Quote Originally Posted by Eric P View Post
So why have other former slave populations flourished, while blacks do not?

How would reparations be calculated?

Surely being a decendant of slaves brought to the US is a mucher better life than what would have happened if those slaves remained slaves in their native lands. The US slave decendants should be praising those who brought their ancestors here instead of seeking handouts.
Per bolded, I'd qualify, "[statistically] do not [now]." Those who overcome a culturally ingrained mindset of failure do flourish.

But it's not just blacks, it's also anyone from a low income, low hope culture; typically they experience a cyclical devolution into practical barbarism.

I'm white, and my dad grew up rather poor. His uncles were very much of the "you think you're better than us cus you went to college, boy?" mentality. Any movement up was effectively treason, and smacked of yankee influence. What I've seen from blacks of a similar mindset is the treason is seen not as to one's culture and socioeconomic status simply, but race; not due to yankee influence, but for trying to "act white" (whatever that means).

The key is to change the culture, which cannot be accomplished with mere financial restitution for real or imagined slights, which men like Mr. Burgess seem to be pointing at. Dr. Thomas Sowell often seems to as well. It can only be accomplished with stoking the fires of hope in every mind and heart to simply be better. The black community which would seemingly benefit from such reparations doesn't need money. They need hope. But hope is exactly the currency which is not being argued for. It can't be, because then the "victims" would understand plainly how much their continued status of being "held down" empowers their "heroes". The agitators for this need to be needed. And that's the last thing they will be if every black, hispanic, asian, native american, etc., person realizes they have the power to better themselves and stop blaming others for their socioeconomic status. That realization is priceless, and cannot be placed in a bank account or on an EBT card.