The True Color Of Reparations
By Michael P. Tremoglie (02/09/04)
Two hundred years ago white people (and some blacks) enriched themselves by exploiting the labor and suffering of blacks. The spiritual descendants of those people are exploiting blacks – and some whites – today.
Last month a Chicago man filed a class-action federal suit related to slavery reparations. Among the seventy-one defendants were banks, the tobacco and cotton industries, President George W. Bush and Pope John Paul II. The lawsuit alleges the defendants have not complied with the Chicago Slave Era Disclosure Act, which requires companies doing business with the city to find out if they profited from slavery.
"Slavery was and is an illegal criminal business and criminal enterprise," said Bob Brown, who filed the lawsuit. He is co-director of some group called Pan-African Roots. "First of all our concern is disclosure," proclaimed Brown de-emphasizing financial considerations. Interestingly the newspaper account said that the suit does not seek specific financial damages. It calls for the defendants to release files and records to account for all profits or benefits that can be traced to slavery and to make restitution.
This, like much of the information about reparations, is patent disinformation. First, despite the fact that Brown claimed his lawsuit does not seek specific financial damages – it does seek financial compensation. "We demand restitution. We demand remedy. We demand relief. We demand reparations," said Brown. "And those of us who were stolen from Africa demand the right to return, demand the right to go home." Second, what relationship President Bush and Pope John Paul II have to the Chicago ordinance is not explained. Neither conducts business with Chicago.
However, disinformation is not unusual when it comes to the reparations issue. Since March 2002, five federal suits have been filed against firms such as Aetna Inc.; FleetBoston Financial Corp.; and CSX Corp., the railroad giant, all seeking unspecified reparations for the 35 million descendants of African slaves.
In order that public opinion may be influenced on behalf of paying reparations, those advocating them held a rally on August 17, 2002. The rally was called, "Millions for Reparations” and was organized by a coalition of groups. Among these groups were the National Black United Front, the December 12th Movement, and the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (NCOBRA). Speakers included Representative John Conyers Democratic from Detroit, Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, Members of the International Action Center, New York City’s Democratic Councilman Charles Barron of the New Black Panther Party, Pam Africa of International Concerned Family, the Woman’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the black supremacists the Black Hebrew Israelites, Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Black Workers for Justice, and members of Local 1199 of the Hospital and Healthcare Workers Union.
The rally was significant for no other reason other than it provided an indication of the real motives and objectives of the reparations movement - cash. No matter what else is said reparations are not about black civil rights or social justice. Reparations are about green dollars. Yet, the attorneys and activists promoting reparations like to de-emphasize the financial aspect of this (a similar thing is occurring with the 9-11 lawsuits).
The paradigm of this was a comment made about reparations by Alex Pires. Pires, a white lawyer, is a member of the Reparations Coordinating Committee. Ironically, he is of Portuguese descent, which in itself is ironic in that the Portuguese were a major player in the slave trade. During a February 21, 2002 interview with Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, Pires said that, “it’s (reparations) never about money." According to Mr. Pires the issue of reparations is about telling the truth.
Pires was the lead attorney in a lawsuit filed by black farmers against the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA). Pires and his colleagues collected millions of dollars in fees. However, Pires’ clients did not benefit as much as he did.
There is no objection to Pires being compensated for his work. This is America and Pires should be. However, one does need to ask if the funds for slavery reparations will be distributed to the descendants of slavery or will those funds be paid in legal and management fees to lawyers and administrators. Usually it is the latter.
Pires and his colleagues are little different than the plantation owners – both white and black – who exploited the slavery system and became wealthy. African-Americans – like the black farmers Pires represented – will probably not realize the bulk of the financial benefit from reparations. Instead taxpayers – of all races – will pay so that a few whites and a few blacks will have wealth and power. Sounds just like antebellum America doesn’t it?
The true color of reparations is green.
(Printer friendly version) Email: Michael P. Tremoglie
