Interesting OSU study

A study that was done by OSU, Harvard, and Georgia Southern Univ. tried to discover why whites oppose reparations for Black Americans.

Read article on study in last Monday’s The Lantern

This article did not go into a lot of detail about the study itself, but the issues of reparations is an interesting one. I think that reparations for slavery is a bad idea and will only lead to more division within America. Also, supporters of reparations have not given me acceptable numbers to these questions:

Who will get the benefits? Who will pay?

The Black community is a diverse community and does not just consist of those born in America. There are those from the Caribbean, and from the African continent. How will the government find out who is and is not deserving? To research this would probably cost as much as the reparations. If the government is able to somehow discover who is entitled to reparations, would it include/exclude the richest Black Americans? Would Bob Johnson (NBA owner and BET founder) or Oprah Winfrey get money too? Supporters continue to point to the reparations given to Jews and the Japanese after their respective tragedies, but the difference is that reparations were able to go to those directly affected. And with the previous issues that I mentioned, this would be difficult.

It has been estimated that it would cost $100 trillion dollars, virtually bankrupting America. Since we do not have the records of who really owes this money, it would be unfair for Americans to pay this. Should immigrants from Asia or Eastern and Western Europe pay, even though they were not here during slavery and did not promote it?

Race relations have come a long way in this country, and we have a long way to go still. But bringing up an issue that lacks the answers to some of its most important questions will set us back. Lets work on improving America for all Americans instead of using issues that will divide.