1. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and the subsequent Civil Liberties Act Amendment of 1992 made it possible for the families of those Japanese Americans placed in Internment camps during World War II (per Roosevelt's order 9066) to receive reparations for their mistreatment at the hands of the American government. However, no such reparations have ever been offered by the US government for those families who are descendants of slaves, an insidious institution that lasted for centuries longer than the horrible four years of internment for West Coast Japanese Americans. Are reparations the answer for a government's fear-induced/unethical/racially motivated practices? Why was it possible, do you think, for the US government to provide reparations to (most) of the 10,000 Japanese Americans and/or their descendants yet no one has offered reparations to the descendants of slave families?
I do not think reparations are the answer for exactly this reason, if a government gives reparations to certain ethnic or religious groups than said government would need to give reparations to all the ethnic/religious groups that were mistreated in the history of said country. I think it was possible for the US to give reparations to the Japanese Americans for a number of reasons; not only does the country have the ability to communicate with these mistreated people on a large scale, the US also now has the funds to give reparations, it also seems that there are many less people affected by the internment camps than there were people affected by slavery. Theres a number of reasons why the US wouldn't want to/couldn't give reparations to the descendants of slave families; one reason could be that slavery was abolished 150 years ago and tracking down all the descendants from these slave families would be nearly impossible, and the shear numbers of descendants would be huge. I don't think the US government has the resources to give reparations to the descendants of slave families even if they wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI think that reparations are good ways for the government to say "we are sorry for what we have done" but I also think that you can't pay the forgiveness of people and forget all of it after. It was possible for the US government to give reparations to the Japanese Americans and/ or their descendants because they were not that many compared to all the slave families. It would have been impossible to give reparations to every single one of them because in the United States, at one time, it was very normal and frequent to own slaves (and not just three in some cases but hundreds or maybe thousands in some really big plantations). It also would be very difficult to give reparations to them because you would have to track them down in the US or maybe other countries (because they might have left the country after their service). And maybe the government doesn't have an actual list of all the African American people that have been slaves in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the government won't give reparations to former slave families because they cannot afford to. The government does not have enough money to pay all the people connected to slaves on top of finding all the people connected to slaves. The reasons why the government won't pay for reparations of slavery ends there. I think it's completely immoral that the government refuses to pay reparations for slavery just because it would cost them a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteColin Lippman
I agree with Colin because the government has made decisions to spend money on other things, like consistently buying more land, and don't have the money to provide reparations for the families of slaves. I also think that the government bases their decision off of race as well, since slavery is a form of racism. Whites, specifically, look at the slaves as inferiors and see no reason of providing to the blacks. It wasn't until the slaves were set free that the whites in America appreciated races of different color.
ReplyDeleteI defiantly agree with you. It is very immoral from the United States to not pay what they were supposed to. They had made a promise and they were supposed to pay, but instead decided to spend those in something else. I can understand that the United States at some point did't have any more money left, but is because they had spent it buying land.
DeleteTommaso
Italy
I do not believe that reparations will solve any problems that we have today. Nothing will change the unfortunate events that happened in the past and those feelings will remain for a very long time, if at all achievable. As for the reason it was possible to offer reparations to the Japanese
ReplyDeleteAmericans and not the descendants of slaves is due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, there were fewer Japanese Americans than African Americans or descendants of slaves. Which coming from an economic perspective, would be easier to pay off. Secondly, during the time the slaves became free there was still a great dislike for African Americans. It was hard to get a rally going to pay off those who were affected when the majority of the population hated that race. By the time there was enough support behind the cause it was pretty much too late. Even if it were to be feasible who would be the ones to be paid off? I mean up to which generation? Those were questions that were not able to be answered and due to that, no reparations were paid. However, it was possible with the Japanese Americans. There was such an up roar and so many people at once that the government made a quick decision to give reparations to the Japanese Americans. It was possible simply due to the fact that there were less Japanese Americans, bigger support, and more racial tolerance later on in time than during the time when the slaves were freed.
I feel like it was possible for reparations to be given to those Japanese families because what they went through was much more sudden and surprising for the time. Not at all am I saying that slavery was not bad but it existed for hundreds of years while this event only lasted 4 years. They took people who were considered citizens and they became prisoners. With the slaves they were always assumed to be lower then human. Also slavery ended by fading out slowly but Japanese Americas went from being in their homes to being in camps then back to their homes. I think the US government felt bad for this because it can be compared to throwing someone in freezing water then pulling them out, however slavery was more long and drawn out.
ReplyDeleteThe promise for slave reparations was never extensive, although it was ahead of its time:http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2013/01/40_acres_and_a_mule_promise_to_slaves_the_real_story.html
ReplyDeleteI personally think that money is not the solution to either of these problems. I understand that giving reparations was a physical 'answer' to ease the social situation but I do not think it fully compensates for the upheaval of someone's life (in the case of the Japanese Americans). I believe that reparations were given to the Japanese Americans due to that fact that there were significantly less of them in America comparatively to the descendants of former slaves so the financial aspect was more reasonable for the government. As well, Japanese American interment happened in more modern and recent times causing there to be more people speaking up about it in the public. I see that reparations solve the short term problem, a physical "I am sorry, yet I do not see the long term benefits. In theory I think that reparations are a great idea and can ease some existing grief and help suffering families but financially America cannot support the financial expense of those reparations. I as well think that money could just be an excuse to end the conversation and I do not think the conversation of slavery should be ended. It is a part of history and something that people should deal with and talk about in an appropriate manor.
ReplyDelete