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The UN has voted 123-3 in favour to condemn the enslavement of Africans and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Something, something, same map. (thelemmy.club)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml
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[–] 22 points 5 months ago (19 children)

So you suggest ignoring how the current status quo is built on the continuous exploitation of racialized and colonized people?

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  • [+] -15 points 5 months ago (17 children)

    I suggest that there's no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward. If you want to move to a different paradigm, that's fine, but condemnation of the past is performative compared to putting forward laws and resolutions to benefit others. The Bill of Human Rights was forward-looking, this condemnation is backward-looking. Emphasize where we want to go and why we want to be there, rather than where we were and the mistakes we made as a society.

    Slavery was evil, so was the destruction of indigenous peoples across the world. But we can't yet change the past. We should reinforce that we will work to eliminate slavery (chattel and indenture), human trafficking, and the abuses related to it. Focus on what we can improve today and how we can improve things.

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  • [–] 25 points 5 months ago

    I suggest that there's no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward.

    Is your stance in any way informed by a privilege you hold?

    Because there are a lot of people today who are still disadvantaged by the historic slave trade, who would meaningfully benefit from reparations.

    So when you say "no meaningful benefit", who exactly are you talking about?

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  • [–] 23 points 5 months ago* (13 children)

    I suggest that there’s no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward.

    Okay, as long as we also take away all the historical family wealth that goes back generations too.

    But that's not how it works, is it? Great great great grandad gets to get rich off having slave plantations and his son gets to get rich off of Jim Crow sharecropping, and his great great great grandson gets to inherit that wealth without any complications.

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  • [+] -9 points 5 months ago (12 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 25 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    But benefiting from it is okay?

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  • [–] -2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    I did not benefit from it. Half my family are refugees. I was born into a shitty life. I do not want to be punished on to of that for something i had zero control over.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago* (2 children)

    I'm really interested in what you think reparations even are - do you think they're just going to shake down all white people for money? How are they going to punish you? Why would they punish you?

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  • [–] -3 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    It sounded like that to me yes. I probably misunderstood. And Why me? I'm white. I'm also poor and a socialist but according to the reaction i got in this thread I'm just an idiot and it is right to hate me.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago

    There's a propaganda effort by white supremacist society to paint all reparations as "evil revenge against white people :<" instead of what it actually is: correcting the injustices of slavery by making whole the descendants of slaves who have been robbed of their heritage and generational wealth.

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  • [–] 19 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    But you benefit from it, and others are punished from that theft. This is a generational problem.

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  • [–] 17 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    This „punishment“ or rather responsibility would not be something that the average wage earning person has to worry about financially whatsoever. There is however a lot of accumulated wealth, that could be used for much better things than the third luxury Yacht in Monaco. So if this extraordinary luxurious wealth can be traced back to exploitation and slavery, and the government would enforce this money to be used for reparations in forms of community centers, museums, research for those who’s ancestors freedom, cultural heritage and often lives were taken, this would not be a punishment. As a German I think there is good reason to individually act responsibly concerning the crimes of e.g. my great grandfather. It is not my crime, but it’s my responsibility to call it such, to do my best in every day live that something like it will not happen again. Calling that a punishment would be unfair compared to the suffering of the victims and their living relatives.

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  • [–] 0 points 5 months ago*

    I see. It sounded like indiscriminate handing out to me. I am fine with actual wealth being redistributed. My personal responsibility measure is political contribution and spreading left leaning reasoning.

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Okay then, we're taking all your stuff. When your kids want it back, we'll say:

    there's no meaningful benefit to be gained by looking backward rather than forward.

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