People from the African continent and its diasporas will attend workshop to share struggles, experiences and discuss ways to advance reparations
People from the African continent and its diasporas will attend workshop to share struggles, experiences and discuss ways to advance reparations
How far back do we go?
Do we just go back to living memory? Do we go beyond? Is the colonialism in the 1800s fair game? What about before that? Do Italy owe reparations for the Romans? Are people owed reparations for the vikings?
Will I be receiving a payout because your caveman ancestor killed one of my caveman ancestors?
It also brings up the question of are African countries liable for their part in things like trading slaves? It’s not like Europe is alone in having a bloody past.
I don’t think the people of today should be paying for the sins of some arsehole rulers 200+ years ago, to be given to people who were never subject to the injustices in history.
This is a cash grab. Nothing more.
You’re still reaping the benefits today from colonialism before your lifetime. Your prosperity is founded on wealth stolen from countries still suffering from the theft. It’s okay to want to repair this.
How far back do you think is valid? Is 300 years, too far to you?
I agree there’s a line. I’d say pre Dark Ages is too far, but I get there’s a limit most people could agree on.
I think you’re confusing rich people with common people.
Those making money in the “homeland” from colonization weren’t the peasants.
I live in a country - Portugal - which when I was born was still a Fascist dictatorship and still had colonies in Africa and back then the vast majority of the population in the country was incredibly poor (to the point of the country getting food help from The Netherlands) but 7 families were incredibly rich (and the white landowners in the “colonies” exploiting the locals and the land they had stolen from them too were rich).
Somehow I don’t think my mother (who walked to school barefoot in Winter as a child) was getting any of that “stolen wealth”.
Blaming the entire nation and everybody in it for colonization done by the country during times of autocracy is just how the wealthy who inherited wealth their ancestors amassed by exploiting people in faraway lands ditch the blame into the sons and daughters of the people who back then were poor and powerless.
Compensate the actual people who suffered (or their close descendands if still alive), not the parasites in power in lands which happenned to have been occupied, and do it with the money of those who gained from their suffering (or the inherited money from close descendants), not the usual Identity Politics bullshit of diluting the blame of a few by blaming whole nations and ethnicities to de facto benefit people who were not victims or descendents of victims but instead just happen to share nationality or ethnicity with the victims, all the while avoiding like crazy talking about the wealthy who were the ones amassing most if not all of the upsides of the pillaging.
I agree colonial powers stole both abroad and domestically. Perhaps, it’s just the richest that need to make amends with the rest of us regardless of nation.
Good luck with that