourselves because our families made to much money,
Which has nothing to do with racism, of course.
and my wife has lost out as well because of quotas-
Racial quotas are illegal in this country, so I’m skeptical.
I’m sure there are other examples that America has helped Black American gain ground in this country. No?
That’s right, “no” — there is *still* voting discrimination by race, in the US, in the 21st century. The Voting Rights Act is only 35 years old! Affirmative action programs have benefited White women far more than they have benefited persons of color.
I agree this country has a very long way to go, but may never make it with what we see and read each day.
And making reparations for racial apartheid, to say nothing of slavery, would be a first step toward social justice. So what’s the problem? Look, no one ever said that justice was free or easy; it just may be the case that some Whites will be worse off than they might otherwise have been if reparations are paid. But so what? I don’t see that as being relevant in the least. Justice is compatible with inequality when that inequality makes the *worst off* in society better off, as reparations would likely do.
Well, thanks for reading and giving me the opportunity to add to your discussion-
Sure.
August 2nd, 2002 at 12:37 pm
white america and others have been paying slave reparations for years. its called taxes and the welfare system. i still do not see where my money has gone. you are still blaming others including myself for the failure of black people. the only solution is hard work, education and self determination. quit waiting for a government hand out!
August 3rd, 2002 at 1:25 am
white america and others have been paying slave reparations for years. its called taxes and the welfare system.
Please! That’s nonsense. After paying the Pentagon budget and social security, neither of which has anything remotely to do with reparations, there’s precious little federal budget left. Even assuming — and the assumption is completely insane — as you do that all welfare goes to African Americans, it’s an almost unrecogniably small percentage of the budget.
i still do not see where my money has gone.
Fair enough, but that has nothing to do with “black people”, as you so crudely put it, or with reparations.
you are still blaming others including myself for the failure of black people.
Ah, so racism *helps* people of color?! That’s an interesting theory. Plus, no one here, least of all me, blames “you or others” for what you call the “failure of black people”. That’s just plainly wrong, and says far more about you than you likely realize.
the only solution is hard work, education and self determination. quit waiting for a government hand out!
Tell that to Bush, Cheney, and all the crooked CEOs and defense contractors. They’re the ones waiting for, and getting, the hand-outs.
August 8th, 2002 at 2:17 pm
Wahhhh!!! I am white. I have never owned slaves and really have no desire whatsoever to do so. I have never personally been opressive to “blacks”. I have been the victim of discrimination at times in my life, so am I due reparations? When I look at the number of black people who have aspired to positions of greatness (to include the highest position in the US military), I say that everyone has the same opportunities to achieve whatever you personally have the ability to achieve. Not only minorities are poor or live in substandard housing, or attend substandard schools. ALL races are subject to these hardships. Please stop your whining and get back to work and EARN whatever it is that you receive!!! Where you a slave??? Stop looking for handouts!! Stop looking to blame someone else for your ineptitude!! I wasn’t around for all of the misdeads of yesteryear, and neither were you! Wahhh!
August 8th, 2002 at 2:34 pm
This discussion is very a interesting one. Just one comment or question for viewer to ponder on the subject at hand; For years America has recogized, helped or assisted, other races or cultures; infact help them along nicely. The jews, the hispanics, the asians, (Im sure I may have inadvertently left some out). But why is it that african-americans cannot be recognized with monetary compensation. I am absolutely floored at the reasoning behind it all.
August 10th, 2002 at 5:37 pm
there have always been more white people on welfare than black
this country and it’s systems depend very heavily on the “hook up”. look at w.bush. the man can hardly speak and yet he’s leader of the “free world”. how is that? money +daddy. whites have had hundreds more years to form these far reaching connections with each other, they have had more time to build these kingdoms and they keep those people who are most like them as close as possible, just like all other different kinds of people. white people in this country own and run all 4 of the major media outlets and so they also control most of our informational resources. i have noticed that race is almost never mentioned if the perpetrator is white. it was never mentioned when they finally found that white man guilty of burning down a church and killing children. only the race of the girls and so the crime was diminished. when you hear the media reporting on hate crimes they will mostly say that the crime was committed by a person because the victim was black not because the white person is evil and violent and racist. it’s a white perspective, ever so subtly implying that blackness itself can sometimes provoke a good white person to commit murder and it is spoken from a white perspective giving the listener empathy for the speaker/reporter who does not mention race as most people of the saae race will not. this use of context is used manipulate the listener into to identifying with the white criminal.i believe that white people do not want non-white people to have power because they fear that they will use it the way whites always have and start trying to exterminate and enslave the whites.
even psychology. homosexuality was until recently a mental illness but never racism. never the urge to deny or remove or hinder different people. black people.
August 11th, 2002 at 10:46 am
Reparations are needed for African Americans in this country. Many people still cannot face the reality of racial prejudice and America’s very ugly history of her treatment of blacks.I believe in hard work and the value of a good education but don’t tell me that we have a level playing field.Many of the prejudices from days past are past down through the generations-don’t think so? Then try this little jim crow era test-”Would you let your daughter marry one?”Racism is real people and sweeping it under the rug will not make it go away.
August 13th, 2002 at 12:09 am
I am sorry to say that on a very intuitive level, I am seeing the disappearance of a race - the white race, into redundancy, like old computers. The spirit and mind has not been upgraded into new ways of being. They just find new ways of staying the same. But the law of change insists that in the fullness of time, things will change in unexpected ways, in terrifying ways for people with a guilty conscience.
August 13th, 2002 at 11:49 am
john you are correct!Waaaaaahhhh!
im so tired of hearing excuses and now it is all the fault of george bush dick cheney, ceo’s,and defense contractors. who is next the us mail because they have not delivered the checks. if you are going to make this politicial, why are you not upset with the democrats? they had control of the congress for 30 years. we have had numerous democrat presidents including bill”what a disgrace to the office” clinton. why don’t you mention him or his lovely wife hillary. if you are going to point fingers point them at everyone or should i say point your open hand to everyone.does it really matter where the money comes from? have you not heard money does not solve problems and in this case ,would only create more problems. liberials for some reason do not understand that throwing money at a problem does not solve it. you probably think i’m a racist because that word is easy to use to defend your position, but when ask for something that excludes other races that in itself is racist.
August 19th, 2002 at 10:25 pm
“Point is, you lost it. Life is all about not getting what one wants. So what.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself Kendall.
October 5th, 2002 at 5:20 pm
“wahhh” what?!
“why don’t you …?”
I am not surprised that these ” ” folk in their et al, convictions would mimic that of a crying child, after-all, wouldn’t you be angry if someone asked you to pay something back you thought- you got away with?
Here too is the other irony - when the these folks make their case internationally on sites like these- they often forget that blacks are not the only group they have harmed, de facto-
any group not exploited or railroaded or otherwise empoverised by white supremacey please rise…” : ) then , please “wahhh” now plase be seated.
you clowns make me laugh - you should know real issues affect real people, and if you are not affected by tese issues chances are, you are the cause.
October 28th, 2002 at 2:10 pm
I have taken a quote from Kendall Clark, in one of the above retorts. If you reverse black to white in his response you will see why many whites really don’t see a problem.
First here is the original post.
—
I’ve lost out on two great careers, with a college degree (and I am the only family member in my lineage to get a degree) because of affrimative action regulations;
Well, so you say. These kinds of claims are *very* hard to warrant. Do you mean that a non-White person got a job or promotion and you didn’t get it? So what? How’s that different than losing a job or promotion to a White person? Point is, you lost it. Life is all about not getting what one wants. So what.
—
Now reverse the quote
—-
I’ve lost out on two great careers, with a college degree (and I am the only family member in my lineage to get a degree) because of the legacy of slavery”
“Well, so you say. These kinds of claims are *very* hard to warrant. Do you mean that a White person got a job or promotion and you didn’t get it? So what? How’s that different than losing a job or promotion to a Black person? Point is, you lost it. Life is all about not getting what one wants. So what”
—
November 18th, 2002 at 9:18 pm
Good one Dean……that’s what i says.
January 9th, 2003 at 10:22 pm
I discovered your site a couple of months ago. It’s extremely difficult to find perspectives or even basic information about racism and white supremacy in any form of media, so this find was a godsend for me. I’ve been intending to write a response to you all for a while now, but I’ve hesitated out of uncertainty of what I would say.
Racism, white supremacy, misogyny and the like have a way of silencing you, of literally muzzling you so that you can’t speak up. Until the day you actively rise up to resist these scourges, they seem normal, natural even. But you always feel at the end of the day that shit is sickening, and wrong, even when you don’t consciously know it. You try to justify the fact that you’re hurting on the inside to yourself every day, or that it’s all in your mind, but the hurt is still there, all the same. On top of everything else, you’re made to feel guilty or selfish for all the anger and pain that you don’t want anyway. You’re a whore, you’re trash, you’re less than shit, but you still have the same responsibilities and expectations to fufill as “everyone else,” with none of the power. That’s what being Black in America is about, what being a woman anywhere in the world is about. In the meantime you hide from the universe in order to feel safe, while still anticipating a painful, humiliating death.
You know from the disgusting sentiments of people around you that this is a lurking possibility. You know, it’s galling to watch your fellow humans clinging so desperately to a power they don’t really have. What is it inside them that causes them to hold such a nauseating contempt for you? How could they ever think that your sheer existence is a threat to their well-being? Where does this vitriolic hate come from? Some greedy bastard from way up top a long time ago made this nonsense up to keep the rest of us humans down. How did that cynical manipulation turn into such caustic hate? And what exactly are they gaining from it? A lifetime of crass, superficial privilege? That’s all! Was it worth it? All that for the inability to connect, to empathize with human pain, to feel anything beyond jealousy, anger, and resentment. I couldn’t imagine what rational human being would want to hold onto that. But I guess racism and misogyny destroy any potential for rationality. Unfathomable.
Thank you, Kendall Clark, for this site. Please don’t let go of this struggle. Most of us couldn’t not survive the consequences if you did.
June 28th, 2003 at 10:02 pm
Nice site. Kinda restores one’s faith in humanity.
Many times I’ve been ashamed to be white. Every time I think of the dragging death of Mr. Byrd in Texas in 1998, I feel a little sick. You can outlaw slavery, but you can’t legislate love.
July 20th, 2003 at 8:48 pm
As a person of germanic descent I felt that I deserved reparations for the many long years my ancestors spent toiling away, unnoticed and often
horribly abused, for the Roman Empire. The Romans enslaved innocent people from their captured lands and made them do hard, servile, and often dangerous work ranging from building structures to fighting in the arena to the death. But when I asked the Italian government for reparations they told me to get lost.
What’s the deal.
My ancestors worked under very similar conditions to those of the American slaves. Except I don’t recall American slaves ever being forced, under pain of death, to fight to the death against rabid, wild animals for entertainment.
It’s like a huge double standard.
Only about 1/5 of American slaves worked in the U.S, the rest went to harvest sugarcane or coffee in Latin America. But I have never heard of the Cuban government being asked to pay reparations.
It’s as if the U.S having slaves is so much worse than other countries having slaves.
NEWS FLASH: Slavery is unfair no matter what the circumstances!
September 25th, 2003 at 3:01 pm
“As a person of germanic descent I felt that I deserved reparations for the many long years my ancestors spent toiling away, unnoticed and often
horribly abused, for the Roman Empire. The Romans enslaved innocent people from their captured lands and made them do hard, servile, and often dangerous work ranging from building structures to fighting in the arena to the death. But when I asked the Italian government for reparations they told me to get lost.”
That’s very true; for two main reasons:
1. If different branches of humanity had to start give reparations for past injustices, we would, in the name of fairness, be obliged to at least consider and identify ALL injustices.
Japan should compensate BOTH koreas for the 1910-45 period, on a completely different scale than done hitherto, to take one example.
What about napoleonic France ? His armies plundered their way thru Europe!!
…And DON’T even get me started on Mongolia!! The decsendants of Djengis and Kublai better start saving NOW and A LOT, because they have a lot of reperations to do in China!
And China……Start cough ‘em up for bothering all the poor non-han chinese people (including tibetans) for centuries.
2. Who should get reparations?
Example: american blacks
Is Tiger Wood black?
Is Colin Powell?
Is Halle Berry?
Is Lenny Krawitz?
After identifying those injustices and the abused parts (in itself a heavy job, if there ever was one), we would have to go on to the HOW MUCH point, which is maybe even more critical… How do one measure “human suffering”? Is serfdom (existed in many nations in old days) better or worse than slavery? Does “time since injustices was committed” have anything to say?
July 28th, 2005 at 10:17 am
# Andrew wrote:
Nice site. Kinda restores one’s faith in humanity.
Many times I’ve been ashamed to be white. Every time I think of the dragging death of Mr. Byrd in Texas in 1998, I feel a little sick. You can outlaw slavery, but you can’t legislate love.
———————————————————————————–
Feeling guilty or ashamed of being white because some knumbskull racists killed a man in Texas is beyond moronic. Those white guys had nothing to do with you or your beliefs. The only reason you might feel guilty is if you quietly wish you would have been there to help. Your shame may be a deep root of your silent racism and hate for black people. If so then you may want to seek help.
White Privilege! Give me a break. Everything that happens to anyone now days needs a root cause. Someone can’t get a job, White Privilege. Some lady marries a guy that abuses her and suddenly all men are misogynists. Life isn’t an afternoon special, folks. Take responsibility for your life, make something of yourself and add to this great experiment we have going called humanity.
August 8th, 2005 at 11:38 am
I tend to agree with scott brown