As California marches forward with the idea of granting monetary reparations to Blacks for generations of harm caused by discrimination, some estimates project the cost could be upwards of $800 billion. That’s more than 2.5 times the state’s annual budget, which brings us to the actual topic of slavery.
Contrary to popular opinion, America was not the only party guilty of this scourge. Every civilization in history has had slaves, but America was one of the first to confront and eliminate it in 1865. Meanwhile, in places such as West Africa, it continued on until shortly before World War I.
According to SlaveVoyages.org, the total number of slaves imported from Africa to America was slightly more than 305,000, while Africa exported over 12.5 million slaves to the rest of the world. Yet this point is casually ignored by America’s leftist educational system and a complicit media to deny the greatness of our republic’s founding.
Meanwhile, those who vilify America as the king of the slave trade deny the ugly truth of Arab/Muslim involvement in human bondage that saw 7 million Africans enslaved from the 7th century through the year 1600.
America’s critics would rather spew the lie that Black slaves forcibly built America through things such as the manufacture of cotton. Though if the contention contains any truth, a senseless civil war destroyed this industry and damaged the economic power of the United States for many years to come. Again, better to discredit America as systemically racist in order to discredit it.
Since Sen. Edward Kennedy’s Immigration Reform Act of 1965, four million Blacks from around the world have emigrated to the United States. Why do others continue to pour in legally, and still more illegally over America’s southern border? Is it because they long to live in a new country which actively promotes policies of racism and discrimination? Or is it because they seek to escape the despotism practiced in their home countries?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Black woman who fled her native Somalia, put it best when she said, “America is the best place on the planet to be Black.”
Those such as Ali should know, having experienced hunger, war and instability for their entire lives in many instances. Never living under governments which established safety nets for those simply seeking to survive, guaranteed access to the opportunity for an education or assured the right to vote without threats or intimidation.
These things, taken for granted by many in America, were implemented through the efforts of many, irrespective of skin color, for the benefit of all. Yet a virtual industry exists which cries out every day that it’s not so, that no good has been done, that places like Florida aren’t even safe for Blacks. And sadly, many believe this narrative.
The Democrat Party has monopolized America’s Black vote for decades based upon such falsehoods. This leads one to question just exactly what Democrat politicians have done to combat racism if it is still so bad. Or whether they are part of the problem.
At the end of the day, America may have many miles to travel in eradicating racism, but far fewer than any other place the world has ever known. Even with reparations, man’s imperfections guarantee that he is incapable of eliminating racism completely. Although, if folks who see racism around every corner and believe it explains every ill would come together with those who have actually contributed to racial harmony, oh what a world it would be.
Mark Figley is a political activist and guest columnist from Elida. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
