What is reparation for slavery? It can be summed up as people being given justice for a crime that was never committed against them by people who are being punished for a crime they never committed.

But should American black’s have any justice due them for crimes committed against their ancestors, let us be sure to exact that punishment on the proper perpetrators.

First, any state that was not a state at the time is to be held innocent. That leaves what was known as the northern and southern states. The northern states did not have slaves and they sent their members to fight and die to end slavery. If they have any guilt, it has been paid with blood.

This leaves the southern states. They not only had slaves, promoted slavery, and resisted change, they also started a civil war to hold onto the evil of slavery. It seems they are the guilty ones; let them pay the reparation.

Hold on though, the people who live in the south today are of two groups. Many are decedents of those who had slaves, promoted slavery and fought to preserve slavery. While this is true, are they guilty of slavery? No. Are they to be punished for the sins of their fathers? If so, then to what generation are the children to be punished? Should we also go after the children of SS soldiers or of Attila the Hun?

The second group living in the south are those who migrated there after slavery was abolished. Neither they nor their ancestors participated in slavery. Why should they be punished?

Lest you think there is no solution, there is. What of the estates that still exist in the south that had slaves, and directly benefited from slavery as part of their wealth and influence they still enjoy to this day? Could they be seized? Remember to not only go after the estates owned by white people, but you must also go after those estates that were owned by black slave owners. That’s right, we forget that slavery was not just a white problem, but also a black problem.

As a black problem, we need to go further by asking how did many black become slaves in the first place? The answer is that one black tribe in Africa wanted the land and possession of another black tribe and so they attacked them, captured them and then sold them into slavery to make sure they did not return to retake their land.

Should we not punish African nations also for their participation in slavery? Perhaps with tariffs.

Slavery is an ugly and evil thing as is the bigotry that allows it. In light of this, I see a very beautify history that only the United States can boast of. Never has any nation throughout the whole of history ever eliminated slavery as quickly as we did. It is only a very short, though disgraceful, part of our rich and wonderful history where liberty and justice for all has prevailed.