According to the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group, the cost of slavery would be around $8 trillion.
It would take $8 trillion to reimburse all the descendants of slaves living in the United States for more than two centuries of cruelty and discrimination on our land. If only the price tag were so small. Even when the cost reaches into the trillions of dollars it still does not account for the hardship of blacks living at the time.
In many ways, Randall Robinson is right. There needs to be some acknowledgment of the continuing effect of slavery on blacks living in the United States now. The standard of living for blacks in this country is considerably lower than that of the average white not because they recently arrived in this country and have not had the opportunity to advance. It is because they were denied any opportunities for so long.
In fact, it would be relatively easy to disperse $8 trillion in slavery reparations, compared to other alternatives. No one in America wants to go through the heart-wrenching process of dealing with racism and slavery on a personal level. Like Robinson said, it would be much cleaner if the government paid the costs of slavery and racism in one easy down payment.
I'm surprised David Horowitz hasn't supported reparations. He would no longer have to worry about affirmative action or race-based admissions. The $8 trillion would take care of all those problems. No more white guilt or racial profiling; all of America's racial problems would be solved.
Of course, this is not the case. Racism has little to do with money. Sure, schools in inner cities are underfunded, there are no tax incentives specifically for black businessmen and a college education is still woefully expensive for the average black family to fund without government aid, but a lot of white Americans suffer the same fate.
Surprisingly, all economic indicators suggest that blacks have been gaining economic and political strength since the 1950s. According to recent U.S. census statistics, 50 percent of black families in America are now classified in the middle class, compared to only 1 percent in 1940. In 1990, one in five blacks were managers or professionals. Over the past three decades, the number of black doctors has doubled and the number of black graduates has tripled.
Money is not the reason why the majority of blacks feel alienated from American mainstream culture and shut out of the political process. Prejudice and ignorance are still the main obstacles to creating an inclusive and tolerant American society. No amount of money will deal with the feelings of resentment that currently dominate any racial debate.
There must be a process of racial reconciliation that challenges everyone in America to deal with racism on a personal level. In the end, it is personal experiences that play the most important role in improving race relations. That is why campus climate is so important. If a debate takes place in a tolerant and nonconfrontational environment, opinions can be changed and issues can be reasonably debated.
Horowitz and Robinson are not the best people to begin a racial dialogue on this campus. Both are political activists representing their narrow political interests and both have earned much of their reputations by antagonizing others over the issue of slavery reparations. Perhaps when the politically charged atmosphere surrounding these two controversial figures dies down, a true racial dialogue can begin on this campus that will affect students personally, not just politically.
