Throughout history, we learned that people hold each other responsible. For example, COVID-19 was a problem because it came from China. So who did people blame? Many held Chinese people responsible for this disease even if it wasn’t their fault. Is this fair? Not at all. However, knowing how it occurred and learning from it will reduce the chance of it happening again.
We shouldn’t put each other responsible for something, but instead, learn from it and make the world a peaceful place. Even though COVID-19 started in China and spread globally, we aren’t killing each other but trying to find a cure and work with each other to prevent it from happening again. If we spread hate, then more hatred will develop within each other. It’s essential to learn about the history of the past and learn not to repeat the mistake. Another example is slavery. We can use taxpayer money to help people of color facing financial issues based on their relatives. This is the same concept used when the U.S gave out pensions for Japanese people. Besides holding each other responsible, let’s help each other. We are all people who are seeking justice for the wrongs and fighting for what is right.
Finally, Coates adequately “makes his case,” and I find it interesting because he brings in history, proving my points that I’ve stated above. This is the right way to set amends for each other and to prevent it from happening again.
After reading a few peoples blogs, and after writing my own, I think its safe to say that you are the only one who used COVID-19 as an example for this point. To be honest, at first I didn’t get where you were going with it, but by the end I’m actually quite impressed by how you intertwined it with the subject at hand. Well done.
I think the first step to moving forward is understanding what had happened and accepting it in order to learn from it and doing your best to prevent it from happening again. However, I don’t think America can just move forward from it’s dark history if there’s still a lack of racial equity because that’s not doing it’s best to repeat history. It seems part of society still hasn’t truly learned our history, so I agree with you when you mention that “we should help each other,” because then they could understand what it’s like to have a patriotic obligation to their country and uphold American values of fair democracy for everyone and equal treatment.
I think your philosophy is an admirable philosophy, and hopefully one day we could put it in action. However, I fear that the philosophy is an idealistic one and one that could never be actually implemented in a society. In a perfect world, a world without crime, and a world where everyone is compassionate your philosophy is the best, but, unfortunately, this world is far from perfect even though we can try our best to make it so.
Anyways, I disagree with the notion of “we can just use taxpayer money”. The national debt is $27 billion, the United States budget is out of control, and it is in a budget deficit. Even in a time of prosperity and a economic expansion the budget is a deficit. The notion is a dangerous one that could increase a nation’s spending out of control and cripple the economy. In my opinion, taxpayer money is not a unlimited resource and does not grow on trees. It evidently has to come from somewhere and it comes from the pockets of its citizens.
How do you justify guaranteeing equal protection but not giving reparations for a persistent lack of equality?
And there are few problems with your argument: 1) what’s the problem with other groups asking for reparations for their unequal treatment? 2) Hasn’t the US compensated other groups, such as people harmed by Japanese internment during WWII? Shouldn’t other groups be treated the same way? 3) You assume that this money would come out of taxes already collected, but what if it was a new tax? Then there wouldn’t be any worry that programs would be cut.
Lastly, I didn’t say, “we can just use taxpayer money.” I said, “we can use taxpayer money,” meaning it’s an option