Reparations and Discussions on Race in America

Tonight I watched the documentary: Meeting David Wilson on MSNBC. After the documentary they had a discussion on race in America. Now, it was only a start. And, some may be slighted that they were not chosen to be on the panel. But, this is only a start. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I applaud MSNBC: not because anything profound was stated, but because a barrier was cracked.

Reparations are found in discussions on race in America.

No, these discussions are not the end...they are only a means to the end - a start point or foundation from which we may proceed. As David A. Wilson (Black David) stated, the conversation tonight was very academic. The conversation threw around Ph.D-level terms that average Americans will not understand. And, understanding comes not at collegiate levels but amongst common sense circles.

Reparations are found in discussions on race in America. Not to say that the solution is that "we need to talk." But, I do say that we cannot find the solution until we talk...until we uncover what is really wrong and know how deep the wounds are.

Many say the Country has made strides to resolving problems. But, where have those solutions gotten us? Have disparities shrunk or increased? Part of the problem is that we must realize the errors of some of the so-called affirmative solutions that we - ourselves - proposed.

Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. asked the question: what happened to the Black community that resisted and fought to protect their community? Some would say that what happened was integration. Not to say that there should still be segregation. But, forced integration has had its own set of demonizing effects that forced segregation had on our ancestors. And, absent the need to stay together we have lost all togetherness. There is a military strategy that says: divide and conquer. So, a people that had once triumphed against the odds now divided, has been conquered.

This is why reparations are found in discussions on race in America. But, the discussions must not end with one televised event. They must continue in our homes, community centers, churches, institutions, civic groups, and between groups across various communities.

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson continuously hit the nail on the head of the need for love as the method for a solution. So true, and I have no argument with that point. I only offer an article I wrote in June of 2006:

James 5: 1-6

Look here, you rich people, weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh in hell. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. 4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every whim. Now your hearts are nice and fat, ready for the slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed good people who had no power to defend themselves against you.

Those who build wealth by cheating others of their pay will face God's wrath. Their wealth and long line of accumulated "old money" will testify against them before the Lord. "The wages (they) held back cry out against (them). The cries of those who harvest (their) fields have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty."

This is why Reparations should be paid. Not for our sake, but for the sake of the souls of those who earned their living by "wringing the sweat from the face of another," as President Lincoln said, and from those who inherited the wealth from the cheating of others. As the rich man who shunned Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31), those who have already reposed have already had to come before the Lord. They wish for someone to come and tell their descendants to change their ways. Because for those who are still living, there is yet hope.

The hope is that they would avoid the "terrible troubles ahead of (them)." They inherited wheat, but also the tares that were mingled therein. The inherited wealth, but they also inherited the sin by which that wealth was accumulated. Just as we inherit the sin of Adam, so have they inherited the sin of slaveholding, slave-profiteering and Jim Crow.

Our plea for Reparations is thus one of compassion; one of love for mankind. For our God does not delight in the death of the sinner but that he should repent and live. We seek Reparations for the sake of your soul, indeed for the soul of our very Nation and World.

Reparations for any other reason is wrong, in fact I would say for any other reason, Reparations is selfish. All the reasons being currently espoused do focus on revenge. Vengeance is the Lord's and He will definitely repay. As Christians, we need not be concerned with justice being done, for we know that the Supreme Judge of All will execute justice. Yet because of love, we are concerned with seeing our fellow man saved from the fire and "terrible troubles ahead of (them)."

Ergo, we seek Reparations not from dislike or hatred, but from a deep and burning love. We seek Reparations not to penalize those who weren't directly responsible, but to see the redemption of those who indirectly benefited and likewise inherited the stain of blood left in attaining their wealth.

We seek Reparations because it is our duty as Christians to admonish fellow believers to not stray from the faith. It is our duty to gently restore those believers who have wandered astray. So, we endeavor to do this work with love in our hearts, with hope for redemption and with faith in His Word. We are confident that to push for Reparations is right because it is said that "if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins." So, humble we take on this task, trusting in the Lord's mercy.

God told Adam at his expulsion from Paradise that, "by the sweat of your brow shall you earn your bread." Who can fly in the face of the Almighty God and deny that to base your economy on earning your bread from the sweat of another man's brow is a sin - a disobeying of God's commandment. Reparations is thus not a political issue, but a spiritual issue. For truly, no law can legislate such an action. However, where there is sin, we know there must be atonement - not for the sake of the one who has been wronged, but for the sake of the one who performed the wrong. In love, I call on everyone to support Reparations on this basis - that our Nation may heal, and that we may all live together in peace and love, both now and in eternity.

David Horowitz gave us his "10 Reasons Why Reparations for Blacks is a Bad Idea for Blacks - and Racist Too." By God's grace you may see the ONE reason - that trumps all reasons - why it is a good idea for whites, and for all mankind.

Come and Get Your Reparations!

Reparations Means "Squeezing" Black Clinton Supporters

I saw this on CNN earlier today.

There was a report that Black supporters of Hillary Clinton claim feeling "the squeeze" from their family and friends who support Senator Obama. I immediately thought: they should feel the squeeze. Here's why:

Everyone says that on the issues they are essentially the same. That being the case, on the issues it does not matter for whom you cast your vote, right? Their policy will be similar. So, after that we must look at the higher issues.

For Black Americans the issue should be clear. Yes, the struggle for Civil Rights was in effect to give us freedom. And yes, you are free to choose. God gave us free choice; and, that choice is to uphold our responsibilities to Him or to shirk them. Period.

The same holds true for the Black Community. Negroes, we are free. Once there was a time when the Slave Trade forced us together. Once there was a time when the horrors of slavery caused us to cling to each other. Yes, even once there was a time when we were forced to be together. And, when that forced togetherness was uprooted, there came the time when we ran to get away from each other.

And now, we are free to choose. We are free to choose whether we will continue to push for the Cause of our people or if we will be satisfied with our own wellbeing and turn our backs on others. We are free to choose ungratefulness, and turn our backs on the legacy of Martin, Malcolm, Medgar, Emmitt Till and the countless others who have died, been beaten, and suffered so that we could see a Black man rise to these heights. This is not racism: it is our contribution to the legacy of the Civil Rights struggle; it is our way to follow the Lord's commands and honor our mothers and fathers who could not see this day.

Reparations means "squeezing" Black Clinton supporters. The must come to understand where there first loyalties should lay. They say: "Bill Clinton was a friend to the Black Community." They say: "The Clintons are responsible for my political career." But, is it not the struggles of our ancestors - the hardships they faced - that made it even possible for a man like Bill Clinton to be a "friend?" And, what could be more responsible for the political careers of our leaders than the blood of our fathers and mothers, which still stains the walls and streets?

So, it is true that reparations means "squeezing" Black Clinton supporters because we cannot be selfish and defer the dreams of those who continue to hope from their positions in the Upper Room of the struggle. We cannot thwart the dreams of those who wish to see this moment so they - like Simeon - may die in peace, having seen the fulfillment of a sacred promise. Reparations means "squeezing" Black Clinton supporters because we cannot crush the budding dreams of the youth who have so little in which to believe.

We must squeeze them so that they can wake up and come to consciousness. It is our responsibility to squeeze them so they are not found on the wrong side of the struggle. No, this struggle is not purely racial. But, neither was the Civil Rights Movement. Our ancestors did not fight simply for the rights of Black people. But, essentially, the premise of the fight was that the struggle for Civil Rights was integral to the perfection of our Union and the fulfillment of the "Promise of America."

So, put on the squeeze! Awaken the consciousness of our sleeping brothers and sisters. Honor the legacy of our parents in the struggle.

Come and Get Your Reparations!

Reparations Requires a Dramatic Shift

I said this before - in 2006 - yet, in light of recent questions that have come from readers I post it again. Enjoy!

When starting a business or starting a movement, it is a revolution. And, a revolution is simply a change. It has been a long time coming, and I do still know a change is go'n come - Oh yes it will! But, where does that change begin?

Why would change begin "out there?" Why would the "powers that be" change the way things are done when we haven't changed ourselves? It was the change within ourselves that ignited the changes in society, leading to the end of Jim Crow. It will be the change within ourselves that will ignite the changes in society that will end the myriad disparities we face.

But, we don't want to change. I mean - if we change, the fight will be over. And then, what will we do? What will we have to look forward to once that "one day" when we shall overcome appears? So, for the sake of the struggle - we struggle. Frederick Douglass said, "without struggle there is no progress." Very true, but Mr. Douglass I must ask: "without progress what's the point of the struggle?" Can anyone answer that for me? Of course you can't! There is not point to struggle without progress. So you see that what we're doing is pointless!!!

Reparations requires a dramatic shift. Our ways of thought must change if we're to ever attain true Reparations. And, that's where we must start. So long ago Mr. Charles Woodson said we were mis-educated and needed to be re-educated. But alas, we've still gotten it all wrong. We have neglected re-education, preferring simply to gripe about the mis-education - doing nothing to fix the problem.

How do we fix this mess? Garvey would say that we need institutions. Our institutions - our organizations. But, our organizations are failing us. We speak of how their institutions are failing us - the schools are undereducating our children. But, how much better are our institutions performing? What have they done to change the way that people think about life and their roles in life?

These organizations have talked a good game - throwing bricks at the establishment. But, we need those bricks for our own development. We must quit wasting these valuable bricks, and use them to build our institutions - to build our communities. Our organizations must begin the work of re-education: shifting the ways of thought which prevail in our society.

Einstein would define insanity as doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results. So, my scientific reasoning must say that we are insane! Reparations calls us to end the madness, and chart a new course.

Follow me to your Reparations!

Reparations Means Getting SPEARED for the Cause

You cannot be certified in the struggle until you've been scarred. In ancient Africa, boys had to go through a rights of passage before being accepted into manhood...they had to get their battle scars. A few days ago, I was SPEARED and I just wanted to say thanks to the folks at AfroSpear for welcoming Reparations: The Blog into the fold. Be sure to check them out and thank them.

Come and Get Your Reparations!