Should Americans Pay Reparations to Descendants of Slaves?

            Leftists push for “reparations” to the descendants of African American slaves. Most likely, they have numerous reasons for do so. However, one of the reasons is that they do not understand history. They came through school systems that did not teach correct history, so they look like fools when their demands for reparations are met with historical facts.

            Recently, Hilary Fordwich, an expert on British royals, was entered by CNN host Don Lemon. He asked her if the British monarchy should pay reparations for colonialism and slavery. That could have been an innocent question, but Lemon got hit in the face with facts.

            Lemon followed his question about reparations with this statement: "'[You] have those who are asking for reparations for colonialism, and they’re wondering, you know, ‘$100 billion, $24 billion here and there, $500 million there.’” 

            Fordwich was prepared with facts and fired with “both barrels.” She first agreed that there are people who are requesting reparations. However, the British monarchy is the wrong place to go for reparations.

            In defense of Britain, Fordwich told Lemon that those people looking for reparations should go first to “the beginning of the supply chain” – meaning that they should go to the African kingdoms who were enslaving and selling Africans. She said that slavers in Africa rounded up other African people and held them in cages on the beach until people came in ships to purchase them. If the slavers had not been catching and selling slaves, the people on the slaves would not have been purchasing them.

            Fordwich then taught more history to Lemon. Most people know that Great Britain was the first nation to abolish slavery. She added that there were two thousand naval men who died on the high seas in an attempt to abolish slavery. Why was there a battle on the seas? Because the African kings rounded up their own people and “had them [in] cages, waiting in the beaches.”

            In her concluding statement, Fordwich added this zinger: “I think you’re totally right. If reparations need to be paid, we need to go right back to the beginning of that supply chain and say, ‘Who was rounding up their own people and having them handcuffed in cages?’ Absolutely, that’s where they should start.”

            Lemon was the host of the show, but he was too stunned to say anything. He had never faced the true history about slavery. The African kings accumulated wealth by selling slaves, and they fought back when Britain and other nations stopped buying slaves and fought to end the practice.

            It is my opinion that the descendants of slaves in America do not have any claim to reparations. The slaves themselves were the ones who suffered from slavery. There is no one living in America today who was a slave or a slave owner. There is no reason why any American alive today should pay another American for something that they did not do and received no benefits.

            The descendants of slaves should be counting their blessings. Their ancestors did in deed suffer because they were enslaved, but they live freely in the greatest nation in the world. The slave owners actually did them a favor by bringing their ancestors to America where they have the power to live the American dream.  Here in America, every citizen has the power to become anything that they want to become IF they are willing to work for it.

If anyone continues to demand reparations for slavery, payment should come in the form of one-way tickets back to the nation of origin for their ancestor and forfeiture of citizenship in the United States. They can go to their ancestral nation to seek reparations from the people who were amassing wealth from slavery. If not, they should stop their demands and start being real Americans – not hyphenated ones -- and wok toward success just like other Americans do.