Here’s one of those puzzlers. Why would you think that Mitch McConnell’s folk din’t own slaves? His folks are indeed long time southerners so you would sorta expect that somewhere down the line there were some slave holders, no?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] A new report reveals that the ancestors of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell owned slaves, casting the Kentucky Republican’s opposition to reparations for slavery under renewed scrutiny. Census records from 1850 and 1860 reveal that two of McConnell’s great-great-grandfathers, James McConnell and Richard Daley, owned in total at least 14 slaves — 12 of whom were female — in the years immediately preceding the Civil War, according to NBC News. [/perfectpullquote]Hmm. How many great great grandfathers do you have? Assuming you’re not from West Virginia, 8. And what was the likelihood of a family being a slave owner?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Closely related to Myth #2, the idea that the vast majority of Confederate soldiers were men of modest means rather than large plantation owners is usually used to reinforce the contention that the South wouldn’t have gone to war to protect slavery. The 1860 census shows that in the states that would soon secede from the Union, an average of more than 32 percent of white families owned slaves. Some states had far more slave owners (46 percent in South Carolina, 49 percent in Mississippi) while some had far less (20 percent in Arkansas).[/perfectpullquote]Alabama being deeper South the higher numbers seem more likely. So, Mitch McConnell’s ancestry seems to have less slave owning in it than that of the average population. So, his opposition to reparations in what light then?
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Well, there will be a rather complex formula to assess whether you own reparations or not. So, if you had a slave owning ancestor add $1,000 for each one. Were they considered community property or do great great grandmothers count? Probably, so assume $2,000 if the ancestor was married. You could take that back to the 1600s. If you had an ancestor in the Confederate army, navy or government, add another $5,000. If you had an ancestor who did not own slaves at the time of the Civil War or earlier then take a credit of $1,000, which could be increased to $5,000 if you had ancestors in the Union army, navy or government. Such credits could offset slave owning ancestors or Confederates, as presumably there has been intermarriage between northerners and southerners since the Civil War. If you had an ancestor that was a slave you get a credit of $5,000, but if you also had a slave owning ancestor you lose $1,000. If your family came to the US after the Civil War then perhaps you just owe $1,000 just because, with exceptions for Native Americans (excepting those who owned slaves) Asians and Hispanics deemed to be a protected group. An exception will be made if your family came from England after the Civil War as they started the whole North American slavery thing to begin with, in which case assess $5,000.
It'll be quite a complex chart and will employ a great number of genealogists. If you can't trace your ancestry back that far, then you'll be assessed $10,000 for being such a b*stard.
As I recall, the Democrats had their power base in the South, and supported slavery and the Ku Klux Klan because that was the Southern culture. The Republicans were Northerners, and were against slavery because it was a convenient stick to beat the South with, rather than for any moral reason.
That suggests that any Democrat family will have extensive slave connections if you look hard enough. But we all know that that's not the point - the point is that if you have an opponent he is the epitome of evil, and can have no redeeming features whatsoever...
Being me, I naturally feel that all reparations, especially to white Americans, should come from the wicked Africans who dumped their surplus population on the poor old Yanks.
As I understand it, leading Democrat Presidential candidate Ms Kamala Harris (she of Jamaican/Asian parentage) has at least one proven slave-owning antecedent. So far, I have not spotted any media vilification of Ms Harris, but I am sure that the traditional storm of abuse is just about to break over her head....
;¬)
Go back a dozen generations and 99% of the world's population is descended from both slaves and slave-owners. And both killers and people who were killed.
The Dahomy etc. enslaved people and sold them. They got the money, and stole the people's land. Hence the Dahomy should pay.reparations out of their profits (surely a.massive fund given centuries of interest), and the people should be returned to their land.
Not sure what we do with Kemala- cut.her in two and send only half back?
So somebody who has not gained a single penny from slavery should pay over loads of money to somebody who has not lost a single penny because of slavery?
And that will stop racism how?
Should the mostly black descendant of a black slave and a white rapist pay reparations (to whom) or receive reparations (from whom)?
The would be directed to take their wallet out of one pocket and put it in another.
With a cut to the government in between of course.
Slavery in England was abolished by the Normans. Prior to their arrival and taking charge, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes routinely owned slaves (each other mostly) therefore all English descended people are likely to have great, great, great - to the power of umpteen - grandfathers who owned slaves. The Irish were great slavers too.
So that would make a substantial portion of the US population with slave owning ancestry.
Next.
The problems with this reparations lark are manifold:
1) What about the native Americans should they not get reparations ? After all they were driven off their land and many killed etc,
2) Who pays in America? I mean many people have immigrated to the US since the civil war.
3) The Confederates were only ever a minority in the US - what about all the others who weren't slave owners ?
4) No one is alive who directly suffered
5) How much should they be paid ?
6) How black do you have to be and what if you are black and not descended from slaves ? I mean many people are mixed race e.g. Obama. Indeed the latter was against reparations, his family,on his mother's side were slave owners in the past!
etc.
No, perhaps reparations could have been paid during Reconstruction but its all too late now. .
It gets more complicate. Red Indians (I’m old fashioned) owned Black slaves too, and some captured Whites and kept them as slaves. Who pays whom?