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From: ellen@reed.UUCP (Ellen Eades)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.flame
Subject: Re: Re: White greed
Message-ID: <959@reed.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 19-Feb-85 18:20:35 EST
Article-I.D.: reed.959
Posted: Tue Feb 19 18:20:35 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 22-Feb-85 01:12:50 EST
References: <170@nybcb.UUCP> <6545@rochester.UUCP>
Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Lines: 32
Xref: utcs net.politics:7486 net.flame:8097

> >   WRONG!!!!!
> >   Not all white Americans have benefited from slavery. 
> >   I haven't received any inheritance from anyone, nor do I see how I have 
> >   benefited from slavery. My ancestors came from Ireland in the early 1900's. 
> >   They did not benefit from slavery either. So much for your simple fact &
> >   your "inteligent debate".

I think the problem here lies in the attempt to attribute
individual guilt to what is a societal problem.  It does no good
to say that any one individual didn't benefit from slavery and
therefore need not assist those other individuals whose
ancestors suffered under it;  the same goes for other redress
issues, i.e. the question of redress for Japanese-American who
were interned during WWII.  Although it may be true on an
individual basis that one is not responsible nor descended from
those responsible, it is also true on a general basis that,
*generally* speaking, the present, *generally* higher,
income/class/position/opportunities of the white majority in
America is a result of the *general* oppression of minority
groups in the past.  The next question is, do we take a
Libertarian approach and say no individual should redress the
wrongs of a group he happens to belong to, or a more
universalistic attitude that wrongs should be righted as soon as
possible even if some individual rights are abrogated in the
process, as long as the intent is to restore the balance
quickly.  I'm sorry if this is getting bombastic, but I felt I
had to set the problem out.  I would like to hope that most
Americans in this land of opportunity are willing to see an
across-the-board attempt to equalize the situation.  I may be
wrong.

			Ellen