• tsonfeir@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    1 year ago

    Tax break for… people who can prove their family history traces back to a slave?

    That’s where it will be caught up in the court system. You can’t just say “I’m black gimme money!” They’re going to want documentation that probably doesn’t exist or was destroyed

    Also The ‘Chinese Railroad Worker’ descendants may raise a hand.

    • chowder
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Yes? Also what fucking evidence are you expecting nobody kept their great great grandparents papers of sale. I know for a fact my ancestors were slaves, can’t prove shit though

      • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        Don’t cuss at me. That is exactly my point: that documentation is gone or never existed in the first place. It’s not like record keeping for slaves was very good.

        No one is handing out free money without documentation. So that route won’t work.

        • chowder
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          It’s a tax break not free money. There are plenty of ways off the top of my head immigration records would record immigrated from Africa but not those that came in the slave trade. Plus I can show my family has been here for generations on top of that likely certain markers in DNA would show being African American vs being from Africa.

          • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            Before I continue, I’m not against people being paid off for the crimes against their people.

            That said, DNA doesn’t mean a person was actually related to a slave. Not everyone from Africa gets to have a tax break in the USA.

            Additionally, not every black person from Africa who was here during slavery was actually a slave.

            Proving a relationship to a slave beyond a reasonable doubt is next to impossible for most people to do, and proving a hardship now because of that slavery isn’t possible for anyone.

            However, there are lots of other things reparations could apply to other than slavery. It’s not like you’d have to try very hard to find an instance where black people were treated poorly by the government.

            Does all this come down to a tax break for individuals today? That’s the difficult argument to make. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be made, I’m just saying it’s a hard sell to become an action.

            An easier sell would be large cash donations (perhaps ongoing, or over several decades) to various government run programs that are focused on providing services to minorities, and at risk groups of people.

            I don’t really see the political landscape being receptive to that at the moment. There’s a lot of shit going on and next year is gonna be a political nightmare. The last thing any politician is going to do is pitch reparations, a generally unpopular topic—regardless of its merit.

                • chowder
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  I don’t care one way or the other. A tax break would be nice but, doesm5 really make a difference to me at this point.