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Should They Pay? |
Recently, Deadria Farmer-Paellmann filed a suit against Aetna, an insurance company; FleetBoston, a financial service group; and CSX, a railroad operator. Farmer-Paellmann filed the lawsuit against these companies on behalf of all black Americans who descended from slaves. This is the first suit ever filed seeking reimbursements from companies that profited from slavery. The suit seeks "unspecified damages" that would be put into a fund to improve education, health, and housing opportunities for blacks in this country.
Of course, not everyone agrees on this particular situation or the solution. There are some who feel that slavery was horrible, but there is no reason that the companies should pay. Then there are those who feel that these companies should pay because the companies were built on the backs of slaves.
Those who think the lawsuit should go to court feel that not only should the descendants of slaves seek reparations, but they are also entitled to them. Both those who were enslaved and their descendants have never received reparations for what they had to endure. After slavery was over, all former slaves were promised forty acres and a mule, but most, if any, did not received what was promised to them. After the Civil War, former slaves were treated as second-class citizens. Even though the institution of slavery was abolished, the effects continued to this day. Those who were enslaved are no longer here to fight for themselves; therefore it is up to their descendants to see that justice is done. Some feel that it is not such an outrageous concept for blacks to request reparation. The government has not had any problems with giving reparations in the past. This is evident in the case of Japanese Americans who received reparations for being imprisoned in internment camps during World War II. The whole lawsuit is not even about the money, but the principle. The message that blacks seem to be receiving from this country is that promises are made that are not intended to be kept, and that they are still considered second-class citizens.
Those who think this lawsuit should not go to court feel that the events of the past should be of no significance to the present. They might also feel that these individuals are just using racism as a means to receive easy money from the government. There is no reason for these companies or individuals to pay for something that they had nothing to do with. This lawsuit and the ones that are sure to follow will not solve any problems, but in fact make them worse by causing division and more racism. They were not slaveholders so how can they be held responsible for events that occurred hundreds of years ago. Since no one in this country was ever a slave, then why would they be entitled to receive compensation for crimes that were not committed against them? Every minority in this country has suffered some type of prejudice, so is it fair to force this country to pay for their past action?
You might feel that this case is completely ludicrous and that there is no reason at all for it to go to court. Or you might feel that this case is the best thing to ever happen and that it is about time that African Americans and other minorities in this country receive reparations for their suffering. But no matter what you think, the important thing is that you do not forget what happened.