Cross Crist Out

3 Responses

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1. Soda says

   When I opened that article, I was expecting to find that his quote wasn’t all that bad after all. I mean, he’s a smart politician, he wouldn’t do something that stupid. But he did.

   I’m sure it’ll never go through, but a comment like that from a prominent governor, and a Republican no less, can only fuel discussion of this extraordinarily divisive issue.

   I can understand why some African-Americans believe they should receive reparations. The extremely cruel and persistent mistreatment of black people is unique. And there is no doubt that the ongoing economic woes in the black community are tied in many, certainly not all, ways to the history of discrimination in this country.

   But some problems don’t have solutions – at least not the kind of solutions that the government can dispense. The idea of reparations is loaded with practical problems. Which whites pay? All of them? What about a Polish immigrant who came here ten years ago? Do Hispanics pay, too, even though most of them immigrated recently and also experienced substantial discrimination?

   Which blacks receive reparations? All of them? Including recent African immigrants? Are the tax dollars of so many poor Americans going to go to much wealthier African-Americans such as Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, and Denzel Washington?

   And who’s next? Jews have endured an awful lot of discrimination. Arabs more recently. How about the Irish, who were told for many years that they “need not apply” for jobs due to their heritage? Italians? Russians? Greeks? Certainly, the suffering of these groups does not equal that of blacks – far from it – but where do we draw the line?

   Beyond the practical nightmare of the situation, there’s this fundamental question: How much is enough to make up for slavery and subsequent discrimination? If the U.S. government pays each African-American, say, $10,000, will that be enough? I’d think it would more likely strike them as an insult for being so small. So when does it become enough? $100,000? $250,000? The fact is, there’s no way to both a) pay enough in reparations to make up for the harm done to African-Americans, and b) not bankrupt the U.S. economy.

   Plus, as you allude to, Connscript, it would lead to all kinds of social disturbance. In the end, it’s a “solution” that would cause more problems than it would solve. The fact that Charlie Crist even paid lip service to the idea, let alone whether he actually plans to do something about it, is remarkably irresponsible for someone in his position.

   March 26, 2008, 9:55 pm
2. aqueous says

   I can think of one, off-topic initiative that would do more financial, political, and social damage:

   A protacted war in a foreign Middle Eastern country.

   I think it’s good that Crist exhibits the genuine desire to heal the racial divides that still exist in this country. More people need to recognize that progress must be made on this front if we are to mount an effective assault on the bigger problems that face our nation. That said, I don’t think reparations are the way to accomplish this. The race divide still haunts us primarily because there continues to be growing inequality between the poor and the rich. And the preponderance of minorities among the former group still reminds us that our policies haven’t sufficiently enabled minorities to advance into positions of shared prosperity . Addressing the equality gap will go a long way to healing race relations in this country. Thus, greater investment in our domestic social programs and a shift in our budgetary emphasis from foreign and defense policy towards the well-being of our poorest citizens would be a good start in making amends.

   March 27, 2008, 4:12 pm
3. ConnScript says

   Your entire final paragraph boils down to one, simple, typical and tired liberal idea: just throw more money at the problem.

   It didn’t work for “The Great Society” it will not work today.

   March 27, 2008, 5:25 pm