I just happened to be surfing around and found a reparations post angling off something I said about Katrina relief. A couple things occur to me, both are insulting and provocative.
The first is this: If African Americans were required, in order to get reparations, to document their family tree back 150 years to manumission, what percentage do you believe could do it? I think maybe 20%, and they would mostly be middle class and rich anyway. Related to that, if all the reparation money went just to those 20% do you think they would take care of the other 80%. I think the answer is maybe 30% of them would try, but it depends on how much money we're talking.
Secondly is this aproppos Spike Lee and Katrina. I happen to know my aunt is constantly invovled with the politics of reconstruction, but I don't have any details. It is rather surprising to me now that I think of it that Lee didn't talk about anybody involved with that process on the community level. Some kid who walks through the devastation and says that there could still be bodies in those houses gets his piece on the air, but nobody like my aunt who is working to rebuild the city got any props.
I'm not cranky, but this is what I wonder today.
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