[UK is marking 200 years of abolition of slavery, so there is a buzz about this topic over there these days]

...by the Ghana-based Afrikan World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission.

just one of the claims out there, but probably the largest.

Counting the cost of the slave trade
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6422721.stm

that claim is not the main focus of the article, but it just struck me as astronomically large. last year on bbc i saw a documentary which tried to calculate how much the UK profited from the slaves, using old sugar cane plantation records and such. they came up with a figure of some $10 trillion. that includes profit, and compensation for being enslaved.

in comparison, the world's GDP is about $40 trillion.

so if the UK says $10 trillion, how much do you think the US profited? 5 times that?

and does this Commission (http://www.awrrtc.org/) actually believe that the africans who were taken and their ancestors could have produced 20 times the current world GDP if they hadn't been taken?

i doubt that.

btw, this is what you see on the front of their site:

Quote :

"Why Afrikan Americans & Afro-Caribbeans Must Leave the West & Return to Ghana-Afrika!!!"

it is a link, and when you click on it, you will not believe your eyes:

http://www.awrrtc.org/shop.php

[there is also a youtube video on that page, and i haven't seen it yet]

Quote :

"Why Afrikan Americans & Afro-Caribbeans Must Leave the West & Return to Ghana-Afrika!!! Live Powerful lecture on DVD by Master Teacher Maulana. Maulana in this presentation quotes esoteric writings & teachings from Kufu's Pyramid 6000 years ago in ancient Egypt - Accurately, predicting September 11, 2001 tragedy and much more to come. Buy a copy of this powerful DVD for $20 only (include $10 for shipping, if you are outside Ghana) . Call +233 24 3821125 for any further enquiries. Email awrrtc@hotmail.com to order now!!! "

btw, this is an informative link:

Quick guide: The slave trade
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6445941.stm

3/22/2007 11:51:55 AM

Does Obama have to pay himself

3/22/2007 11:53:22 AM

Reparations is the dumbest, most poorly thought out idea on the fucking planet.

Yes, a great wrong was done by millions to millions. It would be impossible to quantify the loss and it would be impossible to decide who is owed what. And, even if you could, you would be taking money from people who, themselves, did no wrong. It's fucking moronic.

3/22/2007 11:57:49 AM

i think all the jews need to petition the egyptian gov't for reparations from when the pharos used them as slaves back in the 2000's BC

3/22/2007 12:14:42 PM

LOL, can you imagine the intrest?

3/22/2007 12:16:22 PM

^^ they already got theirs...

3/22/2007 12:28:58 PM

^i'm guessing Israel?


























what do i win, bob?

3/22/2007 12:43:08 PM

What about the africans who sold other africans into slavery?

Shouldn't all african americans get a check from Ghana for dicking over their ancestors?

3/22/2007 1:12:50 PM

what about all the slaves the romans had over the centuries......where's their piece?

3/22/2007 1:14:28 PM

Can I get reparations for the half of my family that was killed by marauding Indians in Kentucky in 1781?

3/22/2007 1:26:28 PM

Can I get reparations from the Russians for backing the communists that overran my ancestrial home and seized my family's assets?

3/22/2007 1:52:38 PM

My family wasn't here yet when slavery was legal, do I have to pay anything?

3/22/2007 3:12:45 PM

I only know of one black ancestor in my family.

Will this make my cut smaller?

3/22/2007 3:41:02 PM

^ What we'll need is the modern equivalent of the 3/5ths compromise.

What grand opportunity for the federal government to perform nationwide genetic testing to see exactly what percentage black and what percentage white everybody is... Sounds like a job for IAO to me.

3/22/2007 3:43:36 PM

What about the descendents of blacks that owned slaves?

That would be a good argument.

Can I get reparations from the English for starving my ancestors in Ireland?

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 3:57 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2007 3:56:59 PM

That's $texas and beyond.

It'll take us a while to pay that debt back.

3/22/2007 5:01:11 PM

i like how they use the dutch spelling of africa; because the dutch were far worse.

3/22/2007 5:02:48 PM

I DEMAND REPARATIONS FROM <insert whatever bullshit might work here>!

3/22/2007 5:08:05 PM

fuck that i aint goin to africa or afrika . but i'd settle for having my student loans paid off .

3/23/2007 6:15:21 PM

Quote :

"Geologists says West Africa Most Safest area on Earth"

Perhaps if the cover designer paid attention to grammar it might get them at least an extra ounce of credibility.

But yeah, this is retarded - just like all reparation bids. spöokyjon pretty much summed up my initial opinions on this.

"Hay guyz, lets try to get $texas out of people that had nothing to do with our ancestors' slavery while neglecting the fact that our own people sold us out!"

3/24/2007 4:25:00 AM

TOO BAD NONE OF THE SLAVES ARE HERE TO COLLECT

3/24/2007 11:18:01 AM

To be fair, American reparations are is an American only issue. If America see they did wrong in the past they are obligated to do something. After hundreds of years of breeding and mixing African Amercans were really no longer Afircans. Slavary continued and even after slavery jim crow laws and such were major setbacks that are still being felt today.

3/24/2007 11:41:58 AM

Quote :

"they came up with a figure of some $10 trillion"

I am sure they simply applied an unreasonable rate of interest. For example, suppose you applied the average rate of US interest over the last 25 years. Well, you would be including the 70s and its unusally high inflation rates.

If I am not mistake there was very little to no trend inflation from the founding of the US until around the civil war, so this grossly overstates the approprate rate of interest.

I understand this is for the UK but I don't know the data off the top of my head and I have no particular reason for thinking it differs dramatically from the US experience.

3/24/2007 8:22:25 PM

Quote :

"Slavary continued and even after slavery jim crow laws and such were major setbacks that are still being felt today."

If by "still being felt today", you mean that black Americans make far more money and score much higher on standardized intelligence tests than Africans, then yes, the crippling legacy of slavery remains.

3/24/2007 10:04:57 PM

Quote :

"TOO BAD NONE OF THE SLAVES ARE HERE TO COLLECT"

3/24/2007 10:12:14 PM

^^what?

3/26/2007 1:43:38 AM

^^^nice.

3/26/2007 2:59:06 AM

^^^^ there we go.

3/26/2007 8:46:03 AM