San Francisco Reparations

San Francisco has a plan to give reparations for slavery to Black residents of San Francisco.

This is so bizarre I thought it was a Babylon Bee headline. (i.e. satire, a joke, not real, a spoof) for those of you who don’t have a sense of humor.

First, the plan is to take money from one group of people based on the color of their skin and give it to another group based on the color of their skin.

That is as wrong as forcing a person to work for free based on the color of their skin and giving the profit to another person based on the color of their skin.

But, you might say, this is correcting the first wrong. Well, you could say that, but you would be wrong. Any Black descendant of slaves living in San Francisco isn’t a descendant of people who were enslaved in San Francisco.

More importantly, why should the descendants of immigrants who arrived in the United States after 1865, the end of slavery in the U.S., have to pay for a crime that occurred BEFORE their ancestors arrived?

California (which includes San Francisco) joined the United States in 1850 as a non-slavery state. Before that it was a part of Mexico and briefly, possibly a separate country.  Fifteen years later, slavery was abolished in America.

If any slavery reparations are due it is from Mexico and should be collected from the descendants of the Hispanic people whose ancestors were living there before 1850.

Besides, how would you determine who is eligible?  Would the reparations be based on the percentage of slave ancestry?  Suppose a person’s skin is black but they are predominately of White ancestry?  Do they have to pay themselves?

Suppose their ancestors (or some of them) arrived in America after 1865?  Do they get paid?

Suppose a person has Black ancestry but has a light skin. Do they get reparations?

Suppose that like many light skinned slaves, your ancestors moved and passed for White. Do you still get reparations?

Suppose, like one Virginia politician, you are the descendant of slaves AND the descendant of slave owners. 

Reparations are supposed to be about repairing a wrong to the person who was wronged. It isn’t supposed to be about politics.

Forty Acres and a Mule

We have all heard that the U.S. Government promised slaves that they would get “40 acres and a mule.” That isn’t factual.

One Union general promoted the idea but it was never approved. The land he promised wasn’t his or the Government’s to give.

It was just another political scam.

Still Waiting

We are still waiting for Donald Trump to be charged as promised by Alvin Bragg.

Sensible people are concerned that a conviction was promised without naming any crime. 

I am concerned that if Stormy Daniels was in fact paid hush money as seems to be the case, why hasn’t she had to pay it back when she went public with her allegations?

Shouldn’t she be charged with breach of contract?

Never Trust a man who says “trust me”

I learned years ago that trustworthy people never need to say “trust me.”

It seems that all we keep hearing from our public servants is “trust me” and then they lie again.

Most of our elected officials are reliable. They lie, re-lie and lie again.

Co-Opting

Culture

I am told that if I do anything from another culture THEN I am co-opting that culture and it is racist. Using that flawed logic then it must be sexist for a person who was born male to become a female and co-opt that sex.

CNN just announced that when a White person uses a Black meme it is racist. If I eat soul food am I racist? What happened to inclusion? What happened to “the great American melting pot”? For the record, I have never sent a meme, much less a Black one so I must not be racist.

If I eat a taco am I co-opting another culture? When a Hispanic person eats a taco is he or she co-opting the indigenous inhabitants of South America’s culture?

Corn, originally called maize, originated in South America. Does this mean Europeans, Africans, Pacific Islanders, Asians and many others can’t eat corn without co-opting another culture?

For the record, when corn is mentioned in early European culture it is referring to what we now call wheat.

The so-called “traditional African dress” didn’t come from Africa. Is that co-opting another culture?

Neither North nor South America had advanced to the Iron Age prior to the arrival of Europeans. Is the use of iron by non-Europeans co-opting another culture?

There were no honeybees native to North or South America. Is a Native American beekeeper co-opting another culture?

Watermelons originated in North and South America. Is someone of European descent eating a watermelon co-opting another culture?

Although almost every culture has made a fermented beverage, distilled alcohol is European. Is a non-European drinking distilled alcohol co-opting another culture?

Have any of you heard the phrase, “like White on Rice”?  Rice isn’t a White development, so it must be co-opting another culture for me to eat it. AND it must be racist to assume I like rice because I am White. For that matter, if you aren’t Asian, rice is off-limits unless you want to co-opt another culture.

I am told that if I use the word Chief to refer to someone, I am co-opting another culture. But the word Chief is Scots and I am of Scots ancestry. Referring to any Native American as Chief is cultural appropriation of Scots heritage.

Instead of getting our undies in a bunch about Cultural Appropriation, why can’t we just share our cultures?

I’ll make it easy for you. You have my permission to use/appropriate/co-opt and enjoy any and all of my cultural heritage. Just remember, I am part of the American Melting Pot and will be doing the same.