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Folks got mad at me when I tried to tell em about Beto. Read this. Sit with it. He spends so many words describing the problems in-depth. Saying he's gonna "work to fix them". But that HE doesn't think giving anything directly to black people is the way WE should fix it.
"Instead of giving you direct compensation, which is within our power, instead we're going to try to completely overhaul almost all of the deeply entrenched institutions in government. That's way better for you. Trust me."
I know a lot of y'all are still struggling with passing judgment on candidates just because they're white men. But that's not what's happening here. It's possible for a white man to do the right thing here. It's also possible to *know* that they won't. You just have to listen.
Listen. Don't let people convince you that reparations for black people is this super complicated thing. Reparations have happened before. We've done it. Other countries have done it. It's not happening because white people don't want it. Point blank. Period. End of discussion.
The difference is that after decades of work by black scholars, activists and elected officials, the real concrete question of reparations has entered mainstream discourse. It's a policy question now. Which means candidates have to speak to it directly.
That means that we get to see Whiteness in action. In real-time. A lot of white people are still gonna miss it. It's gonna sound entirely reasonable to you because you've been conditioned to hear white supremacy that way. But I'll do my best to highlight it.
So again, I'm suggesting that you go listen to O'Rourke respond to a direct question about reparations. Go on for minutes convincing people that he truly understands the scope and magnitude of the injustice. And then say "no, I'm not gonna do anything for you". It's right there.
Some people have asked me what reparations might look like. I didn't react well because I get tired of answering the same questions when it's clear people haven't even thought about it a little before asking.
That said. Start here. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
That said. Start here. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
This is an incredible piece of work. It doesn't just examine the history that dictates why reparations is necessary. It has good info about the state of reparations advocacy. Various responses to it over the years. And serious discussion of what it *could* look like in reality.
You ask white liberals about black reparations and they start sounding like Republicans.
"How you gonna pay for it?"
"That's un-American".
"People don't want handouts".
Cool cool cool.
"How you gonna pay for it?"
"That's un-American".
"People don't want handouts".
Cool cool cool.
