Letter: Slavery abhorrent but reparations don’t right that wrong

Posted 5/2/19

To the editor:

The current trend espousing the idea of paying reparations to living relatives of former slaves is a extreme example of social guilt and political correctness gone mad. While it is …

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Letter: Slavery abhorrent but reparations don’t right that wrong

Posted

To the editor:

The current trend espousing the idea of paying reparations to living relatives of former slaves is an extreme example of social guilt and political correctness gone mad. While it is true that slavery was a malignant institution it is also true that no individual living today had a part in it nor were they responsible for it.

To expect, or even suggest, that the present generation, alive today, should be held responsible for the "sins of the fathers" is equally reprehensible and unjust. Our history cannot be undone but it can be learned from and I believe that we, as a society, have demonstrated our abhorrence of slavery of any kind.

Taking money from my pocket and giving it to the relatives of alleged former slaves will not change anything other than to infuriate me. It would be the same as telling me that I am responsible for the past and deserve punishment. This type of action will be more likely to promote active racism and antagonism and where will it end? Should we not also compensate relatives of the victims of the Salem witch trials? People whose ancestors were Tories during the Revolutionary War? Will Native Americans be given the deed to my home because their ancestors once owned the land upon which it stands?

There are plenty of ways in which to recognize slavery as the evil institution it was and is but reparations should not be one of them.

Jay Edwards

Tiverton

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