If We're Doing Reparations, Here's Who Should Pay Them
With the growing push to pass some type of reparations legislation, it becomes increasingly necessary to lay the foundation for both the support for and opposition to such a move.
Florida state senator Blaise Ingoglia introduced S.B. 1248, "The Ultimate Cancel Act," which would require the Florida Division of Elections to cancel the filings "of any political party that has ever endorsed slavery in its official party platform."
This comes on the heels of a cancel culture movement to tear down statues, ban Confederate flags, remove portraits of slave-owners from the U.S. Capitol, and rename thousands of public buildings across the country that carried the names of slave-owners. It is often overlooked that all these statues, the portraits, the school names...were all Democrats. All slave-holding Democrats. Because it was their party that fought a war causing hundreds of thousands of innocent people to lose their lives, as they fought to end slavery.
So should those families who fought to end slavery, receive a check for reparations? What about the families of Northern blacks who never experienced slavery and were quite successful businessmen and leaders? What about the first 23 black members of the U.S. Congress...all former slaves, but now leaders of the country? Their election out of slavery to positions of great power should serve as their progeny's reparations. What price could you put on this honor, treating it as a slight?
The Republican Party was founded in 1854 as an abolitionist party, with six of the nine planks in its platform dealing with abolishing slavery, equal rights, civil rights, and voting rights in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, respectively. The Democrats, on the other hand, had in their platforms in 1844, 1848, 1852, and 1856 that they proudly supported and defended slavery and the right of a person to own another person. They believed in it so strongly that when Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican ever elected, made it clear that he would rid the country of the scourge of slavery, the Democrats packed up their tents and seceded from the Union, causing a war that pitted citizens against each other, ending in almost 800,000 dead Americans.
If one dime of reparations is paid to family members of slaves who suffered under the iron rod of a political party that fought a war to keep those slaves in bondage, it should be paid by the Democrat party. Democrats not only left the United States of America, but also formed their own country, with their own president, currency, flag, constitution, elected officials, etc., etc.
The one issue that all Democrats agreed on, as members of the slavery party, was that slavery should be legal. That's what they fought for: to keep slavery legal, as the recently formed Republican Party did everything possible to end slavery.
It had been outlawed in 1808 to import slaves to the U.S., and by 1800, it was illegal for US citizens to engage in or be involved with the slave trade. But the Democrats found several workarounds until newly introduced states were either pro-slavery or anti-slavery, and it caused great division in the country.
Many say, that was then, this is now. Well, then why tear down statues and remove portraits? Wouldn't it be better to have that conversation and end by asking any black Democrat how he could possibly belong to the party of slavery?
The current support of Democrats for racists has not been hidden from view. In fact, it is justified when discussing power and position. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, once a leader in the Ku Klux Klan, was called "the conscience of the Senate" by Democrat Chris Dodd. Hillary Clinton lauded him as a mentor and dear friend. He was eulogized by the President and Vice President of the United States, the latter being the current president, Joe Biden. That's not ancient history. It just happened.
So, no, the Democrat support for openly racist individuals is not old at all. Look at the names they call any black who dares to leave their virtual plantation. See how people like Candace Owens, Larry Elder, Allen West, Ben Carson, Justice Clarence Thomas, etc. are treated by progressive, liberal white Democrats. That is called racism at its core...judging someone on the color of his skin as it relates to everything he believes that is at odds with the Democrat mindset. People like this are the enemy to be destroyed. That's pretty racist at its core.
And the "first black president" was really a white man. Boy, talk about cultural appropriation. How did Bill Clinton do that — especially when he is known for dropping the N-word with and around his KKK senator–loving wife? It just rolls off the tongue. Wasn't she the one who was so upset with Donna Brazile after she herself botched a debate, calling Brazile a buffalo? Is that the price we pay or power...just suck up the insults like a dutiful soldier of the left?
Bill's best "I love blacks" lie was the one he told at Rosa Parks's funeral, that she inspired him to give up his seat on the bus to a black person. Hmmm. Which bus was that, Bill? There were no city buses where you grew up, and when you were in high school, they were still segregated. There were no blacks on your school bus.
And no one challenged him or corrected him as he stood on the grave of a brave, amazing woman and used it as a podium of mendacious hubris. Not one journalist there even cared to research the reality of what he was peddling to a sycophant crowd.
Everything Bill Clinton did that was cringe-worthy, embarrassing, misogynist, and self-serving, while wrapping himself in the moniker of "first black president," should have been met with vocal opposition. So, Bill, are you insinuating that all black men are cads like you?
If this move — to forbid political parties who supported slavery — is recognized officially, it needs to be introduced as Exhibit A in a reparations trial. Exhibit B is the civil war and the Democrats' founding of their own country. Exhibit C is how white Democrats treat black Republicans today, suggesting that nothing has changed with them in 150 years, so they should be stuck paying the bill.
But if all this has legs — the denouncing of the slavery party and the move to pay reparations — it is necessary for people to have all the facts, understand the history, and not allow the Democrats to get away with murder. As to that...what about reparations for all the people who bought the lie of abortion and allowed their child to be killed? How are they made whole? It appears that the killing didn't end with the war, and abortion is far more current than the issue of state-sponsored slavery.
Nina May is the founder and chairman of the Renaissance Women, an educational non-profit foundation with international and production training programs and opportunities for internships on media projects. She is the creator, writer, and director of the dramatic TV series Daily Bread, which airs on a variety of platforms including Amazon Prime, Tubi, Hulu, and Roku. It is a faith-based, post-apocalyptic dramatic series where a solar flare knocks out electricity around the world. www.dailybreadseries.com
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