My father's father, my grandfather, came to the U.S. in 1908 as a teenager. He spoke no English. He owned nothing other than the clothes on his back and memories of his parents and brothers. In America, he then worked for less than 25 cents as a day laborer and in a coal mine until he finally went to work for Ford in Detroit. He experienced "child labor" exploitation.
His wife was also an immigrant of the early 1900s. She also spoke no English. She washed clothing for neighbors to make enough money to stay alive.
My mother's parents also had similar backgrounds as immigrants.
My grandparents came to this country as poor immigrants at the start of the 20th century – two generations after the Civil War. They could not speak the language. They had no help, no support systems. It was no different than for blacks who came to the U.S. after the Civil War. Yet, by the time that they died, they owned a home in Detroit and parented children who also owned homes.
So why is this important? Because Democrats and black "leaders" want me to pay reparations for black slavery that none of my ancestors were guilty of. None of my ancestors were even in America at the time of slavery, prior to 1864.
In fact, my ancestors were also oppressed. Hungarian. Syrian. Living in ethnic ghettos in the United States. Little education. No help from the government.
Some Democrats are asking for $14 trillion for reparations for blacks. That's more than half of the entire annual GDP and an amount that would increase the federal debt by 50%. It amounts to about $300,000 each for the 49 million black people in the U.S. today. The justification for demanding these reparations is slavery and discrimination.
Well, how about me? My grandparents were all exploited and discriminated against. Exploitation is not just the purview of blacks. So how about reparations to me for what happened to my grandfather?
More than 90% of blacks (6.5 million) who came to the U.S. came after the Civil War by their own free choice, as compared to the half million who were brought here as slaves prior to the Civil War.
Here are some question to consider:
Which blacks get the reparations and which ones do not? How much slavery in a person's lineage is needed to get reparations? Or is this like Elizabeth Warren claiming to be Native American so she could get preferential treatments when she is less than 1/1000 Native American?
Why should blacks get reparations and not Americans of Asian descent, the Irish, Italians, Hispanics, Hungarians, Syrians and others who faced discrimination, indentured servitude, military conscription and abuses, just the same as blacks after the Civil War?
Approximately $50 trillion in net present value already has been spent since LBJ for the Great Society and affirmative action. Do taxpayers get a credit for what was spent to help blacks against those reparation payments?
Most Americans' ancestors had nothing to do with slavery since those ancestors came to the U.S. like mine did, after the Civil War. So why are all Americans being penalized by having to pay taxes to fund these reparations?
Contrary to statements from those pushing this scheme, a person is not a racist just because that person thinks that reparations to blacks are wrong. Reparations appear to be just one more way for Democrats to use race as a political tool, to rub race raw for political gain, to divide Americans. Race. Race. Race. That's the Democrat mantra.
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