There has been a push for slavery reparations across the nation, including California (despite the fact that California was a Union State during the Civil War and is experiencing a budget deficit of $32 billion).
In the midst of such a push, the following questions should be taken into consideration:
- Who is going to foot the bill? As mentioned before, California has a budget deficit, while the national is $31.47 trillion. So the federal government or state governments paying over a million dollars to every African American throughout the nation. It should be noted the number of African-Americans is estimated to be 41.6 million, and that probably might not include those of mixed race. And how does the American taxpayer feel about footing the bill?
- Why weren’t reparations paid out during the Reconstruction Era? Why did it become an issue over a hundred years later? Was a statute of limitations ever established?
- As previously mentioned, California was a Union State during the Civil War and thus should not have to make any reparation payments. The same can be said for any other Union State, especially those states that abolished slavery long before the Civil War. The same can be said for the Union Territories during the Civil War that eventually became states, as well as Alaska and Hawaii.
- The Border States (Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia) pledged their loyalty to the Union, so should they have to pay reparations? Should Washington, D.C. also have to pay reparations?
- Should the former Confederate States (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas) have to pay reparations? Does the same situation apply to Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona?
- Should every citizen whose ancestors owned slaves have to pay reparations? What about those whose ancestors fought for or supported the Confederacy?
- What about those whose ancestors lived in the former Confederacy but did not fight or support the South, especially the Union pockets?
- Should those whose ancestors were part of the abolitionist movement be exempt from paying reparations? What about those whose ancestors fought for or supported the Union during the Civil War? Should they be exempt as well?
- What about those whose ancestors came to America after the Civil War? They would definitely qualify for exemption, as would all those who came to this country during the past several decades.
Thus, as previously mentioned, the idea of paying reparations for slavery reparations should have been done during the Reconstruction Era.
