Islam in Africa:
There never was, and never could be, a Muslim Wilberforce. Why not? Because Muhammad had slaves.
It doesn't matter if he "treated them well" as apologists for Islam suggest. He had slaves, and because
Muhammad is the Model for All Time, uswa hasana (a phrase that occurs three times in the Qur'an, twice applied
to Abraham, once applied to Muhammad), The Perfect Man (al-insan al-kamil), his practice, the "sunna" of the
Arabs of the seventh-century, can never be declared wrong. And that is why the Arabs most faithful to
Islam, the Saudis, refused to abolish slavery, and finally did so only under enormous Western pressure, in
1962, when OPEC had not yet been formed, and oil revenues not nearly as dramatic as they are today.
More Fake
Farmers. Last year, Congress chose to give to give millions more dollars to black farmers who claim
they were discriminated against by the US Agriculture Department — I've reported that lots of the money
goes to people who never farmed. In my report, Othello Cross, a lawyer for the farmers, admitted to us on
camera that there was fraud. Now, Andrew Breitbart points out that yet another farmers' lawyer has
chimed in.
Pigford Attorney Publicly Reveals Conspiracy to Defraud Federal Government.
One of the key attorneys in the Pigford "black farmers" lawsuit has confirmed, on camera, what we at Big Government
have argued for months: that the $2.7 billion Pigford settlement has been corrupted by fraud on a
massive scale. On September 23, 2011, at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.,
attorney Faya Rose Toure (a.k.a. Rose Sanders) described a conspiracy to defraud the federal government, involving
claimants, attorneys, and members of the clergy.
Grievance-Mongering
Leaders Demand Slave Reparations at the United Nations. The reparations racket has been around
for years. It has attracted a motley bunch — from jive-talking hustlers to erudite professors
of academic disciplines like African-American history and post-colonial studies. But only in recent years
have whole countries joined the reparations racket. Besides having large black populations, they share
common traits: leftist leaders, ailing economies, and a host of anti-Western grievances propagated by
leftist elites.
Probe
Pigford Fraud. The original Pigford settlement arose out of a 1997 class-action lawsuit by Timothy
Pigford and 400 southern black farmers who had apparently legitimate claims of discrimination against the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its allocation of farm loans between 1983 and 1987. At last count,
more than 94,000 black farmers had signed up for well north of $1 billion in payments under the settlement.
U.N.-Backed Summit Seeks
'Social Justice' for African Descendants. The event is part of the United Nations-declared International
Year of African Descendants. "This International Year of African Descendants provides an opportunity to right
historical wrongs: in health, education, poverty, land rights, jobs, and financial credit for economic and social
progress," said Pan American Health Organization Director Mirta Roses in a news release.
Pigford's
Harvest. At a December 8 signing ceremony, President Obama heralded Pigford II as
the close of "a long and unfortunate chapter in our history." In a way, one hopes the president is
right — that the credulity, or perhaps the shame, of the American government and its taxpayers
cannot be strained to accommodate the petty greed of more than 94,000 phantom farmers, and that the con
will finally have run its course. But that is unlikely. Two Pigford-style class-action
suits — one for Hispanic farmers, another for women — with the potential to dwarf
current settlements are working their way through the courts. Like so many Pigfords to the
trough.
Rep.
King Files Amendment to Block Pigford II Funds. "In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress limited
taxpayers' exposure to the Pigford II settlement program at $100 million, a figure that was
deemed sufficient to resolve the racial discrimination claims leveled against the United States Department of
Agriculture by black farmers," said King. "Since that time, a lame-duck Democratic Congress agreed to
President Obama's request to pump an additional $1.15 billion into the Pigford II settlement
program, doing so even though the program is rife with credible allegations of massive fraud that have not
been fully investigated. This was an irresponsible act, and it violated Congress's responsibility to
be good stewards of taxpayers' money."
One of the 'Biggest Conspiracies Against the U.S. Treasury Ever'
Original
Pigford Claimant Calls It a Conspiracy. It's back to business on our investigation of the
Pigford story — the ongoing fraud that needs your help and attention to make it stop. The
mainstream — with a few exceptions like John Stossel — are ignoring the story of the
one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history because it doesn't fit their narrative.
John
W. Boyd demands more from government for black farmers. In December, when President Barack
Obama signed the "Claims Resolution Act of 2010," which appropriated $1.15 billion to black farmers
who said the U.S. Department of Agriculture had discriminated against them, many thought the matter had
been laid to rest. Dr. John W. Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, has a
message for America though: The black farmers need more — especially as they initially
sought $2.5 billion.
Andrew
Breitbart on Pigford Lawsuit: 'Bring It On'. Breitbart.com LLC announced today [2/12/2011]
that its Chairman and CEO Andrew Breitbart and the head of Breitbart.tv, Larry O'Connor, have been sued in
the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by a central figure in the Pigford "back-door" reparations
case. The Pigford case involves over $2.5 billion in US taxpayer money and constitutes one of the
biggest cases of corruption and politically-motivated fraud in the history of the United States. Mr.
Breitbart and Breitbart.tv have been investigating and reporting on the Pigford case since late summer 2010.
The
Real Shirley Sherrod Scandal. Want to get a check from the government for $50,000?
If you're black and willing to say you once "attempted to farm," the money could be yours. Why?
In the 80's and 90's, some Black farmers were allegedly discriminated against by the Agriculture Department.
Department loan officers supposedly did the opposite of what Shirley Sherrod was accused of: they
granted government-subsidized farm loans to whites but not to blacks. Government shouldn't be giving
out government subsidized loans to anyone.
Shirley
Sherrod's Unconstitutional Attack on Andrew Breitbart. No matter what you think of the
original Sherrod incident, Breitbart's commentary falls squarely within the protections of the First
Amendment. Freedom of political speech lies at the core of the Constitution; we attack our political
officials all the time without fear of reprisal. Sherrod was an outspoken public figure, one that
unapologetically stated that she saw the world through the framework of Marxism.
CPAC
Presser: The great Pigford fraud. [Scroll down] Andrew Breitbart delivered remarks,
saying that Al Pires created a system to exploit black farmers in the South, who only numbered about
3,000 expected claimants at the outset. Pigford has ended up with about 94,000 claimants, thanks
in no small part to Sen. Barack Obama's sponsorship of a bill to extend Pigford when he was in the
Senate. Meanwhile, black farmers who were actually discriminated against by the USDA were scammed
to benefit the class action attorneys involved, who made a killing off of Pigford. The farmers,
meanwhile, lost their land and continue to be victims of the entire process.
Pigford Pigout Is Illegal.
When Comrade Obama promised to "spread the wealth around," he didn't mean indiscriminately. The idea is
to take it from those who create it, and spread it among the groups that support him most loyally, namely
unions and blacks.
Congressman
Sanford Bishop (D-GA) Want Pigford Fraud Coverup? The hours of interviews I've done with the key
people involved in the Pigford settlement are a treasure trove of information about what really happened in this
multi-billion dollar debacle. Because of the holidays and then the tragic shooting in Tuscon, I wanted to
hold off on releasing details about some of the major news that we're been able to uncover — but at
the risk of creating PiggieFatigue, here's part one of a serious allegation that a U.S. Congressman knowingly was
complicit in covering up fraud.
Witnesses Are Ready
to Testify in Congress About Alleged Pigford Fraud. Rep. Steve King (R.-Iowa), who serves on
both the House Agriculture Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, says he has personally talked to two
potential witnesses in recent months who are ready to come forward and speak to a congressional committee —
if one decides to actually investigate the matter — about alleged fraud in discrimination-compensation
payments that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made to black farmers.
Obama Carries on the Pigford
Fraud. When Congress was stampeded to pass unprecedented legislation in 1998 to facilitate the
Pigford v. Glickman suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), some wise but unknown
person included a limiting provision in that bill to minimize participation by phony claimants. But,
when the Clinton Administration agreed to a settlement of the case in 1999, that provision was carefully
evaded in the consent decree, opening the door to massive fraud.
Steve King Says Congress will Investigate
"Reparations". President Obama earlier this month signed into law a measure to pay American Indians and black
farmers a total of $4.6 billion to cover decades of government mistreatment. Now, a Republican congressman says
the GOP-controlled House next year will hold hearings to investigate the settlement, which he says amounts to "reparations."
Conservative Rep. Steve King of Iowa told local radio station KCIM that the Pigford settlement, which was part of the
legislation, "is full of fraud" and "amounts to paying reparations to black farmers in America. We don't do reparations
in America."
Key
'Black Farmers' Lawyer Admits Clients 'Got Away With Murder'. The mainstream media has treated accusations
of large-scale fraud in the Pigford settlement with overt skepticism and a distinct lack of journalistic curiosity. The
press has blindly repeated the Obama Administration's claim that there are only a handful of fraud cases among the twenty thousand
or so paid Pigford claims. Worse, the media has helped promote the narrative that those raising concerns about fraud in
Pigford are racist.
Blacks Have
Separated Themselves from America. Whatever else Martin Luther King had on his agenda, his words
of "judging the content of character, not the color on one's skin," resonated with Americans then and now.
Those words summed up the entire perception I had of his struggle for equal rights. Those words are what
I thought the struggle was about. I now realize that King's words don't represent the dream of the
majority of blacks in America. I say that because those words are not what blacks have attempted to
achieve. The goal post shifted from those words. King's marches and speeches have become a
platform for angry blacks to achieve both reparations and an elevated status that's far more divisive
than uniting.
Black Farmer, USDA
Employees Prepared to Testify About Fraud in USDA Settlement. A black farmer who was an original
litigant in the racial discrimination case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture is prepared to testify
before a congressional committee about the way some attorneys rounded up plaintiffs — including
homeless people and others who never farmed. The potential witness told a Republican congressman the
attorneys went through neighborhoods, looking for people to be among the nearly 16,000 plaintiffs who received
$1 billion in compensation for alleged farm-loan discrimination.
A
Black Farmer Blows the Whistle on the Black Farmer Settlement. I have 200 acres in Arkansas and
have raised hogs. Pigford is the biggest rip-off this country has ever known, and there are lots of people in
positions of power that know it. Politicians are using it to buy votes. Trial lawyers are using it
to get rich.
Reps.
Bachmann, King allege fraud in black farmers settlement. House Republicans on Wednesday [9/29/2010]
charged that a multibillion-dollar settlement with black farmers supported by the Obama administration was
rife with fraud. At a press conference in the Capitol Visitor Center, Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.),
Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Steve King (R-Iowa) alleged that a $1.25 billion Agriculture Department (USDA)
settlement to resolve discrimination claims included individuals who were never farmers.
Bias Settlement Now Reparations Slush Fund.
A settled lawsuit intended to pay thousands of dollars to black farmers discriminated against by the federal
government is instead being used as a billion-dollar slush fund doling out reparations for slavery. That's
according to one of the few critics in Congress of the process known as the Pigford settlement. Rep.
Steve King (R.-Iowa), told HUMAN EVENTS the settlement is a "legal blunder" that has been corrupted.
Black Farmers Will Get
Payments from $1.25 Billion USDA Settlement. The number of African-American farmers who will
eventually receive a portion of a $1.25-billion government settlement for discrimination by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) is almost impossible to determine at this point, said attorneys representing the second
batch of complainants in the Pigford case.
Obama
to sign bill awarding payments to black farmers: justice or 'fraud'? President Obama signs a
law Wednesday [12/8/2010] aimed at rectifying USDA actions that undercut black farmers. Some conservatives
call it 'modern-day reparations' that reward political friends.
The
media's silence on the Pigford Black Reparations story. The media is protecting the White House
again... by ignoring the Pigford Black Reparations Scam expose that Andrew Breitbart is running at Big Government.
As you read the news online, watch TV, and peruse the papers, please keep track of what news outlets are reporting
on Breitbart's Pigford expose... and which ones are deliberately silent on this.
Real Sherrod Story
Still Untold. [Scroll down] The major media reported the settlement as though it were
the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. For the last forty years, as the civil rights industry has
manufactured more and more absurd grievances — most notably the Tea Party smear that incited
Breitbart's reprisal — the media have reported on them with increasingly wide-eyed innocence.
In the various stories on the settlement, not one reporter that I could identify stopped to do the
math. ... Although 86,000 black farmers are alleged to have received payments, at no time in the last three
decades have there been more than 40,000 black farmers. Nor is there much turnover in the farming
business.
Update:
Shirley
Sherrod sues Andrew Breitbart over video he posted. Shirley Sherrod has filed a defamation
suit against Andrew Breitbart, the conservative gadfly she alleges triggered her firing by the Obama
administration and ignited a national debate on race and reverse discrimination.
The Pigford Scandal: The original
plaintiffs in the Pigford class-action suit numbered less than 500. The USDA estimated that no
more than 2,000 claims would ultimately be filed. Who in blazes would be stupid enough to make
such an estimate? Oh, yeah, that's right: Clinton appointees. To date, ninety-four
thousand claims have been filed. The lame-duck congress just approved another $1.15 billion
to pay them off. The National Black Farmers Association thinks there are about 18,000 black farmers
in the entire country.
Reparations?
When Pigford Flies. Congress has OK'd nearly $5 billion for black and Native American farmers
who claim they were discriminated against. This is redistribution of wealth in the name of environmental and
social justice. Reparations have begun.
USDA Denies Discrimination
against Black Farmers But Pays Out $1.25 Billion Anyway. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
denied allegations that it discriminated against African-American farmers as detailed in a class action lawsuit
the farmers filed against the department, but the USDA has nonetheless agreed to pay those farmers $1.25 billion
as part of a settlement agreement.
Obama
Using Pigford Cash to Pay Campaign Debts?. One key to understanding the Pigford travesty is
realizing how Barack Obama came to the point where today he is giving away billions in taxpayer dollars for
potentially fraudulent Pigford-related claims. What may have begun as a legitimate 100 million
dollar effort to repair genuine damages caused by alleged USDA discrimination evolved into what amounted
to a pay-for-play scam with two linked goals — to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Democrat primary,
then get Barack Obama elected president.
The
Pigford Killings: Double-Murder, Double-Cross, and Decapitation in the Delta. As we have been
chronicling in our Pigford coverage this week, the amount of evidence suggesting massive fraud is staggering
and will continue to build and build. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack came out last week to say
there have only been three cases of fraud out of the 20,000 claims.
Pigford
President: Obama Signs Black Farmers Settlement. American Indians and black farmers will be paid
$4.6 billion to address claims of government mistreatment over many decades under landmark legislation
President Barack Obama signed Wednesday [12/8/2010].
The
$1.25 Billion Pigford II Black Farmers Settlement. [Scroll down] A quick Google search
revealed that Ryan and Hayes had been alluding to the incredibly conspicuous news that days after Sherrod
was fired by the Obama administration, funding for the $1.15 billion Pigford II settlement was
pulled out from a supplementary war funding bill. The Google search also revealed that Senators Obama
and Biden had been two of four Pigford legislative sponsors in the Senate. Even more interesting, Rep.
Steve King (R-Ia), who is on the House Agriculture committee, was on AM radio drawing attention to what was
previously not known to me, and it was a blockbuster: Shirley Sherrod, and her husband, Charles, along
with their decades-long defunct communal farm, New Communities Inc., were set to receive over a whopping
$13 million in the Pigford settlement, the largest amount of money allocated in the history of the
Pigford settlement.
The
Congressional Black Caucus vs. Black Farmers. Pigford v. Glickman was supposed to help
black farmers discriminated against by the USDA. Instead, it's diverted hundreds of millions of dollars
to people who never farmed and diverted attention away from the plight of real farmers.
Older discussions of the reparations issue:
The Constitution Did
Not Condone Slavery. James Madison explained why there was no mention of slavery in the
Constitution. The framers were unwilling to admit in the federal charter that there could be property
in men. The idea that our Constitution "condoned" slavery and was therefore an immoral document unworthy
of being viewed with reverence is a stock liberal claim. It is false.
Misusing History.
The history of slavery across the centuries and in many countries around the world is a painful history to
read — not only in terms of how slaves have been treated, but because of what that says about
the whole human species — because slaves and enslavers alike have been of every race, religion,
and nationality. If the history of slavery ought to teach us anything, it is that human beings cannot
be trusted with unbridled power over other human beings — no matter what color or creed any of
them are.
Slavery
Reparations: A Dead Issue, and Well-Deserved. Even Professor Henry Gates is now being
honest about the impossible complexity and moral fog of the once championed progressive idea.
Cop killer
hailed as 'Muslim martyr'. [Scroll down] What these groups say is that any killing
of whites, including in this case Clemmons' cold-blooded murder of officers Renninger, Owens, Griswald,
and Richards, is "a legitimate protest". Black Male Felon celebrates the killings as "Brother
Maurice Clemmons' daring stand against white police terrorism." The theme of National Black Foot
Soldiers is captured in the slogan: "When whites pay reparations there will be no more black on
white crime."
Senate Slavery
Apology. Last month, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 26 "Apologizing for the
enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans." The resolution ends with: "Disclaimer —
Nothing in this resolution (a) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or (b) serves as a settlement
of any claim against the United States." That means Congress apologizes but is not going to pay reparations, as
least for now. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed concerns about the disclaimer, thinking
that it's an attempt to stave off reparations claims from the descendants of slaves.
Reparations for slavery: The
problem, of course, is both slaves as well as their owners are all dead. Thus, punishing perpetrators and
compensating victims is out of the hands of the living. Reparations advocates, however, want today's
blacks to be compensated for the suffering of our ancestors.
The Founding Fathers and
Slavery: Even though the issue of slavery is often raised as a discrediting charge against the
Founding Fathers, the historical fact is that slavery was not the product of, nor was it an evil introduced
by, the Founding Fathers.
The truth about
slavery: By describing the United States as "a nation founded by slave owners," the Arkansas
resolution suggested unique brutality in our national origins. The real challenge, however, would be
to name another nation not founded by slave owners — considering the universal, timeless and
unquestioned acceptance of slavery as an inevitable element of the human condition.
Obama and the Drive for Slavery
Reparations. Barack Obama is the most radical candidate ever to stand at the precipice of acquiring his
party's presidential nomination and the American presidency. It is apparent that he is a member of an international
socialist movement which hopes to use the United Nations as a vehicle to shake down U.S. taxpayers for trillions of dollars
in slavery reparations. One group, the African World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission, is demanding an
astronomical $777 trillion.
Meet Obama's
Reparations Model. While some question the impact of preaching from the pulpit of Trinity
United Church of Christ on Senator Obama's thinking, the influence of one of Trinity's most recommended
authors on Obama is clear. Three of Randall Robinson's books are available for purchase on Trinity's
website. One, entitled "The Debt: What America Owes To Blacks," is particularly important to
understanding Obama's notion of reparations. So who is Randall Robinson?
Senate Backs
Apology for Slavery. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution yesterday apologizing for slavery, making way
for a joint congressional resolution and the latest attempt by the federal government to take responsibility for
2½ centuries of slavery.
Apologizing For Slavery —
Again? The horrors of chattel slavery remain unimaginable for most of us who never suffered them,
and it's never wrong to express regret for such a regretful institution. But why is the Senate apologizing
now?
Should blacks get reparations? "You
wonder why we didn't do it 100 years ago," said Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, after the Senate voted June 18 to
endorse a national apology for slavery. ... But one reason why we have waited so long has to do with what many
advocates of the apology regard as the necessary next step — reparations to African-Americans by the federal
government. Significantly, that's a step the Senate's apology resolution refused to take.
Obama's Stealth
Reparations. While he was an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama told a Chicago radio show host that
he sought "major redistributive change" for the benefit of fellow blacks. He was speaking in the context of the
civil rights movement, and how it had fallen short of "economic justice." Although John McCain and other
Republicans are afraid to say it, his remarks can only be interpreted to mean one thing: economic
reparations for slavery.
Slavery ... until the end of time.
Slavery had a sustained history in places like Ghana and Mali long before Europeans began trading in African slaves.
Slave societies were common throughout the continent. Sometimes slavers got caught in their own nets, as in the case
of Abd Rahman Ibrahima.
Black Slaveowners: During this
country's period of slavery, many freed blacks worked for years to purchase the freedom of family members. But a great
many freemen became slave masters themselves, and for the same reason as whites — to make use of slave labor for
the sake of profits. Larry Koger writes, "By and large, Negro slaveowners were darker copies of their white
counterparts."
Reparations and Victimization: There
is no single group responsible for the crime of slavery. In the period between 650 AD and 1600, before any Western
involvement, somewhere between 3 million and 10 million Africans were bought by Muslim slavers for use in Saharan
societies and the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. There was also an internal slave trade, which took place for centuries,
beginning back in the 7th century and persists to this very day in places like Sudan and Mauritania, and other sub-Saharan
African societies. Second, only a tiny minority of white Americans ever owned slaves.
Barack Obama and Slavery:
When the story of slavery is told in America, as in the movie Roots, the sailors get off the boats and
capture the Africans and make them slaves. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. When the white slaver showed up in
his wooden ship, he made a business deal with a Muslim wholesaler.
Black Reparations: The Ultimate Prize.
In the years much closer to slavery than we now live, blacks founded and ran their own towns, owned and prospered on millions
of dollars worth of land, formed so many successful businesses that it necessitated formation of the National Negro Business
League, directed their own schools and colleges — all of this long before the 1950s. Yet now, according to
the custodians of the race, the "residue" of the slave experience pierces so deeply into the psyches and immediate lives of
blacks, that only more monetary resources from whites can heal the wounds and finally eliminate what these worthies are
calling the "lingering negative effects" of slavery.
Africa ain't that great.
You should be glad you don't live in Africa. At least a dozen countries in Africa are ruled by
ruthless dictators, and all but a few of
Africa's 53 or
54 countries are
stuck in perpetual poverty. The worst example
is Zimbabwe, which is discussed on another page.
Africa
is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS. Even as we see African states refusing
to take action to restore something resembling civilisation in Zimbabwe, the begging bowl for Ethiopia is being
passed around to us, yet again. It is nearly 25 years since Ethiopia's (and Bob Geldof's) famous
Feed The World campaign, and in that time Ethiopia's population has grown from 33.5 million to 78 million
today. So why on earth should I do anything to encourage further catastrophic demographic growth in that
country?
Africa's Messiah of
Horror: A friend, the head of a major aid organization, tells how his workers in eastern Congo a few years
ago chanced upon a group of shell-shocked women and children in the bush. A militia had kidnapped a number of families
and forced the women to kill their husbands with machetes, under the threat that their sons and daughters would be murdered
if they refused. … This is ultimately the work and trademark of a single man: Joseph Kony, the most carnivorous
killer since Idi Amin.
Much-Needed
Honesty about Africa and AIDS: The evidence is there for everyone to see: We've
tried awareness, condom distribution, economic development, and much more. But the problem
persists. That's because the spread of AIDS is inevitably linked to the question of fallen
human nature. Things like fear, weakness, and temptation do not respond to technical expertise
or incentives. They only respond to "transcendent ideals and faiths" and the moral language
they produce.
The Tragedy of
Africa: African leaders, and many people on the left, blame Africa's problems on the evils of
colonialism. … [But] colonialism cannot explain Third World poverty. Some of today's richest countries
are former colonies, such as: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Some of
today's poorest countries were never colonies, such as: Ethiopia, Liberia, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.
The colonialism argument is simply a cover-up for African dictators.
UN says Iceland
is the best place to live, Africa the worst. Iceland has overtaken Norway as the
world's most desirable country to live in, according to an annual U.N. table published on Tuesday
[11/27/2007] that again puts AIDS-afflicted sub-Saharan African states at the bottom.
Slavery
in Islamist Sudan. Sellers frantically began to gather up their wares and hurry away with the
buyers. The adults understood. They recognized the approaching signs of the dreaded scourge that
most people believed had disappeared from the pages of African history long ago: a slave raid. It was
1986 and Bok was about to see his happy world of family and village shattered forever by a centuries-old,
barbaric practice that has never died out: the violent capture and enslavement of black Africans by
Arabs.
"There but for the grace of God...."
We are told by some of our supposedly enlightened, so-called black leaders that white America owes us something because they
brought our ancestors over as slaves. And Africa — Mother Africa — is often held up as some kind
of black Valhalla, where the descendants of slaves would be welcomed back and where black men and women can walk in true
dignity. Sorry, but I've been there. I've had an AK-47 rammed up my nose, I've talked to machete-wielding Hutu
militiamen with the blood of their latest victims splattered across their T-shirts. I've seen a cholera epidemic in
Zaire, a famine in Somalia, a civil war in Liberia.
How
China has created a new slave empire in Africa: These poor, hopeless, angry people exist by grubbing
for scraps of cobalt and copper ore in the filth and dust of abandoned copper mines in Congo, sinking perilous 80 ft
shafts by hand, washing their finds in cholera-infected streams full of human filth, then pushing enormous two-hundredweight
loads uphill on ancient bicycles to the nearby town of Likasi where middlemen buy them to sell on, mainly to Chinese
businessmen hungry for these vital metals.
Reparations or Rip Off? What may
become the most massive attempted financial rape of the American Government and its 200-million taxpayers, for crimes which
no one living committed, is now being plotted by a consortium of trial lawyers. They are well known for their excessive
class-action lawsuit successes against segments of U.S. society in the past decade. With the claim of seeking justice,
if they win, the greatest injustice ever attempted could bankrupt the government and people of the United States.
Reparations: Must the living pay for the
deeds of the dead? Most black Americans are in the solid middle class. In fact, if we totaled the income
black Americans earned each year, and thought of ourselves as a separate nation, we'd be the 14th or 15th richest nation.
Even the 34 percent of blacks considered to be poor are fairly well off by world standards. Had there not been
slavery, and today's blacks were born in Africa instead of the United States, we'd be living in the same poverty that
today's Africans live in and under the same brutal regimes.
More slaves than ever
despite world ban. Slavery is officially banned by all countries yet there are more slaves than
ever before. Today there are an estimated 27 million slaves: people paid no money, locked away
and controlled by violence.
Chinese
slave children 'sold like cabbages'. Young people — some aged under 10 — are said to
have been discovered being bought and sold at a street market in Sichuan, one of rural China's most
overpopulated provinces. According to investigative reporters, the children stood in line as they
were assessed like cattle, before being driven on trucks to factories in the Pearl River Delta, China's
manufacturing heartland.
Apologies For Slavery and Everything
Else. I would suggest that if the black people in America want an apology for slavery, they should
first demand it from their own ancestors — the ones who rounded them up like cattle and sold them to
the slave traders — the ones who are still practicing slavery today. And, by the way, the white
European colonials who settled and built most of Africa, did away with slavery while they remained in Africa.
But, when they turned the countries over to the locals, slavery was reinstated.
U.N.
Thugs. [Scroll down] It is worth bearing in mind that slavery — the most racist
of practices — endures in the Islamic world even as it has been abolished in the West. In OIC
member states like Sudan and Mauritania, Arabs still keep black African slaves. Sudan's president, Omar
al-Bashir, who was indicted by the World Court for human rights abuses in Darfur, is reputed to have black
slaves in his own house. … And while Mauritania legally abolished slavery in 1980, it is still practiced
secretly.
Reparations and Irresponsible Demagogues.
The first thing to understand about the issue of reparations for slavery is that no money is going to be paid. The very
people who are demanding reparations know it is not going to happen. Why then are they demanding something that they
know they are not going to get? Because the demagogues themselves will benefit, even if nobody else does. Stirring
up historic grievances pays off in publicity and votes.
Slavery in the Land of
the Free. Unfortunately, slavery is still a widespread practice all over the world, including the US.
The Civil War may have removed the public sanction of slavery, but it is still a common underground practice. Journalist
Benjamin Skinner undertook four years of undercover investigation into "human trafficking" (a euphemism for slavery) in order
to increase awareness of this international injustice. His research and experiences are chronicled in his recent
book, "A Crime So Monstrous."
Activists meet on U.S. slave
reparations. The chairwoman of the African People Solidarity Committee says white residents of
the United States should support reparations for African-Americans. Penny Hess spoke to a reporter with
the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune Friday [11/03/2006] on the eve of African People Solidarity Day.
Six
inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery: There is no reason to believe that today's
African-Americans would be better off if their ancestors had remained behind in Africa. … In theory,
reparationists want society to repair the wrongs of the past by putting today's African-Americans into the
sort of situation they would have enjoyed if their forebears hadn't been kidnapped, sold and transported
across the ocean. Unfortunately, to bring American blacks in line with their cousins who the
slave-traders left behind in Africa would require a drastic reduction in their wealth, living standards,
and economic and political opportunities.
Wrong way on reparations.
If this act becomes law, it would require the Treasury secretary to pay reparations to "Guam residents who
were killed, raped, injured, interned, or subjected to forced labor or marches," as well as to "survivors
of compensable residents who died in war or survivors of compensable injured residents." The bill could
cost taxpayers $126 million.
An apology to slaves — from the
catchers. "Project Joseph" is an invitation to blacks who trace their history to the slave
trade to reconnect with the land of their ancestors — and it comes with an apology, not from
countries associated with slave masters or slave traders, but from the black slave-catchers of Ghana.
Slavery: Then
and now. In light of William Wilberforce's campaign to rid his nation of slavery, it is important
to remember that, for millions of men, women and children around the world, slavery is not just a historical
tragedy, it is a present reality. The "bloody traffic" that Wilberforce considered a disgrace to his
nation has not yet ended — far from it. The number of modern day slaves is estimated to be
around 27 million.
Legislators to
push for U.S. apology for slavery. Five states did something over the past 12 months
that no state had done before: expressed regret or apologized for slavery. This year, Congress,
which meets in a Capitol built partly by slaves, will consider issuing its own apology. "We've seen
states step forward on this," says Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, citing the resolutions of Virginia, Maryland,
North Carolina, Alabama and New Jersey.
Panhandling
for reparations. Frances Miller's early attempts at starting a conversation Wednesday were a little
rough. "Hey, sister, are you a descendent of slaves?" she called out to a woman who looked African
American, scoring a glare. Miller sat on Northeast 15th Avenue at Broadway — a volunteer
in the National Day of Panhandling for Reparations. She and others across the country asked white
passers-by to pay reparations for enslaving black people, and then they gave money to black passers-by.
Each got a receipt.
The slavery
shakedown: Living white Americans bear no culpability for slavery, and living black Americans
never suffered from it. It would be unthinkable to make individuals responsible for the wrongdoing of
their distant ancestors, or to require them to enrich the great-great-great grandchildren of the
victims. The overwhelming majority of nonblack Americans have no family connection to slavery in any
case — most of us are descended from the millions of immigrants who came to this country after
the Civil War.
O'Malley
signs wage bill, apology for slavery. Gov. Martin O'Malley signed this morning a first-in-the-nation
law requiring a "living wage" for state contract employees, a move backers say will help expand Maryland's middle
class. O'Malley also signed a formal apology for Maryland's role in slavery — the second such
action in the nation.
Regrets for
slavery: The next time the Virginia General Assembly gets into an apologetic mood and wants to
pass another resolution aimed at its black citizens, here are my suggestions: The Commonwealth of Virginia
apologizes to its black citizens for not protecting them from criminals who prey upon them and make their lives
a daily nightmare.
Albany Mulls an Apology for Slavery. The New York State
Legislature is considering one bill that would have the state formally apologize for its role in slavery and another that
would study and recommend remedies for the descendants of slaves.
Elsewhere in New York...
Wealthy N.Y. couple charged with
slavery. A millionaire couple accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in their
luxurious Long Island home and abusing them for years have been indicted on federal slavery charges.
J.P. Morgan & Co. Sued for Profiting From Slavery.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are among 18 corporate defendants named in a slave-reparations
case to be heard tomorrow in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The case is a consolidation
of nine cases filed by African-Americans across America in 2002. Among the other defendants are Lehman
Brothers Holdings Inc., Aetna Inc., New York Life Insurance Co., and Lloyds TSB Group.
Questions for proponents of
reparations: While there is a growing cry for reparation payments, what has been
noticeably absent (often even pointed out by proponents) is a lack of a clear plan for how such
reparation payments will be made.
Slavery
Reparations — Paying for the Sins of the Founding Fathers. It has been over
140 years since the end of the Civil War, and the end of slavery in the United States of
America. Those to whom reparations might be owed are long dead and gone. The issues
here are much more complex than those surrounding the issue of reparations due to Japanese
Americans imprisoned during World War Two.
Weak-kneed
corporate CEO's: Corporate executives caving in to anti-capitalists' attacks
will not buy peace. Capitulation only whets anti-capitalist appetites for bigger,
bolder and more widespread attacks and extortion.
Slavery
reparations: The slavery reparations shakedown lobby is gearing up for attacks
on American industry. They've failed in the courts and Congress, so they're going after
weak-kneed CEOs.
Ending
slavery: To me the most staggering thing about the long history of
slavery — which encompassed the entire world and every race in it — is
that nowhere before the 18th century was there any serious question raised about whether
slavery was right or wrong. In the late 18th century, that question arose in
Western civilization, but nowhere else.
Pseudo
leadership and black groupthink: Black groupthink and the pseudo leaders that
tout it are destroying the black community. The black pseudo leader is the community
activist who is dedicated solely to getting us to pay attention. Nattily dressed in
a Brooks Brothers suit, he stands tall at phony press conferences, studding his speech with
racially charged words that solicit knee-jerk reactions from the crowd. The black pseudo
leader is a parasite. He nourishes himself on the suffering of others. He exists
by satisfying the mob's voracious appetite for excuses and easy solutions.
Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery
is a Bad Idea: For example, there is no single group clearly responsible for the crime of
slavery. Black Africans and Arabs were responsible for enslaving the ancestors of African-Americans.
There were 3,000 black slave-owners in the ante-bellum United States. Are reparations to be paid by their
descendants too?
Ten Reasons Why Reparations for
Blacks is a Bad Idea for Blacks — and Racist Too: America's African-American citizens
are the richest and most privileged black people alive — a bounty that is a direct result of the
heritage that is under assault.
Demoralizing Young Blacks for the Empowerment
of "Black Leaders": Black people are taught that every waking thought of white America
is racist; black people are perennial victims of white oppression; we have no control over our lives
and destiny. The only way black people can achieve anything is to prey upon white guilt, and seek special
privileges like quotas, handouts, and lately reparations and apologies for slavery.
Reparations
for slavery? Who really benefited from slavery? Who should fund any such reparations? Who
should be excluded from helping to finance such reparations? How many billions of dollars have already been
paid to so-called "historically disadvantaged minorities"? Remember, when Congress makes payments, it
uses your tax dollars to do so. Here are some thought-provoking questions and historical facts.
Trillions demanded in slavery
reparations: The West is being asked to pay Africa $777 thousand billion within five years in
reparation for enslaving Africans while colonizing the continent. (That's more than three quarters of
a QUADRILLION dollars. Just make the check payable to "Africa".)
Editor's Note: Slavery did
not begin or end in the United States. There are still places around the world in
the 21st century where you can pay cash for a slave, particularly in Sudan and
Mauritania. And according to the following article, it is an enormous problem in India, too.
Ending the "Slavocracy": The
institution of slavery continues to oppress millions. In India, the practice often comes under the name
of bonded labor — a euphemism for slavery.
Man
Barred from Making Slavery Tax Claims. A New York man was temporarily
barred on Friday 4/15/2005] from preparing income tax returns for others because he
has been including bogus tax credits such as reparations for African-American
slavery and segregation.
Closely related:
National
apology to Indians is just a sorry idea. The U.S. Senate is considering … some
kind of "whoops, sorry about that" to Native Americans, an apology for taking their land and driving
them onto miserable reservations in the scrublands of the United States. It's a bad idea. Yes,
it's fitting to regret cruelty it inflicted on any group over the years. But that goes without
saying, and those who want it said can be dismissed for parsing symbolism when there are actual
problems in the world.
Reparations: A
Scam Cloaked in Racial Pain. Last month, reparations advocates held a rally
under the remarkably revealing motto: "They Owe Us." "They" appear to be all white
people. "Us" is supposedly every African American for whom these leaders
now claim to speak. What is "owed" has been stated as high
as $10 trillion.
What
Would We Get In Return For Reparations? Would we be freed, for
example, from the costs of supporting blacks on welfare? Blacks make up 12% of
the population but account for almost half of welfare recipients.
Shameless
exploiters: Nothing highlights the pathetic state of the American left
more clearly than the current movement for slavery reparations.
Randall
Robinson: The godfather of the reparations movement, has finally taken
his criticism of this country to its logical conclusion: he has moved out of the
United States.
The Billion Dollar March wasn't
exactly a spectacle fit for a King. With the rallying cry of "They Owe Us," organizers say they
will continue such protests until money is delivered. In the long history of victimization politics among
"leaders" of the black community, this movement takes the prize as the one most worthy of ridicule.
Quota
"logic" part II: What most blacks need is — first of all — the
kind and quality of education that they do not get in most ghetto schools. Least
of all do they get this education from those teachers who spend precious class time
dredging up the past instead of preparing students for the future.
Get
out your reparations calculator. [Anyone] whose family members ingested
Filipino-harvested asparagus, peas, cauliflower, onions, tomatoes, grapes or fish, or
who burned Filipino-cut firewood, or who lived in homes built of Filipino-sawed lumber
from 1923 to 1947, can settle their debt by sending me a check for $999.99.
Slavery Compensation Itself Rests on Racism:
For the descendants of black slaves to make demands for special privileges, compensation, and apologies from
current Americans — who had nothing to do with slavery — is an ugly moral inversion that
makes Americans who happen to be white guilty because of their skin color.
An
appalling idiocy: [There is] a proposal to create a "National Slave
Memorial" on the Washington Mall. Supposedly this memorial will promote "reconciliation"
and "healing," according to both the Republican and Democratic supporters of this
proposal. It is hard to imagine that any sane adult actually believes
those words.
Appalling
idiocy: Part II. We have all we can do to live our own lives the best
way we can, treating our contemporaries with decency and justice. There is not a thing
we can do about what other people did in times irretrievably past.
An
appalling idiocy: Part III: Divisiveness is where it's at for the
Democrats and few things will be more divisive than a slave memorial on the Washington
Mall. But what's in it for the Republicans?
Stop Reparations Now:
You'll recognize many of their names immediately. It's a who's who in the racial shakedown racket: Jesse
Jackson, Al Sharpton, Johnnie Cochran, Randall Robinson, Cornel West. These men, and others from the far left,
are preparing for the biggest legal shakedown in history... unless they're stopped.
The True Cost of Reparations: A growing movement is
calling for the payment of reparations to black Americans for slavery, despite the fact that both the victims
and perpetrators of slavery are dead.
Scorched
Earth: The Reparation Desperation: Pro-reparations "black leaders" like the Rev. Jesse Jackson
remain locked in the victicrat mantra that blames slavery for America's "black plight," while, of course,
suggesting money as the solution. Will the "black leadership" stand up and recognize the primary problem
facing America, in general — black America, in particular — the absence of involved,
responsible fathers?
Demonstrators Want Slavery
Reparations: Estimated by police at about 2,000 to 3,000 strong, the demonstrators motored
in from all parts of the United States to hear speakers such as activist Louis Farrakhan shout, "We need land
for political independence; we need millions of acres. We need payment for 310 years of slavery, of
destruction of our minds and the robbery of our culture."
Farrakhan
Rails Against "White Supremacy": Farrakhan said, "We cannot accept a cash payment because a fool
and his money will soon part." Instead, he advocated the transfer of "millions" of acres of land from the
U.S. government to African Americans.
New Twist On
Old Scam: Tax Exemption for Slave Descendants: For just three dollars, those attending last
Saturday's pro-reparations rally [8/17/2002] in Washington could purchase a "legal" document promising them
lifetime tax-exempt status from the U.S. government. But the Internal Revenue Service and legal experts beg to
differ.
Reparations and Irresponsible
Demagogues: The first thing to understand about the issue of reparations for slavery is that no
money is going to be paid. The very people who are demanding reparations know it is not going to happen.
Why then are they demanding something that they know they are not going to get? Because the demagogues
themselves will benefit, even if nobody else does. Stirring up historic grievances pays off in publicity
and votes.
"Millions" of Blacks to Rally in
DC for Reparations: Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the Brotherhood
Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), and a critic of the rally, said, "If that many people have enough money
to go to D.C. to march, then they don't need reparations."
Get Your Reparations Here! There
are literally millions currently employed because of affirmative action, and probably fall within groups who consider themselves
to be long-term victims, currently seeking reparations through legislation or civil lawsuit. Seriously, one of the issues
here is whether the citizens of this country have already helped those who have suffered slavery and discrimination. I
think the answer is "yes."
Reparations, once silly, are now taken
seriously: Polls show that 75 percent of Americans, and 90 percent of whites, are
opposed to paying reparations to blacks for the enslavement of their ancestors. This means that the
reparations fight will not take place in the political arena, where victory is probably impossible.
Instead it will be a legal and public relations campaign to force corporate America to pay.
The Slavery Reparations Hustle:
Reparations' bottom line is that black people are permanent losers who cannot rise above their history. That
is a terrible libel, and no one but a racist would believe it.
Reparations: America's New Slavery:
The transfer of wealth from productive members of society to those (of any race) who would loot it is nothing
new. What's new about the slave reparations issue is just how morally low the attempt to rationalize and
justify these transfers has become.
The Dollars and Sense Answer to Black
Reparations: Historian and Ebony magazine editor, Lerone Bennett, Jr., says, "We're not talking
about a sentimental argument. We're talking about the fact that America owes us some money." The
racism peddlers apparently know no bounds in what is becoming a growth industry.
Gray Davis Joins the Race-Baiting
Left: The legal movement for reparations is not only preposterous; it is itself a form of
white-collar crime. No court will hear a case that is 100 years old, and the reparations lawyers
know this. Their clear and often overt agenda is to create a public relations nightmare for the
companies involved so they will settle to protect their stock values. This is blackmail, pure
and simple.
Who Does the "Reparations for Slavery" Charade Really
Benefit? Being a race hustler is a very lucrative business for people like Jesse Jackson and Al
Sharpton. But such people can extort money and power from white business and political leaders precisely
because it is easier to pay off a relative handful of noise makers than to be bothered fighting them. But
tens of millions of blacks cannot duplicate what a small band of extortionists do.
The Debt for Slavery — and for Freedom: At
its core, the reparations movement is racist; it treats all blacks as victims and all whites as villains.
Enslaved to the past: Polls show that
75 percent of Americans, and 90 percent of whites, are opposed to paying reparations to blacks for
the enslavement of their ancestors. This means that the reparations fight will not take place in the
political arena, where victory is probably impossible. Instead, it will be a legal and public relations
campaign to force corporate America to pay.
The United Nations of Reparations Hypocrisy:
Perhaps Secretary of State Colin Powell's decision to pull the American delegation out of the so-called U.N.
World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, will be just a footnote in history. But we can
at least hope that it may be a turning point toward a future time when "racism" will no longer be a magic
word used to gain money or political concessions.
Rapaciousness, Not Reparation:
During the last few weeks, a handful of blue chip American companies have been targeted by slavery reparations activists
and lawyers for payments because of their activities prior to 1865. This essay examines the consequences
for all Americans if these companies elect to pay.
Reparations:
The Super Bowl of Shakedowns.
The Present
Slavery: G.K. Chesterton observed in 1910: "We often read nowadays of the valor or audacity
with which some rebel attacks a hoary tyranny or an antiquated superstition. There is not really any
courage at all in attacking hoary or antiquated things, any more than in offering to fight one's
grandmother. The really courageous man is he who defies tyrannies young as the morning and superstitions
fresh as the first flowers." These words resonate more than ever nearly a century later.
The Reparations
Fraud II: Most people seem to have responded to the demands for reparations for slavery in one of
two ways. Either they have supported the demands or they have maintained a discreet silence.
The Legacy of Slavery Hustle: If what we
see today in many black neighborhoods, as claimed by reparation advocates, are the vestiges and legacies of
slavery, how come that social pathology wasn't much worse when blacks were just two or three generations out
of slavery? Vestiges and legacy of slavery arguments are simply covers for another hustle similar to
the $6 trillion dollar War on Poverty hustle. Interestingly enough, reparations advocates are not
demanding that white people be taxed in order to send checks out to individual black people. What they're
demanding is for money to be put into a reparations fund from which they decide who receives how much for what
purpose.
Does
America owe reparations? Which Americans owe black people what? Reparations advocates don't
want that question asked.
Campus Leftists Attack Ad on Black
Reparations: An ad criticizing reparations for descendants of slaves is creating an uproar at
colleges across the country. The controversy illustrates the anti-choice intolerance of left-wing
activists and the speed of most student "journalists" to censor politically incorrect thought.
What America Owes
Me: When it comes to cashing in on the shrunken glove of racial resentment, you can
count on Johnnie Cochran to make it fit.
Reparations for slavery? lets do it! In
spite of the best efforts of the left, African Americans continue on their upward climb into the economic
middle, and dare I suggest, wealthy classes.
Reparations
for Slavery Arguments are Loaded with Contradictions: Blacks owned slaves
for the same reason whites owned slaves — to work farms or plantations. Are descendants
of these blacks eligible and deserving of reparations? Is there anyone prepared to make
the argument that blacks in America today would be better off if they were in Africa? If
blacks wouldn't be better off, then why the reparations?
The Racism of Reparations: In today's
economy, much of the wealth is created by companies in the fields of computers, communications, and biotech. If
the reparations lawsuit is successful, it will be these companies that pay -- they have the most money.
Slavery's Effects Disappeared in Two
Generations: Economic disparities between the descendants of former slaves and free blacks largely
disappeared within just two generations following emancipation, according to a study by Dartmouth economist
Bruce Sacerdote that may lend ammunition to opponents of slavery reparations.
Editor's Note: Apparently
there is a move underway to offer the equivalent of reparations to native Hawaiians. More
information is available here.
The biggest
scandal: According to Newsweek, the young man at North Carolina Central University said
that he wanted to see the Duke students prosecuted, "whether it happened or not. It would be
justice for things that happened in the past."
Records of Freed Slaves
to Go Online. Records the Freedmen's Bureau used to reconnect families — from battered work
contracts to bank forms — will be placed online in part of a new project linking modern-day blacks with
their ancestors.
These people really have an apology to make.
Sorry we ate your forefathers.
The descendants of Papua New Guinea cannibals who killed and ate four Fijian missionaries in 1878 have apologised.
"People
grossly ignorant of history — and that includes graduates of our leading colleges and
universities — have no idea that slavery was not even a controversial issue before the
18th century, and only in Western societies beginning then. Everywhere else in the world, it was
as widely accepted as it was widely practiced — and it had been for thousands of years."
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